Q & A, I

1 Cor.12:^{4 &11} “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all… It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.”

When you pray in tongues you charge yourself up spiritually like a battery. When you pray in tongues you pray from your spirit. When you pray in tongues your prayer is dictated and directed by the Holy Spirit. When you pray in tongues you operate instantly in the spirit realm. When you pray in tongues you position yourself to access the interpretation. And when you pray in tongues you can pray for long hours like Jesus did. We are going to pause here to answer some of the questions that might be on our minds.

#1. How does one graduate in speaking in tongues, from monosyllables to a complete language? The first thing you need to know is there is actually nothing wrong with that. But there are always deeper levels in God. So, it is good to desire to have a complete language set than just speaking a monosyllable tongue. The same way you received the baptism of the Holy Spirit is usually the same way to break out in other tongues. The hunger has to be there, and you go to God to pray and boom God will help you. You can get it also from the laying on of hands.

When I got saved, I got baptized in the Holy Spirit by reading a book. I did not trust what the people on campus were doing. How can you be teaching someone how to speak in tongues? It did not sound right so I did not want to go with them. And as I was reading a book alone in my room and boom, I was baptized in the Holy Spirit. But I had a limited language set also and then there was this vigil at the sports centre at the University of Lagos. A man of God came, and he made a call and described my situation, and I came forward. I remember the song clearly, it was ‘breathe upon me breath of God, breathe upon me Spirit of God, as I lift my hands and surrender to Your Name‘. Boom! It was like an eruption; I have not recovered since then. It is just beautiful. He is my senior ministry friend today.

Is it possible for someone to desire a certain gift, ask God for the gift and not get it? Is that a pointer that the gift is not for you? When the bible talks about tongues, they are two distinct operations, both from the Holy Spirit. The first is the gift of other tongues, the gift of other tongues is a prayer language that you can pray at will and there is the diversity of tongues. The gift of other tongues and the diversity of tongues can both be interpreted. However, the gift of the interpretation of tongues is like the diversity of tongues described in 1 Corinthians 12. The believer does not control it, that comes as the Spirit breathes upon the situation. So, when someone asks for the interpretation of tongues, it is not going to be controlled by the believer like the believer controls other tongues. It comes as an inspired gift as the Holy Spirit inspires.

Prayer [song]: Breathe upon me, breath of God. Breathe upon me, sweet Spirit of the Lord. As I lift my hands in surrender to Your Name. Most High I’m yielding to Your Spirit. I’m walking in Your love. Jesus I adore, Jesus I adore, Jesus I adore Your Holy Name. Amen!