 I want to share with you revelation about the gift of speaking in tongues, but here looking at Jude chapter 1, I want to draw a distinction between praying in tongues and praying in the Spirit. Jude 1, 20 and 21, but you beloved building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. Now, in the book of Jude chapter 1, the scripture is not referring to the gift that we understand as speaking in tongues. The scripture here is talking about the greater reality, which is praying in the Spirit. Now, obviously, I believe in the gift of speaking in tongues. I believe it's for today. I believe every Christian should be praying in tongues and so very much pro speaking in tongues. However, I've noticed that this particular verse is often misapplied and I'm not saying that's done intentionally, but it certainly is misapplied quite often because Jude 1, 20 and 21 is not a reference to that gift. It's talking about praying with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Now, there's actually something I wrote concerning this particular verse in my book, Praying in the Holy Spirit and praying in the Holy Spirit, Secrets to Igniting and Sustaining a Lifestyle of Effective Prayer. I'll be reading a few quotes from this book tonight. Let me show you here what the Holy Spirit revealed to me about praying in the Spirit. To pray in the Spirit is to desire an agreement with heaven, to speak aloud those petitions which originate in the will of the Father. True prayer in the Spirit begins in union with God. Praying in the Holy Spirit is praying in harmony with the will of the Holy Spirit, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and in the power of the Holy Spirit. So Romans chapter 8 verses 26 to 28 actually sheds more light on this reality. Verse 26, and the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for, but the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them. Now here again we see another portion of Scripture that's unintentionally misapplied because these groanings that cannot be expressed in words, that is not a reference, again that is not a reference to the gift of speaking in tongues. So Jude 1, 20 and 21 often referred to in the context of the gift of speaking in tongues when it's not about that. And the same is true of Romans chapter 8 verses 26, 27 and 28. Now why am I sharing these verses with you? Well, because even though these particular verses don't have anything to do specifically with the gift of speaking in tongues, they do paint for us a picture, the realities of the spiritual realm. What do I mean by that? Well, praying in the spirit that we see in Jude 1, 20 and 21 is basically to pray with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to pray flowing with the Holy Spirit, to pray in surrender to the Holy Spirit. So praying in the Holy Spirit, if I could put it this way, is like the overall category. Praying in the Spirit is to pray surrender because you know you can pray in the flesh. You know that if an atheist finds himself in a difficult or dangerous enough situation, he'll begin to pray, but he's praying out of fear. People of other religions pray, but to whom are they praying? They have eyes but cannot see, ears but cannot hear, mouths but cannot speak. There's no life in them. So we know that as believers we are praying to the one true God. So it's possible to pray in the flesh. It's possible to pray out of emotion. It's possible to pray out of a place of ego or from your own desires, from your own will, bent towards your own preferences. And so when you pray in this way, out of emotion, or out of the outer shells of who you are, then you're praying in the flesh. If I pray from my emotions, I'm not praying in the spirit. If I pray from my intellect, I'm not praying in the spirit. If I pray from a posture that I think is going to cause God to hear me, like lying down or standing up, if I think I have to enact a physical posture in order to connect with God, I don't understand the dynamics of the spirit. Now this is spiritual revelation. So if you want to catch this, you have to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal it to you because I can give you the information, but only the Holy Spirit can give you the revelation that brings transformation. And I'm laying a foundation here using the Scripture. So when I pray in the spirit, praying from the spirit is to pray from that place of surrender, to pray according to the will of God, which is to pray according to the word of God, to pray under the guiding hand of God. That is what it means, ultimately, the overall category, the bigger picture, to pray in the spirit. Now, praying in tongues is a form of praying in the spirit, in that when you pray in tongues, you're praying with the guidance of the spirit under the influence of the Holy Spirit according to the will of the Holy Spirit. But again, praying in the spirit is much bigger than that. So praying in the spirit can include tongues, but it's not specifically just about tongues. Now Romans chapter 8 verses 26, 27, and 28 reveals a startling reality. The Holy Spirit prays for you. Think about that. The Holy Spirit, who knows you like nobody else knows you, prays for you like nobody else can pray for you. He knows your thoughts. He knows your past. He knows your secrets. He knows your intentions. He knows your every flaw. He knows all of your strengths. And he prays for you in a way that no one else can pray for you. And I think what's key here is that the Scripture mentions that he prays for us in harmony or pleads for us believers in harmony with God's will. So in other words, the Holy Spirit, when he prays for us, he's praying in perfect alignment with the will of the Heavenly Father. So his prayers for you pull you into the purpose of God. And this is beautiful because when I pray in the spirit, I'm now aligning my prayers with what the Holy Spirit is praying. So to pray in the Holy Spirit is to pray in agreement. Ultimately, it's to pray in agreement with what the Holy Spirit is praying. If the Holy Spirit is praying, break off that relationship. I pray they break off that relationship. I pray they break off that relationship. And you're praying, God save this relationship. God save this relationship. God save this relationship. Well, you're not praying according to the Spirit. You may pray with emotion. You may pray with passion. You may pray with great desire. But if you're not praying in a way that aligns with what the Holy Spirit is praying, you're praying in the flesh. The Holy Spirit it may be praying Lord, help them to keep that job. Help them to keep that job. Help them to keep that job because maybe he's trying to teach you discipline. Maybe he's trying to teach you to build strong character. And you're just praying Lord, get me out of this job. Get me out of this job. Now, of course, I don't know your specific situation. I'm just giving you examples of ways that people could contradict the will of the Holy Spirit, ultimately the will of the Father. So when I pray, according to what the Holy Spirit is praying, and I'm praying in agreement with that, well, now I'm praying in the Spirit. I'm praying in who he is. I'm praying in alignment with his will because the Holy Spirit does have a will. So to pray in the Spirit, again, is that overall reality of praying in a way that aligns with the will of the Heavenly Father. Ultimately, that's what praying in the Spirit is. Now, granted, there is a portion of