INTRODUCTION
“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all….to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, …” 1 Corinthians 12: 10.
1 Corinthians 12-14 makes it very clear that praying in tongues is one of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit and not some strange and useless phenomenon that the Corinthians contrived and sneaked into the church when God wasn’t looking. God placed this gift in the church as a practical and useful tool in the believer’s prayer life. Therefore, we must ask the question, “What does this mean for me?” This question should be answered in the articles that will be posted to this site in the days ahead.
In contemporary Christianity praying in tongues is often misrepresented, abused, ignored, and misunderstood. The traditional Pentecostal churches have tended to practice it only during an emotional high during worship services while failing to recognize it as a regular part of their daily and normal prayer life. Traditional denominational and evangelical churches have avoided the subject altogether or spoken harshly against the gift as a reaction to what they consider strange behavior in those who practice it. It is important, therefore, that we form our understanding based on principles expressed in the Bible verses themselves rather than forming our beliefs as a reaction to abuses. To form a doctrine on any subject, one must look at everything the Bible has to say on that subject and formulate a position that encompasses all the related scripture verses without excluding any. We err when we accept verses that support our position while ignoring or rejecting the verses we don’t like. This study will take into consideration all the related verses both positive and negative. Our goal is to understand what the New Testament Christians experienced and make that experience our own.
My objective is not to argue with or prove anything to those who disagree, but rather to encourage those who are already favorably disposed and to give them a clearer understanding of the very practical, useful, and spiritual purposes God intended when He set this manifestation of the Holy Spirit into the church. This study will help us understand its role in helping the believer to grow in spirit and enter the presence of God in a deeper experience of intercessory prayer and praise. We will see that praying in the Spirit is a positive and wonderful tool placed in the church by God Himself. We will discuss the nature and purpose of tongues and will attempt to answer many of the typical questions that are usually asked.
I will present this subject in a number of installments. I hope you will follow with me to the end of the series.
Billy Long
4 comments:
Oh great, Billy! I am your first comment and I offer a (mildly) negative observation. As you know, coming out of a Pentecostal experience myself, I agree strongly that speaking in tongues is "a" manifestation of the presence of the Holy Spirit, although I have parted company with my Pentecostal brethren over the position that it is "the" initial manifestation of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and, more significantly, the teaching that a believer has not been baptized in the Holy Spirit if he has not spoken in tongues. I also cannot agree with my Nazarene colleagues that the gift of tongues is still operative in the Church today but ONLY as the God-ordained capacity to speak in a known language that is foreign (unknown) to the speaker. As Oral typically referred to it, my conception of tongues is its use as a "prayer language" known only to the Holy Spirit, not to a non-English speaking listener. (Although I have to say I have trouble backing that up with scripture.) Lastly, and perhaps this is just semantics, but where I differ ever so slightly with your article is what appears to be treating prayer in "tongues" and prayer in "the Holy Spirit" as synonymous terms. I have no issue with the very real possibility that a person praying in the Spirit will simultaneously pray in tongues, but I have so often been present when someone prayed in the Spirit of God without speaking in tongues that I cannot discount that reality. So I guess, altogether, you could say I am all over the board on this subject~! I love you, brother.
Lowell Peterson
Lowell,
I don’t think you and I disagree on any of the issues you brought up.
I believe that people can be filled with the Holy Spirit without speaking in tongues.
I also believe that praying in the Holy Spirit can be in your own language. Praying in tongues is just one aspect of praying in the Holy Spirit. I would say that all genuine prayer is in the Holy Spirit. The problem for me is that I can’t cover all the bases in a short blog post, especially in a post that is simply an intro to the subject. If I try to say too much in the intro, it will bog the readers down and most of them won’t come back. So I am having to resist my “teachers itch” that wants to explain everything all at once. I must save most of the stuff for later installments.
(From a technical perspective the phrase could be “praying in the Holy Spirit” or “praying in spirit.” It refers to the Holy Spirit praying through the human spirit. In Paul’s 1 Corinthian 14 context he seems to be speaking of praying in spirit (tongues) as opposed to praying with the mind (understanding). So the context determines what you mean. I know that praying in the Spirit occurs in all genuine prayer, but for this study I am using the narrower definition of praying by the Holy Spirit in tongues. I am using the phrase “praying in the spirit” so as not to use the word “Tongues” too excessively much, since that term carries some baggage for a lot of people in our culture.
Just so you’ll know where I am coming from, I have attached a copy of my full outline on the subject. You can look at it and see where I am on all aspects. I suspect we are on the same page for most of it.
Thanks for the comment.
Billy
Billy, I am so looking forward to this series of messages. All I know is that "speaking in tongues" is vital in my communicating with God. When I am at a loss for words, Holy Spirit seems to know what to say.
Billy, the opening blog was very encouraging. It rehearsed some things that I believe but need encouragement in. I believe that there is a great dearth of spirit-guided prayer and thus a large vacuum of God-centered thinking, God-conscious living and God-ordained priorities.
For me, I want reality - and I'm not really concerned with how it fits in the church scene today.
I look forward to your writings on this matter. Love you.
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