We’ve talked about why the gift of tongues, as used in our private prayer language, is so vital to living a powerful Christian life. It produces health in our bodies, thoughts, and emotions. It is one of the weapons of our spiritual warfare, is the seventh piece of the armor mentioned in Ephesians 6, and enables us to pray perfect prayers according to God’s will. It produces a communion between God and us that causes us to walk in greater faith, wisdom, understanding, and discernment. And, combined with the interpretation of tongues, it helps us to hear God’s voice.
The question we might ask at this point is, “Why would I not want to pray in tongues?”
I would like to encourage those of my readers who have not yet received their prayer language to press God for it until you do receive it. It is not that He is unwilling to give it to us; it is that some of us have a harder time than others in pressing past our own issues to get to the point of yielding. Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “… He [God] is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him,” and Psalm 84:11 promises, “… No good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” As the saying goes, anything worth having is worth fighting for. Great men of God, such as John G. Lake and Smith Wigglesworth, have struggled to receive their prayer language, yet they refused to give up until they received the promise, and they were not disappointed.
For those of you who already have your prayer language, may I encourage you to use it abundantly? You can train yourself into the habit of praying in tongues (in a whisper, if you like) while you work around the house, drive your car, and do other everyday tasks. After awhile, it becomes so natural to pray in your prayer language, that you do not consciously make a decision to do it, and you may have been praying for some time before you become aware of it. It enables us to be in constant communion with the Lord throughout our day. It’s one of the ways to bring ourselves closer to Paul’s command to “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
Paul commented, “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than you all” (1 Corinthians 14:18). If the prayer language was important to Paul, it should be treasured and nurtured by us, too.
[...] Previous: The Power of Your Prayer Language (Part 5) Next: The Power of Your Prayer Lanugage (Part 7) [...]
Pingback by The Power of Your Prayer Language (Part 6) « Out of the Fire — March 31, 2008 @ 6:08 pm |
Do you believe the Bible is the complete word of God?
Comment by Standing Solus Christus — April 4, 2008 @ 7:58 pm |
Yes, I do believe the Bible is the complete word of God, in the sense that it is the only infallible word of God. It can be trusted completely. However (and I can guess where you are coming from), I do believe that God still speaks personally to His children today through the prophetic gifts, including visions, dreams, the inner voice, impressions, and personal revelation through a Scripture verse coming to our attention. None of these are as reliable as the Bible itself. We can make mistakes in hearing God, but the Bible is without error.
(Lest anyone wants to dispute the Bible’s inerrancy, I mean that the original text is without error. Transcriptions of the original word have some minor problems of little consequence, and no translation is perfect. This is understood by most Christians, when we talk about the Bible being without error.)
I have about 40 years behind me of hearing God speak to me personally, and it is a wonderful thing to know Him and receive His guidance on such intimate terms. I cannot imagine living without that kind of personal contact with Him. It must be pretty lonely!
I am well aware that some Christians believe that we can only receive guidance and light from the Bible in a general kind of way, and that they choose to believe that those of us who hear more personally from the Lord are loopy. Bless all of you who think that way! — but I don’t agree. We can still love each other.
Comment by Lee Ann Rubsam — April 5, 2008 @ 2:52 am |
You guessed correctly…I believe God only speak to us today through the Bible. My latest post was about this topic and I found your blog through one of the tags that I linked too. (Take a look if you have time, I’ve even had some interaction from a friend on the topic.)
So I guess I would be taking the total opposite position that you would hold.
You say that this other extrabiblical revelation is still available today. How do you know it is God speaking? What does His voice sound like?
Do you think the Bible really supports this view?
Comment by Standing Solus Christus — April 5, 2008 @ 8:04 am |
How do I know it is God speaking …
Well, when you know Him, you know His voice — just like when you love a person on earth dearly, when you hear his or her voice, you know it. You are tuned in to it. It’s something you are always listening for, and that’s the way it is in a love relationship with the Lord.
Jesus talked about it in John 10:4, 5 — “And when He puts forth His own sheep, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him; for they know not the voice of strangers.”
It’s a journey, learning to be very accurate in hearing His voice. It’s possible to make mistakes about it — just like sometimes you might hear a voice quite similar to that of the person you love, and if you’re not listening carefully, you might get fooled momentarily. But on the whole you know that voice. And if we do miss hearing Him accurately on occasion, He promises to pull us back in line. Isaiah 30:21 says, “And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it’ when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left.” God desires for us to hear Him accurately, even more than we desire it.
He never intended for people to stop listening for Him to talk with them. You have probably heard God here and there, and just didn’t recognize that it was Him speaking, because you don’t expect Him to do it. Have you ever read a Scripture verse, and it just quickened something in your spirit, or it sort of leaped off the page, and seemed to be just right for your need right then? That’s one of the ways He speaks. That’s a good place to start.
