Holy Spirit – Part 3

(2 Corinthians 13:14 TLB) May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. May God’s love and the Holy Spirit’s friendship be yours.

(1 Corinthians 12:1 BBE But about the things of the spirit, my brothers, it is not right for you to be without teaching.

Benefits of Praying In Other Tongues (Last Week)

  • Tongues is primarily for a believer’s own personal, spiritual edification.
  • God has given us a divine means by which we can speak directly to Him supernaturally.
  • Praying in other tongues is praying in line with God’s perfect will.
More Benefits of Praying In Tongues
  • Speaking in tongues helps us to stay aware of the Holy Spirit’s presence.

(John 14:16-17 NKJV) And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever– (17) the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

Amplified – He will be with you constantly and soon will be in you.

When we are more aware of His presence, we are less likely to lose our temper, or say or do other things in the flesh.

  • Praying in tongues will stimulate your faith.

Stimulate – encourage development and increase activity

(Jude 1:20 NKJV) But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,

Faith does not come by praying in the Spirit; it comes by hearing the Word.

How does it stimulate our faith? The very act of praying in other tongues requires faith.

Some of us (who love God and believe His Word) are having problems receiving answers to prayer simply because we are not activating our faith on a consistent basis.

Just as physical exercise causes us to feel better and become more alert physically, this spiritual exercise does the same thing for us.

Testimonies of people receiving physical healing as they were baptized in the Holy Spirit and began to pray in other tongues.

  • Praying in tongues gives spiritual refreshing.

(Isaiah 28:11-12 NKJV) For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, (12) To whom He said, “This is the rest with which You may cause the weary to rest,” And, “This is the refreshing…”

There is a rest that is available to us through praying in the Spirit. As we know, sometimes rest is what we need to get well of what is ailing or troubling us.

  • Praying in tongues will help you get your tongue under control.

(James 3:6-8 NKJV)  And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.  [7]  For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.  [8]  But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

James did not say that the tongue could not be tamed or brought under control. James said that no man can tame the tongue.

Some have trouble controlling the parts of our flesh that get us in trouble sexually, but actually God is more concerned about you taming the tongue because it can cause more damage. If you can control the tongue, you are able to get the other parts under control.

(James 3:2 NKJV) For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.

  • Praying in tongues will aid you in worshipping God.

(1 Corinthians 14:15-17 CEV)  Then what should I do? There are times when I should pray with my spirit, and times when I should pray with my mind. Sometimes I should sing with my spirit, and at other times I should sing with my mind.  [16]  Suppose some strangers are in your worship service, when you are praising God with your spirit. If they don’t understand you, how will they know to say, “Amen”?  [17]  You may be worshiping God in a wonderful way, but no one else will be helped.

We need to develop a vocabulary of worship from the Word of God in our known tongue.

Worshipping in Spirit is a powerful thing that God gives us because sometimes you run out of what to say in your known language.

This will cause us to become intimately aware of the presence of God on an ongoing basis.

  • Praying in tongues is a means of magnifying God.

(Acts 10:45-46 NKJV) And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. (46) For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered,

The Greek word for “magnify” means to make great or enlarge.

By praying in the Spirit, we make God bigger in our thinking.

(God does not get bigger but He becomes bigger to us.)