Scripture that refers to the gift of tongues as praying in the Spirit, but that's a different context here in Jude when the Scripture is talking about praying in the Spirit. It's talking specifically about praying in a way that's aligned with the Holy Spirit. And then Romans chapter eight, verses 26 to 28, of course, is laying some of the groundwork for the gift, but it's not specifically about the gift. It just paints for us, again, the picture that is the reality of the spiritual realm. So what's happening in the spiritual realm? What's happening in the spiritual realm is the Holy Spirit is praying for you. He's praying for God's desires. He's praying for God's will to be accomplished in your life. He's praying that your flesh doesn't get its way and that the Spirit gets its way. He's praying that not your will be accomplished, but God's will be accomplished. He's praying that your eyes would be open. He's praying that you would have discernment. He's praying that you would walk in holiness. You would be bold for your faith, that you would love people, that you would walk in forgiveness, and so forth. He's praying these things for you. And when you're praying, according to what he's praying, you're praying in the Spirit. Now, you are a body, soul, spirit. I have a body or I live in a body. I have a soul and I am a spirit. Now, if I pray again from the body, I think it's a posture. Well, if I lie down, maybe God will hear me. Or if I shout really loud, maybe God will hear me. Well, that's to pray from the physical realm. So you're still praying from the outer shell. Then I pray from the soul. I can pray based on how I'm feeling or I can pray based on what I'm thinking according to my own reasoning. Well, then now I'm just praying from the soul, which is still an outer shell of who I am. When I pray from the spirit, what I pray in the spirit begins to affect change in the soul and body. So I'm not saying that you can never think about God or understand what you're praying. I'm not saying that you can't feel his presence in your emotions and on your physical body. You can feel God in your emotions. You can feel God in your physical body. God can speak to you in a way that your rational mind understands so that you can apply what he's giving you to do. Of course, God speaks in those ways. Of course, God's presence affects those aspects of who we are. But if my prayers originate from those places, and this is the key, if my prayers originate from those places, I'm not praying in the spirit. My prayers in the spirit can affect the outer shells of who I am. But if my prayers begin in the outer shells of who I am, I'm praying in the flesh. Now that that's been established, let's take a look at what the gift of tongues is. In 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 17, the Bible gives us another amazing truth. But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. Now this is incredible because many believers are under the impression that they have two spirits. And really, even though 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 23 refers to body, soul, and spirit, you study this in a little more detail and the soul and spirit are actually very closely connected. So because I am of the spirit and one in spirit with the Holy Spirit, that directly affects the soul. It's not like it's compartmentalized in such a degree that the presence of the Holy Spirit in my spirit has zero effect on the outer shells of who I am. So the Bible is telling us here that I'm already one with him. Think about this. I'm already one with the Holy Spirit. What does the Bible say? But the person who is joined to the Lord, that's you, is one spirit with him, who's his spirit, the Holy Spirit. So now the Bible here is describing oneness with God. I'm not saying you are God. I'm not saying I am God. I'm saying that he's allowed us to be united with him in spirit. What a privilege. Now many people think of being united with God as maybe gluing something on a surface. No, no, that's not unity with God. Unity with God in spirit is more like taking two glasses of water and pouring them together into one pitcher. Once you pour those two glasses into one pitcher, that water mingles in such a way that one amount of water is indistinguishable from the other amount of water. You can't tell them apart. In fact, this is one of the things that you see at weddings. You'll see like a sand ceremony or a candle ceremony or a rope ceremony where they bring two objects together that become one. Those two flames becoming one, you can't distinguish them from one another. Those sands coming together, you can't really tell unless they're different colors. Which sand or grain of sand came from which jar? In the same way, when you pour two cups of water into one pitcher, that water merges in such a way that it is indistinguishable and it is inseparable. And this is the reality that's being described here in 1 Corinthians chapter six, verse 17. He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. So now my spirit joins with his spirit. You may think, oh, I have my sin nature. That's me. And then I have the Holy Spirit. So I have the spirit of sin in me and I have the Holy Spirit. No, no, no, my friend. You only have the Holy Spirit. You say then, who is that sin nature? What is that about? Well, that is not you. You are still responsible, of course. Like Paul writes, when I sin, I'm not the one sinning. But sin living in me, he's not saying that I'm not responsible for the decisions that I make. He's saying I don't identify with that part of who I am anymore. So that aspect of my nature, though it's being redeemed is still not a part of my identity anymore. That's the old me. And if I act in sin, I'm acting outside of my nature, not according to it. And so now I have this oneness with God. And this really is where prayer begins. This is where the spiritual gifts begin. This is where worship begins, revelation begins, boldness begins, all of it begins right here, this connection that you have with God. He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. Now watch this. 1 Corinthians chapter 14, verses two through four. For if you have the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking only to God since people won't be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the spirit, but it will all be mysterious. For one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them and comforts them. A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church. Now, maybe we'll take some time a little bit later to analyze this portion of scripture because often people misunderstand what Paul is saying here. He's not discouraging us from speaking in tongues. I'll share more on that later. And maybe we'll go over that particular portion of scripture. Now look at 1 Corinthians chapter 14, verse 14. For if I pray in tongues, watch this now, my spirit is praying. But I don't understand what I am saying. So there you see why I say that praying in tongues is a form of praying in the spirit. Why? Because I'm aligning with the Holy Spirit. I'm coming into that guiding hand of God when I pray. I'm surrendering myself to the rhythm of his prayers. Now watch this, let's put these truths together now. Romans 8, 26, 27, 28. Not about the gift of speaking in tongues. It is about the fact that the Holy Spirit prays for you. So the Holy Spirit is praying prayers for you. He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. So