Day 18 28 Days To Confidence In Prayer
Take a deep breath, we’re going in deeper. Today we will be talking about something which I know is controversial. There are many Christians who try to say that this experience is not for today, but rarely will you find someone who has had the experience who will say that. So let’s get to it.
After I committed my life to the Lord in 1979, my prayer life increased. Very often, after my children were asleep, I would spend time praying and reading God’s Word. One night as I was praying out loud, something unusual happened. I began to babble in what seemed to be a primitive language. I was shocked! I had heard of others having that experience, so I knew what it was. I was “praying in tongues.” (Some people call it “receiving their prayer language.”) I had been baptized with the Holy Spirit. It was mind-boggling to me at the time.
Now many people will use glowing terms when they tell about their first encounter with the Holy Spirit. They will make it sound like they had entered into the heavenlies for an experience. I’m sure that happens with some, but not with me. It scared me.
I had never heard anyone pray in tongues, so I didn’t know what it might sound like. I knew that the disciples in the book of Acts had spoken in other languages. But that was then and this was now! I knew that I had been under a lot of pressure, and I was afraid that I was “losing it!”
I told no one of the experience and decided that I didn’t want that. About three months later, a dear friend came to visit and we were sharing about God. I told her about the experience. She was amazed. She had received her “prayer language” many months before and it had greatly increased her closeness to God. She went on, “It’s such a wonderful gift from God, I can’t believe that you have received your prayer language and don’t want it!”
That night after she had left I got very still before God. I repented for not receiving His gift, if that’s what it was! Then I said, “If tongues is something which you want for me and something which will help me, I want it. Please baptize me in your Spirit again.” Before the night was through, I was again “praying in tongues.” I knew that Romans 8 says that when we are praying in tongues we are praying according to the will of God, so I held several urgent needs up before Him. I lifted my hands, spoke the requests, and babbled in tongues. All of the requests were dramatically answered before the week was out. I was sold!
Many years have passed since that halting start of my new life, but now I can’t imagine trying to have a powerful prayer life without tongues. There have been countless times when the Lord would wake me in the middle of the night and impress upon me that I needed to pray. I would get up and go into my den. I didn’t know what or for whom I was praying, so I would pray in tongues. The next day or two would often reveal an emergency which was averted in the lives of my children or other loved ones. Even after my children were away from home, this would happen. Sometimes I never knew what the prayers were about, but sometimes I would discover a very dramatic turn of events – which I knew came as a result ot the prayers.
ICorinthians 14:4 says that if anyone prays in tongues, he edifies himself. That means he builds himself up in the spirit, or he brings enlightenment to himself. When someone spends time praying in tongues, he is better able to understand the Word. And he also better hears God’s voice. There is a reason that Paul said, “I’m glad that I pray in tongues more than you all.” (I Corinthians 14:18)
Everyone who has received their prayer language and truly yielded to the Holy Spirit will have their own testimonies. In my own life, there have been too many experiences to relate here. Times of new understnding, greater faith, answered prayer, healings, knowing certain things about people so that I could pray for them, having messages from God to give to people, and the list goes on and on.
As always, God’s Word is true. If we want the best God has to offer for us, we can’t be led by what we see around us. Just because someone else hasn’t received the experience doesn’t mean it isn’t available. Our standard ahould be God’s Word, even when it seems different from all that is around us.
Today try to spend time with God and His Word. Read I Corinthians 14:4, 18; Jude 20, Mark 16:17. Pray for God to open your eyes to His best for you. If you already have your prayer language, pray in tongues a lot today. If you don’t, ask God for the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.
We’ll talk more about this tomorrow. Be sure to leave your comments, if you would like.
