Tongues as a Wonderful Gift

( Continuation in Joyce Meyer's book " Filled with the Spirit" )

I thank God that I speak in [ strange] tongues ( languages) more than any of you or all of you put together.
- 1 Corinthians 14:18

This passage tells us that Paul was grateful for the wonderful privilege of praying in tongues, and he practiced it a great deal in his life.

So should you and I. Once we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, we can speak or pray in tongues anytime we choose. We don't have to wait for some special feeling to come over us and move us to do so. Just as we can pray in our native tongue anytime we choose, we can pray in tongues anytime we choose, but the two ways of praying are not the same.

In 1 Corinthians 14:15 Paul clearly shows that praying with the spirit ( by the Holy Spirit ) is not the same as praying with the understanding: Then what am I to do? I will pray with my spirit [ by the Holy Spirit that is within me], but I will also pray [intelligently] with my mind and understanding...The great apostle Paul said that he prayed with his mind or understanding, but he also prayed with his mind or understanding, but he also prayed with his spirit.

Of course, it is possible to pray Spirit-led prayers in your own native language, and that is a valuable and right thing to do. But that is not what Paul was talking about in this verse. When he said he prayed with his spirit, he meant that he prayed in other tongues.

Next.... "Have tongues Passed Away?"....