your spirit is one with the Holy Spirit. Watch this now. Your spirit prays with the Holy Spirit prays. Why? Because they're one. Your spirit agrees with what the Holy Spirit desires. Why? Because your spirit is one with him. So when I pray in tongues, the Bible says my spirit is praying. And if my spirit is connected to what the Holy Spirit is praying. If my spirit is praying in agreement with what the Holy Spirit is praying, then when I pray in tongues, I'm praying in alignment with the Holy Spirit. To pray in tongues is to allow the Holy Spirit to pray for you through you. That's why it edifies. That's why it brings such transformation. Because those realities of the spirit are accessed when I pray in tongues. Well, the scripture says clearly here. For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying. Well, the Bible can't get any clearer than that. So now I know that when I'm speaking in tongues, when I'm praying in tongues, I'm praying in a way that's perfectly united with what the Holy Spirit is praying. Now some may ask, well, why then do we even pray in the natural? Well, I think it's important that we learn to yield our prayers and our understanding and our intellect and our intentions to the will of God. And of course, the scripture also concludes that we ought to pray in tongues and pray with our understanding. So we're to do both. There's benefit to both. But here the Bible paints for us as you draw together the threads of these portions of scripture, the Bible begins to demonstrate for us an image, a picture of what's happening in the spiritual realm when you pray in tongues. So it's more than just making noises. Yes, that's the physical expression of the gift of speaking in tongues. But if you're just making noise, it's not the gift of tongues. However, it's not about necessarily the expression of it, though that is a major part of it, but the origination of the gift itself. So the question is where are those prayers coming from? If they're coming from your spirit and then coming out upon your mouth as these syllables and sounds, that's the gift of tongues. You cannot pray in tongues if you're not connected to the spirit. You can make noise, but you can't pray in tongues. It's possible to make noise and not pray in tongues, but it's not possible to pray in tongues and not be connected to the Holy Spirit. So we need both that inner connection as well as that outer manifestation. And the gift of tongues is the physical outer manifestation of that inner agreement that you have with the Holy Spirit. Now watch this, there are three different expressions of the gift of speaking in tongues. And the fact that people don't see these in scripture is actually what leads to a lot of confusion around this particular subject. In 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verses one through four, we're gonna read this again because I told you I would take a moment to possibly analyze this portion of scripture. Let's read it again and I wanna analyze what's being said here. A lot of people read this portion of scripture and they think that Paul the apostle is condemning the gift of tongues. Paul the apostle is not condemning the gift of speaking in tongues. He's comparing the gift of speaking in tongues with the gift of prophecy. 1 Corinthians 14 one through four, let love be your highest goal, but you should also desire the special abilities the spirit gives you, especially the ability to prophesy. For if you have the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking only to God since people won't be able to understand you. You will be, watch this now, here's what's being said and that's often overlooked. You will be speaking by the power of the spirit. So there's no denying that this is a powerful spiritual gift, but it will all be mysterious. Now watch this, by contrast, but the one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them and comforts them. A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally. So if anybody tells you that praying in tongues without an interpretation yields no benefit, the scripture differs from that point. That's a far reach used by many who just can't, they can't bring themselves to align with what they see as Charismania. But the point is that the scripture is very clear on this. The one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them and comforts them. A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally. Very clear there. But one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church. So Paul is not saying that speaking in tongues is bad. He's saying that prophesying is better. Paul is not saying that speaking in tongues has no benefit. He's saying that prophesying in the context of public church assembly has more benefit because it helps more people, it helps those around them. Now this is the first expression of the gift of tongues that I wanna reveal here. This is being described as something that can strengthen you personally. This is the personal gift. This is what you would refer to as your prayer language. And this is the expression of the gift that I believe every believer can operate in. Now not every believer can operate in the proof tongue which I'll show you in a moment. Not every believer can operate in the prophetic tongue which I'll show you in a moment. But here this particular expression of the gift is for believers. Tongues in general is for all believers. This particular expression is the one that all of us have and all of us at least have one of these expressions. So but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church. So he's talking about public assembly and of course edifying others. Now that's the first expression. And I'm gonna embolden the lines of distinction between these particular expressions in just a moment. But first let's go over each one. So first we have the personal tongue. Second we have the proof tongue. Acts chapter two verses four through six. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. Here's what we saw in Acts two. This gathering of the saints that gathered unbelievers and the unbelievers heard the saints speaking in their own language. At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. When they heard the loud noise everyone came running and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. Notice here no one had to stand up and interpret. Why? Because the listener was supernaturally empowered to hear the message in their own language that was being spoken through the gift. Now we don't know whether or not the individuals were actually speaking the languages or whether there was a supernatural intervention that caused the listener to be able to hear in their own language. Either way we do know that the gift of tongues was in operation here. And this is what you call the proof tongue. This is what's heard as a language. And then we see the prophetic expression. First Corinthians 14, 26 to 28. While my brothers and sisters let's summarize. When you meet together one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must strengthen all of you. No more than two or three should speak in tongues. They must speak at one time and someone must interpret what they say. But if no one is present who can interpret they must be silent in your church meeting and speak in tongues to God privately. Now this is the portion of scripture that's very often misapplied. So let's take a look at this. This is what I call the prophetic expression of