I think spending lots and lots of time reading the Word makes a huge difference in hearing Him accurately when He speaks in the inner voice.
The other thing that hones our hearing is spending huge amounts of time in His Presence in prayer — worshipping, yielding completely to His will, and asking Him questions and expecting Him to answer.
The inner voice is like a thought that goes through your mind that isn’t from yourself. Or you might feel it deeper, like it’s coming from within your spirit. Different people describe it in different ways.
You get so you can tell the difference between hearing your own thoughts, and hearing God’s voice inside. The devil tries to jam our minds with his thoughts, sometimes, too, but it sounds different than God does. God doesn’t tear down, or bring fear or doubt, and He doesn’t pander to our selfish motives.
As we hear God speak to us, and then see what He has said bear out over and over again, that helps to give us confidence that we have really been hearing Him along the way. I’ve had God tell me some phenomenal things about my future, and then it didn’t look like those things could ever happen. When He speaks destiny-type things into us, our faith gets tested. But when what He has said happens, you just feel so thankful for how faithful He is. He’s faithful to back up His Word in the Bible, and faithful to back up His personal words to us, too.
But of course, it always has to be in agreement with the Bible.
Hope that helps some!
Comment by Lee Ann Rubsam — April 5, 2008 @ 11:11 am |
How do you reconcile this view with Deuteronomy 29:29?
Comment by Standing Solus Christus — April 10, 2008 @ 8:03 am |
Deuteronomy 29:29 — “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
I think Scripture itself probably answers this question best. Although the secret things belong to the Lord, He shares them with those who delight in being close to Him:
Proverbs 3:32 — “… his secret is with the righteous.”
Psalm 25:14 — “The secret of the LORD is with those who fear him; and he will show them his covenant.”
As far as the second part of Deut. 29:29, “those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever,” God says in Isaiah 42:9 — “Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Amos 3:7 says, “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, without revealing his secret unto his servants the prophets.”
Joel 2:28, 29 says, “… I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.” The Apostle Peter, in Acts 2:16-18, took that word from Joel and applied it to what was happening on the day of Pentecost. He said the prophet Joel was speaking of “the last days.” “The last days” have not yet come to a close, and we are currently seeing God “pour out His Spirit upon all flesh” in as great or greater a measure than He did among the early Church. More of God’s people across the earth are receiving the prophetic word and dreams and visions than at any other time in history. Although not all of these people hold the office of a prophet per se, it seems to be the heritage of God’s children in these last days to be a prophetic people, who would likely fit the mold of what Amos 3:7 is talking about.
So, those are a few ideas that came to mind, based on the Scripture verses listed.
Comment by Lee Ann Rubsam — April 10, 2008 @ 11:14 am |
[...] over and above the simple Gospel, which is all that ordinary spirits can understand, there is a secret, higher knowledge reserved for an elite. It is natural enough for people to ask more questions [...]
Pingback by Lord’s Day Quote: Harold O.J. Brown « Standing Solus Christus — April 13, 2008 @ 7:49 pm |
Well, I am certainly not one to propose that the secrets of the Lord are only for the “elite” in the Body of Christ. In God’s eyes, there ARE NO elite. The Holy Spirit wants to share His secrets with anyone who chooses to revere Him and seek Him out. In our day, when every Christian has the Holy Spirit dwelling within in some measure, we all have revelation available to us (Amos 3:7) — if we want it. We can have as much of God as we want. He is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34), and He desires intimate relationship with each one of us.
Paul encouraged the Corinthians, “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy” (1 Corinthians 14:1). He also said, “Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy” (1 Corinthians 14:5). Yes, it is “whosoever will,” all right! For those who don’t want to, bless you!
Since this dialogue is going on between a Calvinist and myself, I’d like to state that I have no problem with either electionism or the view of man having a free choice. Both of those doctrines are clearly outlined in the Bible. Both are true, and God is able to join the two together in perfect harmony. The problem is with men. We tend to see things from a limited viewpoint, instead of understanding that God is multi-faceted.
Very likely, from this point on, I won’t be taking much time to comment on the question of whether revelation still goes on today or whether it ceased with the original apostles. I think I’ve stated my personal viewpoint, as I see it from the Scriptures, adequately.
If anyone else wants to duke it out between the Calvinistic/reformed theology and free-will theology, that’s your privilege.
Comment by Lee Ann Rubsam — April 14, 2008 @ 7:17 am |
Thank you so much…. I’ve needed to hear these words….
Comment by Ann Dumais — September 28, 2009 @ 11:44 am |