Keeping Your Spirit’s Language Active

Following a Sunday morning service, an elderly brother approached me.

            “Pastor, I desperately need to speak with you this week.  Can I make an appointment to come by your office?”

            “It would be my pleasure.  Please call the office tomorrow and my secretary will set the time.”

            On arriving at my office on Tuesday morning, a note lay on my desk mentioning my appointment with Guy.  My dear friend was 87 years old.  Even though several physical frailties impaired him, his mind remained very sharp.  I looked forward to our time together.

            I loved this precious brother.  When my secretary let me know Guy had arrived, I arose from my desk, opened my office door and greeted him with an affectionate hug.

            After we sat down, Guy related that he received Jesus in the year 1919.  Then in 1937, he heard about the baptism into the Holy Spirit, accepted the gift, and spoke in tongues.

            “Pastor, in last Sunday’s message you indicated that we can continue using tongues after we receive the baptism into the Holy Spirit.  I’ve never heard that before, and I’m not sure I believe it.  You see I haven’t prayed in tongues since 1937.”

            “Brother Guy, you know the Scriptures very well.  You’ve taught Bible classes for years and probably read the Bible through more times than you can count.  Well, which scripture tells us that we can’t use the prayer language after initially receiving the baptism into the Holy Spirit?”

            “I don’t know, Pastor, but this idea of choosing to use the prayer language is new to me.  Do you pray in tongues often?”

            “I’ve used my prayer language almost every day for about 26 years,” I responded.

 “My prayer language is an active and vital part of my life, Guy.” 

            Guy and I then reviewed many scriptures about the baptism into the Holy Spirit and the purpose of praying in tongues.  He felt sure that he had received the baptism into the Holy Spirit 57 years before that day we met in my office.  He then asked me to pray with him about using his prayer language.

            I stood at my friend’s side as he sat in my office.  I gently laid my hand on my brother’s forehead and prayed that the Lord would help him reactivate his unused prayer language.

            Gradually and very quietly, this 87-year-old Christian spoke to the Lord in English.  I urged him to not speak in any language known to his mind.  He graciously complied and spoke in languages supplied by the Holy Spirit.

            After this meeting, I frequently asked Guy if he had continued using his prayer language.

            “Definitely, Pastor.  Speaking in tongues doesn’t always feel comfortable, but I’m persisting in using this ability God gave me.”

A Cooperative Language

            We are human spirits housed in material bodies.  The new birth doesn’t change us physically because Jesus’ Spirit becomes one with our human spirit and transforms us into children of God.  Likewise, the baptism of the Holy Spirit united God’s spirit with the human spirit.  The two spirits become so blended that we are one with him. “He who unites himself with the Lord is one in spirit,” 1 Corinthians 6:17.  Acts 2:4 shows us the Holy Spirit uniting himself with human spirits.  As a result of this new union between the Holy Spirit and the human spirit, the believers spoke praise for God from their spirits as the Holy Spirit enabled them.

            In other words tongues is a cooperative language.  It’s neither the human spirit acting independently from the Holy Spirit nor the Holy Spirit acting independently of the human spirit.  When the Holy Spirit moves into the human spirit He brings his infinite vocabulary with him.  The Holy Spirit equips the human spirit with an inexhaustible vocabulary to praise God, to adore Him and bow at his feet in worship.  In other words, the Holy Spirit’s presence gives a voice to our human spirits so we can express our feelings for God beyond the limits of our brain’s word bank.  The precious Holy Spirit has never forced anyone to speak in tongues.  That isn’t his style or his nature.  We must cooperate with the Holy Spirit by choosing to speak words unknown to our minds.  This choice to speak from the human spirit is an act of faith in the Holy Spirit.

            James 2:22 describes cooperation between the divine and the human.  “His faith and his actions were working together and his faith was made complete by what he did.”  So, by faith we ask God to baptize us with the Holy Spirit.  However, he cannot fill us with the Spirit until we are willing to cooperate by combining our faith with actions.  We speak words that sound strange to our minds because they did not originate in our intellect.  These words well up from the human spirit as the Holy Spirit provides the energy and vocabulary.

            After initially experiencing the baptism into the Holy Spirit and tongues we are free to continue choosing to speak from our spirit in whom the Holy Spirit dwells.  As we choose to cooperate with the Holy Spirit he floods us with divine ability to express our ardent love for Jesus, our admiration of his perfections and thankfulness for his mercy.

Becoming Comfortable With Speaking From Your Spirit

            Some missionary friends of ours enrolled in a Spanish language school located in South Texas near the Mexico border.  The wife struggled with language acquisition.  Her husband suggested that during the Christmas holiday, they spend about two weeks in Mexico City.  Upon returning from this time in Mexico our friend’s wife spoke Spanish with a new confidence and freedom.  Surrounded by a totally Mexican environment she was forced to speak Spanish. Speaking the language felt forced at first, but her continual use of Spanish made speaking the language feel more and more comfortable.  It’s the same way with tongues.

            Speaking from the human spirit instead of the human mind isn’t natural.  Therefore, uttering words that are strange to our ears feels strange.  Nevertheless, as we persist in speaking from our spirits the experience of uttering words that originate in our spirit becomes more natural and therefore comfortable.

            Paul declared that he spoke to God from his spirit on occasion.  Other times he spoke to God from his mind.  He did not regard speaking from his spirit in tongues or speaking a familiar language from his mind as contradictory.  He viewed speaking from the Spirit and speaking from the mind as complimentary.  He needed both ways of communing with God, fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit and interceding with the saints.  Why don’t we emulate this precious Apostle by keeping our spirit’s language active?