In part one of this message I spoke of the power within us, that enables us to partake of the abundant life that Christ has promised.
Jesus said that we would receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon us, so as to be His witnesses. We all have different types of ministries and this power can enhance whatever we set our hands too. I remember when I worked as a commercial artist, how praying in the Spirit would give me design ideas that were beyond the natural.
In these days of great shaking, its important to know this power within and how to release it, for there is not a lot of encouragement coming from the world around us. We have the Kingdom of God within. I’m sure there are other ways to draw upon His power, but the bible says that Speaking in Tongues is one of the most effective ways to release this power from within.
Tongues is like a primer that draws this power out. For many Christians, tongues is only a reminder that we are filled with the Spirit and sometimes have a flutter on Sundays during the singing. This is not how it’s meant to be, for tongues is something that we should be using all the time. It’s an effective way of communicating with God and drawing from His strength all day long, without our minds getting in the way. It’s a Spirit thing. In other words you don’t need to go into the prayer room to do it, its available right now.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:14 “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.”
The Apostle Paul also said that he spoke in tongues all the time.
“I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all.” 1 Corinthians 14:18
So Paul is saying that he spoke more in tongues than all the Corinthian Church combined, and they weren’t a conservative bunch either. He is not speaking about being audible in the Church for when you look at all he says in 1 Corinthians 14 he discourages tongues being spoken in public meetings unless it is to be interpreted. From what I can see and have experienced myself, tongues is to be used by Spirit filled Christian as a source of releasing inner strength and illumination everyday. There is a power within that can be stirred up in God’s Children that helps us partake of the abundant life.
In 2 Timothy 1:6. it says that we must stir up the gift that is within. This is the gift that was promised by the Father, and that is the Holy Spirit, the power of God.
1 Corinthians 14:4 says “He who speaks in a tongue edifies (encourages) himself.”
Knox' translation says,” May strengthen his own faith."
The Berkeley translation says "He that speaks in a tongue improves himself".
In Jude 20 it says. “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.”
Praying in tongues not only edifies and builds us up but strengthens our faith, as we see in Jude 20. I often get people asking me to pray that their faith would rise and I say that I only know of 2 ways to do this. Jude 20 tells us that praying in tongues builds up our faith and Romans 10:17 says that hearing and speaking God’s word does the same.
“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”
Hearing God’s word builds up our faith and even though we don’t understand what is being said when we pray in tongues it doesn’t mean that tongues isn’t the word of God, as tongues are the words of the Holy Spirit. If a Chinese man read out the Bible in Church and you didn’t understand what he said, doesn’t mean that it wasn’t God’s word, does it? This is why tongues builds up our faith and ministers to our spirits for they are supernatural words from God.
From my original text in Ephesians 3:20. God can do far above what we ask or think according to His power within. As we pray in tongues along with speaking God’s word we release His life from within and begin to see the great potential that we have in Christ. If we don’t release this power we will live lives that are far below their potential. I will conclude this message in Part 3 on how this power can illuminate our minds.