4 Reasons to Pray in Tongues

Written by Will Hampton 

Cold & Powerless – On January 11, 2007 Springfield, MO was hit hard by an ice storm that knocked out the power to 80,000 homes. My wife and I quickly discovered how much we appreciate power and how much we took it for granted till we lost it. Without electricity we had no lights, no stove, no fridge, no clocks, and worst of all in the middle of January NO HEAT! We camped out in the living room as close to the fireplace as possible and waited for the power company to get the electric flowing again. By the end of our seven-day ordeal we were sick, cold, hungry, and in desperate need of a good shower.

If you live in America your lifestyle is probably totally dependent on electricity. We have no idea how to live without it. In much the same way God never intended for us to to have cold and powerless prayer lives. He intended for us to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and live a life of Spirit dependency. In fact he told the disciples NOT to leave Jerusalem until they had been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven 120 disciples where baptized in the Holy Spirit and they all spoke in tongues. We should pray in tongues so often that we would have no idea how to live without it.

I find that many people choose to ignore praying in tongues and would rather pray without the gift of power that God promised us. As shocking as it was for me to live for a week without power and heat, people willingly do so in their prayer life. That is why the words cold and powerless describe so many of us when it comes to prayer.

4 reasons you should pray in tongues: 

1. Praying in tongues is powerful prayer. When we pray in tongues we pray in accordance to the will of God. Anything that we pray for in accordance to God’s will, we know we have it. We receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on us! When we pray in the natural our prayer can be full of doubt. When we pray in tongues there is an authority that comes from God because it is done in accordance to his own will.
2. Praying in tongues is intercessory prayer. We don’t know what we are praying for but the Spirit of God is using us to intercede for needs all over the world. When we pray in our own language we can get distracted or pray selfishly. We also don’t know what the needs are that we ought to be praying for. When we pray in the Spirit we are able to strategically advance the Kingdom in partnership with the King.
3. Praying in tongues is passionate prayer. We are baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire. When we pray our inner man is built up. For many people prayer can be a chore. Praying in tongues is rarely a chore. My experience has been that it doesn’t take long for me to pray in tongues before my spirit man is built up, and I am ready to rumble!
4. Praying in tongues is gateway prayer. Every gift of the Spirit that is listed in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 is exercised with the same spirit dependency that we develop when we regularly pray in tongues. The Holy Spirit will use us in all the gifts of the Spirit according to the various opportunities we encounter as we serve to bless others. Praying in tongues helps us to learn Spirit dependency that allows us to access other gifts.

When we pray in tongues we don’t have to be cold and powerless, we can be hot and powerful. There never needs to be a day that you are spiritually sick, cold, and hungry. Pray as often as possible in tongues. It is a better version of prayer than you can imagine.

What are some other benefits of praying in tongues? What do you think?

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Will Hampton is the lead pastor of Two Rivers Assembly in Binghampton, NY. He and his wife, Crystal, founded Two Rivers in 2013 with 25 crazy team members. Pastor Will holds a Master of Organizational Leadership degree from Evangel University along with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Missions & Bible from Central Bible College. Pastor Will is an extraordinary communicator, talented leader, and visionary. He believes in speaking the timeless truth of God in a life-giving and relevant way.