I have the gift of praying in tongues and I have been practicing it for a number of years. By far the most difficult thing about praying in tongues is receiving the gift.
While theoretically it is easy to receive the gift, practically it can be a challenge. You will be told ‘just believe’ or ‘open your heart’ but what exactly is that?
It took me four years before I finally got the gift. Definitely not an overnight thing!
But I know some people received the ability to pray in tongues without a struggle. There is a good explanation why it happens so differently for everyone.
For a believer out there who is yearning for the gift of praying in tongues, this might just be the message you need to finally receive the gift.
There is no Formula of Receiving the Gift of Praying in Tongues
The first truth you must accept if you want to receive the gift of praying in tongues is acknowledging that there is no formula of receiving the gift.
God gives the gift to everyone in a unique way. If there was a formula, then faith would not be necessary. The fact that everyone has his own way of receiving the gift from God means that everyone must work hard on their faith.
I’m sure you know that it is impossible to please God without faith.
Some believers get angry when they follow a certain formula and fail to receive the gift of praying in tongues. Actually, if you want to be sure you won’t receive the gift of praying in tongues, follow a formula.
A formula devalues faith and that is why God intentionally withholds the gift from anyone who puts his trust in a formula. That formula may work for others but not you just because you trust in the formula more than God.
This applies to all other transactions you do with God.
When a friend of mine told me he began speaking in tongues after listening to a certain sermon online, I was tempted to go watch the same sermon so that I also start praying in tongues.
Good for me, I didn’t have access to that sermon and by the time I got access, I had forgotten about the matter.
If your friend or your pastor or anybody tells you to do XYZ to receive the gift of praying in tongues, ask them to pray to God on your behalf that He may grant you the gift when you do whatever they have recommended. That is the only way you can have a chance of receiving the gift of praying in tongues by following a formula.
It is an ancient spiritual principle. Remember the story of Eli and Hannah. Hannah prayed fervently for a child but it was Eli’s words that prompted God to give Hannah a child.
If a man of God gives you a formula to receive the gift of praying in tongues, unless he has asked God to give the gift of tongues to those who use the formula, it won’t work.
God can permit a formula to be used but of course the man who came up with the formula must pay the required price for God to allow it to be used.
This is not anything new; Jesus did it too. Jesus paid the price of salvation from death then He created a formula so that anyone who uses the formula gets saved from death. Don’t we confess our sins and ask Jesus to come into our lives and we are saved from death? Is it not a formula?
Receiving the Gift of Praying in Tongues based on your Faith
While relying on a formula to receive the gift of praying in tongues can work if required conditions are met, the best approach is to build your own faith to the level where you receive the gift of praying in tongues.
Have you ever witnessed a man of God pray for several people to receive the gift of praying in tongues but only a few receive the gift?
In such cases, the formula the man of God is using is not paid for and so the faith of individuals is what matters.
A man of God laying hands on you to receive the gift of praying in tongues is like connecting a dead phone to a powerbank; if the powerbank has no power, the phone will remain dead.
But if the phone has some power in its battery, it can use the power to turn on.
Your faith is the power in your battery; it is the most reliable source of power.
If the man of God is loaded with power, you will receive the gift of praying in tongues even if you have little faith.
However, the problem with this approach is that you may speak in tongues immediately after the man of God lays hands on you but fail to speak in tongues afterwards.
In the heat of the moment, you will ride on the faith of the man of God and pray in tongues but when you are on your own, your insufficient faith will hinder you from praying in tongues.
This is how some believers manage to speak in tongues when they are in a fellowship with other tongue speakers but they can’t speak in tongues on their own.
Even if you receive the gift of praying in tongues from someone praying for you, at the end of the day, your faith will determine if you will continue operating in the gift or you will dry up.
Don’t Study the Gift of Praying in Tongues before you receive it
A number of believers who want to receive the gift of praying in tongues make the mistake of studying the gift before receiving it. While it looks like a good idea, it will work against you.
Do you know what happened in the Garden of Eden? God had concealed the knowledge of good and evil from man. That meant that there was no temptation to do evil.
But the moment Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, the knowledge of good and evil was revealed to them. From that moment to this day, we get tempted by the evil we know.
The same case is true with receiving the gift of praying in tongues; the less you study it, the easier it will be to receive it.
By getting this information, I know you are studying the gift and that will work against you. The challenge with studying the gift of praying in tongues before you receive it is that you will always postpone receiving it in the name of ‘let me study it a bit more’.
The Bible is very clear in Ecclesiastes 12:12 that there is no end to writing books and much study makes the body weary. Technically, this means that you will never receive the gift of praying in tongues.
I know a lot about praying in tongues but 99% of what I know about praying in tongues came after I had received the gift; I learned from experience.
I have always said the best way to learn about praying in tongues is by practicing the gift. Get the gift, exercise it and learn in the process.
I’m still learning new things about praying in tongues but I already have the gift. If I had chosen to learn all that I could before getting the gift, would I have it today?
Hear it from me, the knowledge you have about praying in tongues is more than enough to receive the gift. Basically, the only thing you need to know prior to receiving the gift of praying in tongues is that it is a gift of the Holy Spirit.
The rest of the work is building your faith to the level where you can receive the gift.
You will be better off praying to God to increase your faith as the disciples of Jesus did in Luke 17:5 than studying about the gift of praying in tongues. Only after you have received the gift of praying in tongues should you resume studying it.
If you have already studied it extensively, be assured you will have a hard time receiving the gift. It is ironical but that is how things work. The Pharisees who had studied the law had a hard time believing in Jesus than random Jews who didn’t know much about the law.
If Everything Fails…
If you get to a point where you feel you have done everything but you still haven’t received the gift of praying in tongues, give up!
I know it sounds strange but actually the Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 3:6 that there is a time to search and a time to give up. Giving up will save you energy and allow you to focus on the most important aspect of salvation; love
Pushing too hard to get the gift of praying in tongues will easily make you idolize praying in tongues which will work against you.
Also, when you give up, you stand a chance to see the mistakes you might have made in seeking the gift. Refusing to give up will end up being a case of pride and God will hate you.
I hope you find this information helpful.
Until next time…peace!