I’m going to be sharing one of my personal experiences and testimony today, mainly because I was convicted to.
I pray that God will use this testimony to bless and minister to you, in Jesus name. Amen.
Speaking in tongues. This is one of the more controversial gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Born and raised a Roman Catholic, I personally did not believe in tongues speaking at all. I figured whoever spoke in tongues was just talking gibberish. It made me laugh. I never payed much attention to it anyway because I hardly ever came across people who prayed in tongues, most Catholics do not believe in it.
So yeah, about two years ago I began to grow in my relationship with God. I developed a friendship with God (and this is another testimony) and I began to read my Bible more. Somehow, I became curious about speaking in tongues. It used to be so foreign to me, but not so much anymore. And I had friends who prayed it tongues, I was fascinated.
I took my Bible and read all there was on speaking in tongues (and the Bible has a lot to say on this). It was honestly very fascinating. I figured that if the Bible said it, then it is true and it is real.
And this is the point where I began to crave it.
1 Corinthians 12:13a
Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.
Oh, how I desired. I craved and I desired and I prayed. I told God that if speaking in tongues was really of Him, then I wanted to. I prayed for months, but I didn’t get an answer. I didn’t speak in tongues.
After a while, I just gave up. Maybe speaking in tongues just wasn’t the will of God for Catholics like me. Maybe God requires a certain kind of person to speak in tongues – someone overtly spiritual, someone that wasn’t me.
But you know what? God surprised me. It was the first Sunday of my second semester in university, I was at church service. We were worshipping, and the minister was leading this song – Here I am to worship. I don’t think I could ever forget.
I was singing and worshipping and all of a sudden I began to speak in a new tongue. I couldn’t shut up. My mind kept saying – “Somto, shut up” “You’re speaking gibberish, people might hear you” but my mouth refused to shut up. These strange words just kept coming out, and I couldn’t stop it. Wow.
Through it all, I learnt God’s timing is the best. And speaking in tongues is as real as you and I are.
How Speaking in Tongues Impacts Me
● It daily strengthens my relationship with God.
It gave me a new level of intimacy with God. When I pray in tongues, I’m speaking to God in a language no one else understands, it’s like I’m whispering secrets to Him. It’s like speaking to your best friend in a secret code you both devised – It brought me so much closer to God.
1 Corinthians 14:2 NIV
For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.
● It gives me the confidence that I am praying exactly what God wants me to pray about.
Romans 8:26
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
When I pray in tongues, I don’t know the words I’m saying. I surrender my prayers over to the Holy Spirit and He prays for and through me.
The Spirit of God searches the deep things of God, and no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2:10-11), and so I’m confident that when I pray in tongues, the Holy Spirit is praying the will of God for my life and the life of the people around me into manifestation. The Spirit of God searches the deep things of God and prays it into manifestation in my life. Glory!
● My prayer life has never been the same
Ever since God blessed me with the gift of speaking in tongues, my prayer life multiplied.
1 Corinthians 14:4a
Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves.
Speaking in tongues is like a spiritual work out. It has kept me sensitive and in tune with the Spirit of God. I’m able to discern more clearly. And I’m able to tarry in the presence of God. I’m able to spend more time in His presence. Glory.
If you desire the gift of tongues, ask God in faith. Be persistent in prayer.
And if you already have the gift of speaking in tongues, use it. Pray in tongues at every chance you get.
Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you in all that you do.
Remain blessed.
SOMTOCHUKWU 