the gift of tongues. Now you say, you may be asking David where do you get that terminology? The terminology is not in scripture but the distinctions are. And so I'm just using the terminology to help more clearly identify these distinctions. So there's the prophetic tongue. Now this is the particular expression of the gift of tongues that's to be used in the context of public church assembly. Imagine this. You go into a church service and you're an unbeliever. And you're sitting in the service and the pastor is preaching a sermon and every word is piercing your heart. The conviction of the Holy Spirit begins to intensify. You're being transformed by the word of God as it's being spoken in a way that you understand. You are benefiting from the preaching. And then someone stands up, interrupts the service, begins to speak out loud in tongues and completely take away from what you were receiving in that particular moment. Now imagine a church service where all anyone ever does is speak in tongues, the worship in tongues, the announcements in tongues, the preaching in tongues, the altar call in tongues. And hey, why not everybody speaking in tongues in the lobby afterwards for fellowship? Well, very few people would benefit from that because there would be no interpreters. All the apostle here is trying to bring order to the public church assembly and he's regulating the prophetic expression of the gift of tongues. This is the one that's used in public church assembly that commands the collective attention of all of those gathered. So somebody stands up, interrupts a church service, speaks in tongues. Yeah, they better have an interpretation because they interrupted a whole church service and everyone could have just been receiving from the sermon or from the worship or from the prayer instead of just being distracted by the gift of tongues with no interpretation. But this is not putting regulation on that personal gift, that personal prayer language where you're praying in tongues and being strengthened personally. So Paul here is simply trying to bring order to make sure that it's not all just praying in tongues that everyone's able to receive something when they gather. You have to take context into consideration. You have to look at the intention of the author. You have to look at why he was writing this particular portion of scripture. You can't just force your meaning upon it because you don't like the idea of people speaking in tongues in public because it makes you feel a little bit strange. No, you have to stick to the context. You have to stick to what the author intended the meaning to be. And so Paul is just trying to bring order to this so that everyone can receive something when they come together in the context of public church assembly. Now I told you I would embolden the lines of distinction, so let's take a look at it here. Now again, these terms are not in scripture. Personal tongue, proof tongue, prophetic tongue, I'm giving you those terms just to help you more easily identify the distinction between each expression. Watch here. I'll show you how they're different. Notice that they differ in terms of their benefit, their interpretation requirements and how they're understood. Let's take a look first at the benefits. The personal tongue, remember this is the one that you speak in, 1 Corinthians 14-4. This is where you speak for your own edification. The personal tongue benefits the individual. This is very different than the prophetic tongue that benefits the entire church. And also different than the proof tongue because the proof tongue is not even for the church, it's for the unbeliever. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 14. I didn't have it here, but let's go 1 Corinthians chapter 14, verse 22. I should have put it in my notes for the sake of brevity, but let's go there now. 1 Corinthians 14-22. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not. Prophecying service, not for them that believe, but for them which believe it. So this is a sign for the unbeliever, the gift of tongues, that expression of the gift of tongues, which is the proof tongue, like in Acts chapter two. Now notice here that there are very different benefits to each one of these, yet it's describing the same gift. One, expression benefits the individual. 1 Corinthians 14-4. The other benefits the church as a whole. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse seven, talking about using our gifts to serve one another. And 1 Corinthians chapter 14, verse 26. The proof tongue, which is the one that's heard as a language, that's 1 Corinthians 14-22, that's to benefit the unbeliever. Notice here the distinction. One benefits the individual who speaks in tongues, the other benefits the church as a whole, and the other benefits the unbeliever. These are very clear distinctions drawn by scripture. Interpretation requirements. Look at the personal tongue, for example. The personal tongue requires no interpreter or interpretation to be beneficial to the individual. Notice there in 1 Corinthians 14-4, no interpretation was required that the gift might benefit the individual. So there's no interpretation requirement there. The prophetic tongue requires an interpretation to benefit the church. Again, 1 Corinthians chapter 14, verse 26. Then look at the proof tongue. The proof tongue requires no interpreter for the interpretation to be understood by the unbeliever. An example of this, again, is Acts chapter two. So here we see a completely different set of interpretation requirements. And then we look at how it's understood. The personal tongue is understood by no one but God. 1 Corinthians 14-2. This is very different than 1 Corinthians 14-27, the prophetic tongue, which is understood by the church through the aid of a supernatural interpretation. And then Acts 2-8, again, the proof tongue is supernaturally understood by the unbeliever. So there we see distinctions being drawn in the benefits, the interpretation requirements, and how they're understood. Now once you see the gift of tongues and how it's used in various different contexts, then you begin to understand some of what might seem like contradictions. But for now, I wanna take a look at this idea that the gift of tongues is not for every believer. And I wanna talk to you if you've been believing for this gift and maybe wavering because you're wondering, well, I've heard that the gift of tongues is not for every believer. We're gonna tackle that head on right now. First, let me make this clear. The gift of tongues cannot be taught. I have never said that you can teach the gift of tongues. I have never said that you can pay money and then receive the gift of tongues. And it's interesting to me that when you use certain words like the word activate, often that causes people to get a little bit panicky, but there's no reason to be panicked, activate simply means make use of or to stir up like when Paul wrote to Timothy. That is to make use of what God has already given to you. So no, you cannot force God to give you the gift of tongues, tongues and tongues interpretation. You can't force him to give you the gift of tongues where you pray in a prayer language, but it is my belief. In fact, I'll show you through scripture that the gift of tongues, that personal prayer language, that specific expression of the gift is for every believer. Now, when we talk about the how-tos of speaking in tongues, we again are just talking about surrendering to the Holy Spirit or obeying the scripture in a way that positions you to make use of what God has already given to you. So you can't be taught to be given this gift. You can't be taught to acquire this gift, but you can be taught to access and activate what God has already given to you. Now let's take a look at the often misapplied portion of scripture, 1 Corinthians 12, 29 and 31. This is the portion of scripture that many use to force this idea upon you, this idea that not every believer can speak in tongues. And in fact, it seems rather direct because Paul the apostle is asking a rhetorical question or a series of rhetorical questions here, but let's break this down. Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not. So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts, but now let me show you a way of life that is best of all. Now again, context matters. You can't just go taking portions of scripture out and then building entire doctrines on them. Paul the apostle here is specifically talking about a set of gifts that's to be used in the context of public church assembly or among fellow believers. How do I know that? Well, 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse seven makes it clear that a spiritual gift is given to each of us so that we can help each other. So all of these spiritual gifts that are listed here in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 are to be used from one believer for the benefit of the other. I don't know about you, but I want all that Christ died to give me. I want everything that God has for me. I don't want to reject even a single gift that God desires to give me. So if you agree with that, I want you to write it in the comment section, write, I want it all. And by that, you simply mean I want everything that God wants to give me. I don't want to reject a single gift from him. So here in 1 Corinthians 12, seven, write that whether you're watching live or replay. I want it all. Make that your bold and public stance. I want it all. I'm not hesitating. I'm not holding back. I'm not going to be reserved with it. I want it all. I'm all in. So 1 Corinthians 12, seven makes it clear that these spiritual gifts being listed are from believer to believer. God gives me a spiritual gift to benefit my brother and sister. God gives my brothers and sisters spiritual gifts to benefit me and the rest of the body of Christ. So let's break this down. Do all have words of wisdom? Do all have words of knowledge? Okay, this is what's being listed here. Word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues, tongues, interpretation. All of these are public expressions of the power of the Holy Spirit to be used to benefit other believers. But let's look at this now. Are we all apostles? No. But does that mean that we're not all to be involved in helping to establish new ministries? Does that mean that we're not all to be about our father's business in taking the gospel to new regions and among new people groups? Well, I would help with that cause. I would help with spreading the gospel in that nation. I would help with helping to break the gospel into that new people group, but I can't because I'm not an apostle. So I don't even wanna help with that. Really? Are we all prophets? No, we're not all called to fulfill the office of a prophet. Does this mean only a few believers can hear from God? Does this mean that only a few believers can share encouragement, which is a form of prophecy? Are we all teachers? No. Does this mean that only a select few, only a very elite group of believers are allowed to understand the word of God and share that with others? Look, of course we understand that there are standards for teachers who stand up in public church assemblies. Of course we understand that there are standards for preachers and leaders who want to guide God's sheep and help serve in the church in that capacity to where they're leading the people of God. There's standards for that, of course. But does this particular line of questioning now mean that not all of us are called to understand the word or even explain the word? What does the scripture mean then? When it says to be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in you. Or to study yourself approved. Study to show yourself approved unto God. Are we not all to study? Are we not all to understand the word? Are we not all to be able to explain the way of salvation? Are we not all to be able to teach what we know about the word of God? Maybe not in the context of a public church assembly. Maybe not behind a pulpit on a Sunday morning. Maybe not behind a pulpit on a Wednesday night. But person to person. So here we don't apply that same reasoning. We don't say, well, we're not all teachers so we shouldn't all know the word. We're not all prophets so we shouldn't all hear from God. Do we all have the power to do miracles? Well, not everyone has the gift of miracles. Again, that public gift or that gift that's to be used in the context of the church. Do we all have the gift of healing? No, we don't all have the gift of healing. Does this mean that if you don't have the gift of healing, sorry, you're not allowed to pray over your child when they're sick. Yeah, don't pray over your elderly parents when they're in the hospital. Yeah, if you have a friend that calls you and they were just diagnosed with cancer, you're not allowed to pray for them because you don't have the gift of healing. No. But we do acknowledge that the gift of healing is a specific area of grace, a focused point for specific ministry that God has given to you, a healing ministry, a miracle ministry. We know that these are gifts to be used in the context of church assembly or in the context of the church, the local body of Christ. So we don't apply that reasoning to any of the other spiritual gifts. We're not all apostles, but we should all still expand the kingdom. We're not all prophets, but we should all still hear from God. We're not all teachers, but we all need to know the word. Not all of us have the gift of miracles, but we can still believe from miracles. Not all of us have the gift of healing, but we can still pray for the sick. Not all have the gift of tongues or the ability to speak in tongues and the ability to interpret tongues. So notice how it's tying the two together. Even though the two separate sentences are mentioned in the same breath, it's tying the two together. It's the gift of tongues and tongues interpretation. Where is that used? It's used in the context of the public assembly of believers. And therefore that is talking about the prophetic expression of the gift. It's a very specific use of the gift of tongues that's not for every believer. Now, if you believe that the gift of tongues is only for a select group of believers, okay, you can't pray for the sick anymore then. Okay, you can't ever believe for a miracle because that's the gift of miracles. Not all believers have that. You can't ever understand the word in a way where you can teach it. Because that's the gift of teaching. Not all of us are teachers. You shouldn't explain the scripture to anyone at any time. We don't apply that reasoning to the rest of the gifts. Why do we only apply that reasoning to the gift of tongues? We have to think about these things. So context matters. And let me show you what I wrote here. And again, what I wrote in my book is not authoritative, but it's based on the conclusion of what