Imitate

Heb.6:¹² “Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.”

God wants us to follow the examples of those that have gone ahead of us. 1 Cor.14:¹⁸ “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than any of you.” This may sound like an arrogant statement, right? You know how sometimes you listen to people and you just know the person has not even started? That was where Paul was. You listen to people talk about spiritual gifts of prophesy and thank God for what God is doing in their lives. But you know they have not even started. That is what Paul was saying, he listens to all of them pray in tongues and none of them had even come close to him. In other words, “I pray in tongues more than you all.”

What we are taking from this is, if Paul prayed in tongues more than everyone in the Corinthian church, he was not trying to shut them down. Instead, he was urging them to follow his example. Paul was saying in other words, you will hear me using tongues to bamboozle people. Your sister or your brother offends you and you stand over their head and you are speaking in tongues. That is close to witchcraft, believe me! You cannot do that! It is more sacred than that. It is huge! We are going to look at fourteen of the benefits of praying in tongues. Obviously, there are more than fourteen but we are  going to focus on fourteen.

#1. When You Pray In Tongues You Charge Yourself Up Spiritually Like A Battery. For example, you are flat out, tired, and you have things to do but all you want to do is lie down and sleep. Take a few minutes to pray in tongues and pray in tongues, and before you know it, you are fired up again and ready to go. 1 Cor.14:⁴ “A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church.” In other words,

a person who speaks in tongues is charged up personally. Do you want to have an avenue in your spiritual work, when you are low, to deliberately charge yourself up? Most people do not know how to do it, they just wait for circumstances to bring them back up and different circumstances bring them back down. No; God wants you to be in control of life. If you feel flat out, there is a way to charge yourself back up. You pray in tongues.

#2. When You Pray In Tongues You Pray From Your Spirit. This is one of the things that makes people develop strong spirits. Praying in tongues is praying from your spirit. You are not praying from your mind, you are not praying from your flesh, you are praying directly from your spirit, from your heart. 1 Cor.14:¹⁴ “For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying…” Before any service, we spend time praying in tongues. Before you take on any endeavour, spend time praying in tongues. You are going for an interview or a negotiation, spend time praying in tongues. Just find a corner, sit down, and pray in tongues, pray it out loud.

Prayer: Father, I declare that I will pray in the spirit, and I will also pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, and I will also sing in words I understand, in Jesus Name. Amen!