Why You Should Speak With Other Tongues

by Pastor Mitch Horton | October 1999

Twenty-three years ago last month I received the baptism with the Holy Spirit and spoke with other tongues. I have taken time each day since then to pray with other tongues. Since I was raised in a denomination that did not acknowledge the baptism with the Holy Spirit as a valid, scriptural experience, praying in other tongues was out of the question! But I say to you that my life has been greatly transformed by this baptism and by praying in tongues daily. Please allow me to share with you the benefits that you can experience by taking time each day to pray in the spirit, or with other tongues.

Of course, the baptism in the Holy Spirit is an experience that every Christian should receive. John the Baptist spoke of it as he introduced Jesus' ministry to the world. He said in Matthew 3:11, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." Jesus commanded the disciples to receive the experience before they began ministry:"And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, 'which,' He said, 'you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'" (Acts 1:4-5). If the disciples needed the baptism with the Holy Spirit in order to successfully evangelize their world, how much more do we need it today!

Instances of believers receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit are found in Acts 2:4, Acts 8:1-17, Acts 9:17, Acts 10:44-46, and Acts 19:1-6. If you are born again, you are a candidate to receive this wonderful experience from heaven.

If the disciples needed the baptism with the Holy Spirit in order to successfully evangelize their world, how much more do we need it today!

With the baptism in the Holy Spirit comes the ability to pray with other tongues.

(Praying in the spirit, praying in tongues, and speaking in unknown tongues are all synonymous terms.) It is the will of God for every believer to pray with tongues, just as much as it is His will for every believer to receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit!

Over the years, I've had many people come to me with sincere questions about praying in tongues. Why would God have us do such a bizarre, seemingly unintelligent thing like talking in a language that we don't understand? What is praying in tongues? What are its benefits? Is it necessary to pray in tongues when you are baptized with the Holy Spirit? These questions deserve answers, and I'd like to address them in this lesson.

First of all, what is praying in tongues? Praying in the spirit, or in the unknown tongue, is speaking to God directly from your born again human spirit. I Corinthians 14:14 reads, "For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful." J.B. Phillips' translation of this verse reads, "For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit is praying, but my mind is inactive. "Again the Amplified Bible translates verse 14, "For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit by the Holy Spirit within me prays, but my mind is unproductive, bears no fruit, and helps nobody."

When we don't know how to pray with our natural minds, praying in tongues allows us to pray God's will for any need.

Praying in tongues is spirit to spirit communion with God, without the mind being involved. And there are many benefits when we pray this way! I Corinthians 14:2 in the Amplified translation reads, "For one who speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no one understands or catches his meaning, because in the Holy Spirit, he utters secret truths and hidden things not obvious to the understanding." A major benefit from praying in the spirit is the avenue it provides to pray for things that you don't even know you need to pray about.

When you pray in tongues, your spirit is praying, directed by the Holy Spirit. Your human spirit knows things about your life and your future that have not yet been revealed to your mind. I Corinthians 2:11 reads, "For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the spirit of God." J. B. Phillips' translation of this verse reads, "For who could really understand a man's inmost thoughts except the spirit of man himself. How much less could anyone understand the thoughts of God except the very Spirit of God."

Your spirit is active when you pray in tongues, and the Holy Spirit, Who knows all things, dwells in your human spirit. Therefore, when you spend time praying in the spirit, you are frequently praying about things concerning your life and circumstances that have not yet been revealed to you. Often you are praying out the will of God for your life.

Several years ago, I pioneered a church in a small city. My wife and I had sold our house, moved to this city, and were renting, planning to purchase later. When the time came, however, we both began feeling quite uncomfortable about looking at homes in the town where we pastored. Instead, thoughts and desires to buy a home in a city over 30 miles away persisted! Eventually we did purchase a home over there. Little did we realize then that I would be leaving the church I had pioneered and becoming associate pastor of a church in the very city where we now lived! Of course, the Lord knew that all along, so that as I spent time praying in tongues each day, I was made aware of His change of direction for me.

Over the years, on many occasions I have received guidance about present and future affairs, simply because I took time to pray in the spirit every day. God is concerned about both our natural and our spiritual lives. So He has provided praying in tongues as an effective way to pray and to receive answers about things that we would otherwise not know needed prayer.

Praying in tongues, or in the spirit, also provides you with a means of spiritual edification. I Corinthians 14:4 reads, "He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself..." The word edify means " to build up." Our word edifice comes from this word. When you pray in tongues, you actually build yourself up spiritually. It's not a physical edification, but rather a spiritual building up. A car battery is a good illustration of this. It is being charged the entire time that your engine is running. The alternator is "edifying" your battery for the next time it is needed to start your car. When you pray in tongues, you build yourself up spiritually. Then you are better able to stand against the world, the flesh, and the devil. I always take time before I minister to pray in other tongues, so that I'm spiritually "charged" before being used to bring the life changing word to others.

Jude 20 reads, "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit." Again, we find in Isaiah 28:11-12, "For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, to whom He said, 'This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest,' and, 'This is the refreshing....'" What affects you spiritually will eventually affect you physically. Romans 8 reveals that the same Holy Spirit Who gave life to Jesus' dead body will quicken our bodies as well! I've found that the more I pray in tongues, the better I perform in every area of life. Being spiritually built up will eventually energize you physically. Take time regularly to pray in tongues.

When we don't know how to pray with our natural minds, praying in tongues allows us to pray God's will for any need. Romans 8:26-27 reads, "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God."

"Groanings which cannot be uttered" is really talking about praying with other tongues. "Our weakness" is that we don't always know how to pray, because of limited understanding. But by praying in tongues, the Holy Spirit helps us to pray "according to the will of God."

Ephesians 6:18 reads, "praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints." Again, we can pray in the spirit, or with other tongues, and know that we're offering the perfect prayer every time.

In conclusion, you shouldexpect to pray in other tongues after you receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. This is not a gift for an exclusive few, but is available to every child of God. Some quote 1 Corinthians 12:30, which says, "....do all speak with tongues?" Out of this verse have been drawn the erroneous conclusion that all will be able to speak in tongues. However, when considered in context, we see that this verse is not talking about the tongues used in your private devotional life. Instead, it is speaking of the spiritual gift of "divers kinds of tongues," used in conjunction with the gift of interpretation of tongues. These gifts operate by the unction of the Holy Spirit in the public assembly of believers.

Not everyone will be used in these two public gifts, but all can expect to pray in other tongues in their private devotional life. The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:5, "I would that you all pray in tongues......" and in 1 Corinthians 14:39, "and do not forbid to speak with tongues." In public worship, it is beneficial to speak in a language that all can understand (see 1 Corinthians 14:18-19). But in your private life, the Lord wants you to pray in tongues as well as with your understanding (I Corinthians 14:15), and to enjoy the wonderful benefits available to you.

This is not a gift for an exclusive few, but is available to every child of God.