I read in the scripture. So here's what I wrote, page 165 of Praying in the Holy Spirit, secrets to igniting and sustaining the lifestyle of effective prayer. Each one of the spiritual gifts is intended to help the body of Christ. In other words, the one who uses the gift isn't the one who benefits from the gift. We are given spiritual gifts to benefit others, not self. So the gift of faith couldn't be having faith. It would have to be the ability to stir faith in others. The gift of healing isn't being healed. It's the grace to heal others. The same would apply to every gift about which Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12. All of the spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 are others focused, never self-focused. And therefore, 1 Corinthians 12 is not talking about a personal prayer language where you benefit. So the expression of the gift of tongues here couldn't possibly be the self-edifying gift. This is about the public gifts of tongues and tongues interpretation. By the way, look at what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 14, 4, and 5. A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened, personally, but the one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church. I wish you could all speak in tongues, but even more, I wish you could all prophesy. For prophecy is greater than speaking in tongues unless someone interprets what you are saying so the whole church will be strengthened. I wrote this on page 166 and it's an important question we have to consider. Knowing what we just read here, I wish you could all prophesy, I wish you could all speak in tongues. Let me ask you, why would Paul the apostle wish for something that was contrary to the will of God? And why would the Holy Spirit allow for that desire to be recorded in holy scripture if it were indeed contrary to God's will? Not all have the gift of tongues and tongues interpretation, but every believer can pray in a personal tongue to God. Now, look further here. Acts 2, 4. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. All of them were filled and began to speak in tongues. Does this say some of them? No, it says all. Well, think about what Peter said about the gift. Acts 2, 39. The promise is to you, to your children and to those far away. All who have been called by the Lord are gone. That's Acts 2, 39. So the promise is to everyone who has been called. Acts 2, 39 is clear about that. So what is the promise being described? Look at Acts 2, 33. And the Father, as he promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us just as you see and hear today. What were they saying? They saw the Holy Spirit come. What were they hearing? They were hearing the gift of tongues. So according to scripture, the gift of tongues is for every believer. If not that public expression, okay, we understand that. I'm talking about that personal prayer language. This is so important that we understand this because if we don't understand the distinctions the scripture makes here, we are gonna be confused, especially when it looks like conflicting information where Paul says only a few and then he says I wish you all. That's not a contradiction. The Bible's clear about what the different expressions are in various different forms. Now, how can the believer who has been praying for the gift of tongues finally receive that gift and see it fully operational in their life? I pray that by the end of this that the gift of tongues would be released through you, that you would be praying in that beautiful heavenly prayer language that God has given to you. Now, every believer can pray in tongues. That is their personal prayer language. So it's not a matter of receiving this gift, but of releasing this gift. Yes, the gift of tongues is for every believer. Often we reference 1 Corinthians chapter 12 where Paul the apostle is asking a series of rhetorical questions. Do I have this? Do I have that? Do we all pray in tongues? But it's important to note there that Paul the apostle is talking about a very specific expression of the gift of tongues, namely the prophetic expression of the gift of tongues that's to be used in tandem with the gift of interpretation. In other words, in the context of public church assembly when you speak in tongues, that requires an interpretation when you're speaking in a way that commands the collective attention of all those assembled. Otherwise they're not gonna benefit from it. 1 Corinthians 12, 7 makes it clear that those gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 are all others centered. In other words, these gifts are used to edify brothers and sisters in Christ. But 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verses two and four make it very clear that there's also an expression of the gift of tongues that's used for self edification. When you pray in that tongue, you're praying in the spirit. When you pray in that tongue, you're praying away. When you pray in that tongue, you're praying in a way that strengthens the inner man. So there's a difference between the prophetic expression of the gift of tongues and your own personal prayer language. Now, what blocks this gift from becoming operational in one's life? Ultimately, it comes down to one word and you're not gonna like this. I understand that this might be offensive to some but it's important that you hear this and I'm saying this to you in love and I'm gonna say it and then I want you to let me explain it. What's blocking you from receiving the gift of tongues can be summarized in one word, ego. It's all ego. Now you might be saying, wait a minute, David, I'm not prideful. I don't feel proud. I'm not puffed up. I'm not boastful. Well, that's not what I'm talking about. Pride is an expression of the ego but the ego is simply self. In other words, we get in our own way and we complicate things that are rather simple. So the first obstacle let's look at here is fear. Now, there are many fears surrounding the gift of tongues. Some go so extreme as to say that if you pray in tongues or if you ask for the gift of tongues or if you pray in tongues when someone's praying over you that you can somehow receive this demonic spirit. Well, what does the scripture say? Luke 11, 11 to 13 says this. You fathers, if your children ask for a fish, you give them a snake instead or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not. So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? So if I'm asking the heavenly father in the name of Jesus for a gift of the Holy Spirit, he's not gonna send a demon. Often those of religious inclination imagine that if someone prays in tongues that there's somehow gonna get a demon in them or they think it's all self and that God's gonna get angry with them for praying in tongues. Well, you're asking your heavenly father for a gift that's made available to all believers as clearly mentioned in scripture. So if I'm asking the heavenly father for the Holy Spirit, is he gonna send the demon? No, I trust not in my ability to receive from heaven. I trust in God's ability to give from heaven. I trust that when I ask my heavenly father for this beautiful expression of the spirit in my life and it's beneficial too, that he will send that beautiful expression of the spirit in my life. Now, I think we overcomplicate this. I think we overthink this. I think we overanalyze this. We overanalyze this to no end. But the truth of the matter is that if I'm approaching