Renner: Baptism in the Holy Spirit

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Speaking in Tongues

Speaking in Tongues
by Rick Renner

The Real You Is a Spirit

In John 4:24, Jesus said, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” You are created in the image of God (see Genesis 1:27). You are a spirit that has a soul and lives in a body (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23). What you see in the mirror is not the real you; the real you is your spirit that will live forever.

God is a Spirit and you are a spirit. What language does a spirit speak? Spirit speaks spirit. Just as a Russian speaks Russian, a German speaks German, and a Spaniard speaks Spanish, a spirit speaks spirit. Your spirit desires to speak to God in a spiritual language, not a natural language.

When we pray in tongues, we pray in the language of the spirit; our spirit is speaking directly to God. The spiritual language of tongues supersedes any human language. It is not just gibberish or noise. It is the language of the human spirit. But we can only speak this language of the Spirit when we are filled with the Holy Spirit — He gives us the “utterance” to do so. The Holy Spirit miraculously looses the “tongue” of our human spirit and we are able to speak directly to God without hindrance — spirit to Spirit.

Why Speak the Language of the Spirit?

One of the biggest reasons Satan stirs up fear and creates confusion over this topic is so we won’t communicate directly to God in a spiritual language. Although praying in our native language builds our mind and can help us discern the will of God, that language is limited. On the other hand, praying in the spirit in other tongues is limitless. Our spirit can express things that our mind can never express in our natural language. Therefore, when we shift from praying in our natural language to praying in our heavenly language, we shift into the highest, most supernatural level of prayer available.

In First Corinthians 14, we discover some of the important reasons why we speak in tongues. Verse 2 says, “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.” This indicates that when you speak in tongues — a spiritual language “unknown” to you in the natural — you bypass your mind and speak directly to God. It is spirit-to- Spirit communication.

This verse also says that when you speak in the language of the spirit, you speak “mysteries.” The moment you were saved, God’s plan for your life was deposited into your spirit by His Spirit. Your mind doesn’t know this divine plan. However, there is a way to move God’s plan from your spirit to your mind, and it is by praying in the spirit’s language. When you speak in tongues, you literally release the hidden secrets of God; you draw His will up out of your spirit and into your mind where you gain understanding.

Paul went on to say in First Corinthians 14:4, “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself....” The word “edify” is a Greek archi- tectural term that was used to describe increasing the size of an existing building. When a building was not big enough, a builder would break out its walls to expand the square footage. Paul uses this word “edifieth” to indicate that when we pray in tongues, we expand our spiritual walls, increasing our spiritual capacity.

Realize that Paul, whom God used to write these verses, said, “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all” (1 Corinthians 14:18). By speaking in tongues, Paul edified himself greatly. He greatly expanded his spiritual capacity and was able to take in so much revelation that he wrote nearly two thirds of the New Testament.

Humbly Exercise Your Privilege
If you speak in tongues, you should never make those who don’t speak in tongues feel inferior or like a second-class Christian. Nevertheless, if you don’t speak in tongues, you are missing something amazing that God has made available for you. You might ask, “Do I have to speak in tongues to go to Heaven?” No.
“Do I have to speak in tongues to have a relationship with God?” Again, the answer is no.
The truth is, you don’t have to speak in tongues — you get to speak in tongues. It is a privilege of spirit-to-Spirit communication, the high-
est level of interaction with God that is available! If you want a greater spiritual capacity, begin speaking the language of the spirit with greater regularity. If you have not been baptized in the Holy Spirit but would like to be, begin to seek God and ask Him to pour out His Spirit into your life (see Luke 11:9-13; Acts 2:38, 39).

Rick Renner