my heavenly father, I can trust him to send what I'm requesting. You ask him father in the name of Jesus. I'm believing for my prayer language. It's not gonna sneak a demon in there. That's nonsense. And we can trust in what the scripture says, not in what man says. Remember, man speaks out of fear, but the scripture, that's truth, that's life, that's peace giving. So we have to overcome this fear of God will be angry with me for asking or someone will send a demon into me by mistake if I ask for the Holy Spirit to be manifested in my life through this way to the gift of speaking in tongues. It's not gonna happen. At best, the gift of speaking in tongues is a prayer language that helps you to connect with God in greater realms of glory, helps you to grow in the spirit, helps your boldness to be strengthened, your revelation to be sharpened, your prayer life to be set on fire. When you pray in tongues, the spirit is strengthened and therefore everything that is strengthened when the spirit is strengthened is strengthened when you pray in tongues. That's at best. At worst, you're making emotional expressions to God. Now, if I hum a song, a melody, and I'm humming that melody in worship to God, is God gonna get angry with me and say, that melody doesn't mean anything. There were no clear words in that melody. No, that's just nonsense. He's not gonna get mad at me for humming a song to him. Or if during worship, I begin to cry tears of gratitude. He's not gonna point at my tears and say, no, no, no, that's emotion. There's no clear message being spoken by those tears. There's no clear words coming out of that emotion. So stop that immediately. No, that's nonsensical. God wouldn't do that. So at best, the gift of tongues is a heavenly prayer language that we use to communicate in ways that we could not communicate, that we use to express the prayers of the spirit, the Holy Spirit prays for us, through us, when we pray in tongues. At the very worst, it's an expression of God that comes from the spirit, but by way of the outer man. It's like emotion or tears or humming a song. But to exaggerate and put on our tinfoil hats and go all the way down to the conspiracy theory, Christian perspective and say, well, when you pray in tongues and there's no interpretation, that's an entry point for a demon. It's not biblical. It's not biblical. It's superstitious nonsense. And I'm telling you, we have to grow beyond this. That is something that we can be completely liberated from that fear that if we ask God for the Holy Spirit, he's gonna send to us a demon. That's just not something that's in his nature to do. Obstacle number two, inactivity. I've seen it many times where somebody comes to the altar. They're praying to receive the gift of tongues. They're asking for that beautiful expression from heaven. And they're standing at the altar. They're rocking back and forth. And they say again and again and again, words that come from their own understanding. They'll say something like hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus. And they're making no room for that gift to be expressed. They expect that the Holy Spirit is gonna come down from heaven, grab them by the tongue and begin flapping their tongue around and making them speak in that heavenly language. No, the Holy Spirit isn't going to take control of you. And many have prevented themselves from receiving this gift because that's what they're expecting. They expect that all they have to do is stand their hands, lift their eyes closed, and that the Holy Spirit's gonna come upon them and force them. The scripture says they prayed as the Spirit enabled them or gave them utterance. In other words, he enabled them, he didn't force them. They had to operate in the gift. They had to take action. They had to open their mouths. They had to make those sounds. All spiritual gifts require some exercise of faith on the part of the one using them. Why would speaking and tongues be any different? Lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. Well, you gotta go lay hands, ask him for miracles and miracles can happen, but you gotta pray going even further. Preach the gospel and the lost will be saved. Well, you have to preach the gospel. Worship and he'll manifest his presence. Well, you have to worship. Anything that the Holy Spirit does in our lives requires our participation. Not because God can't do it. Everything that the Holy Spirit does in our lives requires our participation. Not because God can't do it, but because he chooses not to do it. He won't do it unless we exercise our will to surrender to what he wants to do in our lives. So when we're praying in the spirit, when we're praying in tongues, we have to surrender the syllables and sounds. We have to open our mouths. We can't just expect that the Holy Spirit is gonna come and take full control. Well, that's not what the Bible teaches. Paul the apostle devoted an entire chapter for Corinthians 14 to the regulation of one of the expressions of the gift of tongues. He spoke at great length of how we are to control it and how we are to use it and how we are to operate in it. Why would Paul the apostle talk about controlling the gift if the gift could not be controlled? So yes, it is of the spirit, but it's also partially you. As all spiritual gifts work, as all spiritual realities work requires your participation, your surrender. As you surrender, God enables. As you empty, God fills. As you obey, God does miracles. God leads a clear path forward and so on and so forth. You have to participate. It's sort of like getting in your car. When you turn that key to start that engine or you push that button to start that engine, you're not the one causing the engine to roar, but you did have to push the button. You're not the one running 65 miles an hour, but you do have to tap your foot on that gas pedal. Why? Because as you are acting out and obeying and surrendering or as you are operating that vehicle, that vehicle becomes an extension of your will. In the same way, when you pray in tongues, the Holy Spirit isn't gonna do it for you. You have to open your mouth. You have to surrender the syllables and sounds. And then the Holy Spirit adds with great force, his power on that gift, but you have to participate. He's not just going to completely take over. And if you're waiting for him to completely take over, then this is perhaps why you haven't received the gift yet or haven't released that gift, I should say. And number three, and this is the final obstacle, it's overthinking. Is this just me? What will people think? Will they think I'm weird? Let me solve that mystery for you. Yes, people will think you're strange and that's okay. We who are of the spirit are often regarded as very strange. A natural man can't receive these things. These things are received by the spirit. So our overthinking can often cause us to not receive this precious gift, this precious expression of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Is this just me? What's happening now? Should I pray hallelujah? Should I say amen? Well, that tongue sounds like that person's tongue. Or I keep repeating the same syllable over and over again. Or that doesn't sound like a clear structure of a language. Or I'm not so sure that that's necessarily the gift. And we just think ourselves out of surrender to the Holy Spirit. Now, there is a time to use the rational mind. Of course, those who are of the spirit are not senseless, they're sharp. That's one of the marks of the spirit field. They're made very sharp. But when it comes to the gift of tongues, leave it to God to use this gift as a demonstration as to how our faith is to be used. Leave it to God to hide such immense power behind such a childlike act. And I have to have the faith to release that. Now, there's a story I like to tell about a father who was teaching his daughter to pray. Each night, he and his daughter would kneel beside her bed. And he would tell the little girl, repeat after me, say these prayers. And he would say a prayer, she would repeat the prayer. And then he would give her a kiss goodnight and leave her to sleep. And this happened night after night. He was wanting to really establish this prayer routine in the life of his daughter. It's important that we do that with our children. And so one night he says, tomorrow night, when it's bedtime, I'm gonna let you talk to God on your own. You won't have to repeat after me, but I want you to talk to God in your own way. Say something to him that comes from your heart. Sure enough, the next night, the father leaves the little girl to pray. Curious, the father leaned his ear against her door. And he listens to the little girl praying. And she begins to sing a familiar tune. It was the alphabet song, A, B, C, D, E, F, G and on and on and on. He heard her little voice singing this. He laughed at himself, thought it was adorable and went to bed. The next night, same thing. He leans his ear against the door. And here's this little girl praying the alphabet. A, B, C, D, E, F, G and on and on and on. I'm not gonna sing it for you. And so this happens night after night. And eventually he becomes a little concerned and he says, well, I should probably teach her at some point that you actually have to pray sincere prayers to God. They have to come from your heart. You have to talk to him. You have to communicate. It's a relationship. And so one night he leans his ear against the door. Sure enough, she's praying the alphabet again. So he enters the room, kneels beside her bed with her and he says, sweetie, I so love that you're talking to God and I love that you're praying and I love that you're making this a routine. But I just have to correct one thing. When you pray, you have to actually talk to God. You can't just say the alphabet. The alphabet isn't a prayer. And the little girl said, daddy, I am praying. You see, I just give him the letters and then he rearranges the letters to be whatever he wants and to be whatever he thinks they should say. That's speaking in tongues. I'm surrendering the syllables and sounds. You see, when you pray with your understanding, you are adding your intention. You are adding your will. You're adding your desires to your prayers. Sometimes this is good as the scripture says, we should do both, pray in the spirit and pray with understanding. But when you pray in tongues, you are speaking syllables and sounds that are void of your meaning, that are void of your intention, that are void of your desires, and you leave those words as empty spaces for the Holy Spirit to fill. The Holy Spirit will only fill that which is empty and far too often our prayers are filled with self, not spirit. When you pray in tongues, you are surrendering syllables and sounds and with childlike faith, you're saying, Holy Spirit, I trust that you will fill those sounds with your intention, with your meaning. That's what it means to operate in this beautiful gift. Now, if you don't have the Holy Spirit and you just make a bunch of noise, it's just a bunch of noise. When you have the Holy Spirit and you release these syllables and sounds, trusting that he'll feel them, that's the gift in operation. And referring back to that engine analogy I used just a few moments ago, you'll notice there's a moment where you turn that key, you begin to pray in tongues, you begin to release the syllables and sounds, and suddenly you sense the movement of the Spirit on those prayers. You'll sense that moment. But if you want to make use of that beautiful heavenly language and that God wants to give to you, then you're going to have to let go of self. You're going to have to let go of the fear. You're going to have to let go of the inactivity. You're going to have to let go of the overthinking. You've thought this thing to the point of no action. You're stuck because every time you go to do this, is that me, is that me, is that just myself, is that just myself? That's a weird noise. Is that really it? Is this a demon? What's going to happen? Stop. Just stop. And say, Holy Spirit, I trust you, that you will fill these words, these sounds with your intention. And many are about to pray in their heavenly language right now for the first time. So Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank you that you've given to each of us this beautiful prayer language. And I pray, Holy Spirit, that you would embolden that one watching now, help them to receive that heavenly language in the mighty name of Jesus. Now as we're praying, I want you to set aside the flesh, yes to the spirit, no to the flesh. And I want you right now to begin to release the syllables and sounds. You'll be asking, is this just me, is this just me? It is partially you, but you do play a part here. You have to release those syllables and sounds. And trust, this is where it's going to take childlike faith on your part. Trust that the Holy Spirit will fill those sounds. Thank you, Jesus. Release that now. No more fear, no more doubt, no more overthinking. Just release that now. Lord, I thank you. You're releasing. Some of you are doing that now. That's happening now. Just go ahead. In fact, someone watching you just kind of prayed this utterance. It was a small utterance and then you stopped yourself. Don't do that. Allow that to flow. Thank you, Jesus. I give you the honor on the praise, everything you're doing. Lord, we give you glory and thank you for these beautiful prayer languages now being released. In Jesus mighty name, we pray. I want you to say it because you believe it. Say, amen. If you received the gift of tongues, I want you to write in the comment section right now, I received it. And if you enjoyed this teaching, make sure you leave a like so that others can receive it as well. And also don't forget to subscribe to my channel so that you can receive more teachings on the Holy Spirit prayer and spiritual warfare and also see live streams of our events that we host around the world where many are saved, healed, delivered and empowered. And I wanna ask you to take a moment to consider helping this ministry on its mission. Our vision is simple. We wanna spread the gospel of Jesus Christ all around the world in the power of the Holy Spirit through events and media. Very simple vision. Our mission is very focused and we're asking for your help. The gospel is free, but the means to deliver that message on a mass scale, that takes resources and that's where I need your help. So I'm asking you to do your part. 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One more time, DavidHernandezMinistries.com slash donate to give a single gift. DavidHernandezMinistries.com slash partner to become a monthly ministry supporter. And I also wanna make sure that if you enjoyed this teaching, you check out the teaching how praying in tongues every day will change your life. Bless you and remember until next time nothing is impossible with God.