If you are a beginner in the gift of speaking in tongues, this article is for you. I will cover a few things here to get you started.
You don’t need to feel overwhelmed for you are a beginner to speaking in tongues. Rather, you need to rejoice because you have begun a great journey.
Speaking in tongues is a great gift of the Holy Spirit. It is sweet and has endless benefits. I have experienced quite a lot as far as this gift is concerned and I will do my best to share all I can.
What Beginners need to know about Speaking in Tongues
1. Speaking in Tongues is a Gift
Speaking in tongues is a gift that you receive from the Holy Spirit. Just like other gifts given in human relationships, you receive speaking in tongues by being in a relationship with the Holy Spirit.
Your work is to build your relationship with the Holy Spirit through reading the word and praying. The Holy Spirit will decide when to let you have the gift.
It is recommended in some Christian circles for believers to ask for the gift of speaking in tongues but if you have a good relationship with the Holy Spirit and you desire the gift, you will receive it without asking.
The Holy Spirit is more than willing to give the gift of speaking in tongues to those who accept Him. The hard part is usually building a relationship with the Holy Spirit.
It takes faith.
A relationship with the Holy Spirit begins with accepting Jesus as your Lord and savior. The Holy Spirit came to fulfill the promise that Jesus left us when He returned to the Father after dying on the cross.
Someone can only start a relationship with the Holy Spirit after acknowledging Jesus who promised the coming of the Holy Spirit after He left.
Jesus said it was good that He leaves because the Holy Spirit would only come after He had left.
2. The Holy Spirit is a Helper
A beginner to speaking in tongues has to understand that the Holy Spirit is a helper. When God created man, He gave him a woman as a helper. But the woman failed in her role as a helper to the man.
When Jesus restored our relationship with the Father, the Holy Spirit was appointed the new helper.
The Holy Spirit came to help us in our relationship with God. Since we commune with God through prayer, the Holy Spirit helps us to pray by giving us the ability to speak in tongues.
Speaking in tongues is basically letting the Holy Spirit use your tongue to pray to God. The content of your prayer is provided by the Holy Spirit when you pray in tongues.
Since the Holy Spirit knows the mind of God, He makes perfect prayers to God on your behalf. As a result, your relationship with God grows even though it is the Holy Spirit doing the praying for you.
That is why speaking in tongues is called a gift; the Holy Spirit prays for you.
Your responsibility is to give the Holy Spirit access in your life and to live a life that sustains His holy presence.
Because the Holy Spirit is a helper, you need to get to a point where you need help for Him to step in.
If you desire to spend more time in prayer but find it difficult to pray in understanding, the Holy Spirit will step in to help you by giving you the ability to speak in tongues.
3. Speaking in Tongues has no Hard Rules
I’m sure you have heard some myths about speaking in tongues. There is all manner of information out there about the gift of speaking in tongues.
As a beginner to speaking in tongues, you need to understand that speaking in tongues is a mystery. Different people experience it from different angles.
Allow yourself to experience speaking in tongues in your own unique way.
The uniqueness of speaking in tongues for an individual begins with how he receives the gift. For some people, they receive the gift when someone lays hands on them. For others, they receive the gift while praying alone in their room.
The utterance also varies wildly. Different people speak in tongues in different dialects. Others don’t even ‘speak’ but rather they sing in tongues.
The Bible mentions that the Spirit of God intercedes for us with groans that are too deep for words. For some believers, speaking in tongues is in the form of groans.
Once you allow yourself to experience speaking in tongues in your own unique way, the Holy Spirit will have an easy time guiding you.
Speaking in tongues is a personal journey. The Holy Spirit is the one who decides how the experience will be.
4. Questions about Speaking in Tongues will be Answered through Experience
Beginners in the gift of speaking in tongues often have many questions. When I was a beginner to speaking in tongues, I also had many questions.
But I realized that the best way to get answers to questions you have regarding the gift of speaking in tongues is by practicing it.
It is good to have questions but pay more attention to practicing the gift. The more you practice the gift, the more your questions will get answered.
I remember one of my earliest questions about speaking in tongues was how to know I was actually speaking in tongues.
It took me about 6 months of practicing the gift before I got an answer to that question.
At another time I was wondering if I can completely ignore praying in understanding and pray exclusively in tongues. I also got an answer to that question as I kept practicing the gift.
Therefore, as a beginner to speaking in tongues, pay more attention to practicing the gift. You will understand it as you go.
Some answers to questions about speaking in tongues can only be experienced; no words can explain them.
5. Speaking in Tongues has Levels
As a beginner in speaking in tongues, you need to know that speaking in tongues has levels. When you are starting out, that is only the entry level.
The more you practice and learn about the gift, the deeper the levels you access.
Higher levels of speaking in tongues come with greater benefits; you will be able to pray for longer, experience greater peace, understand what you are praying for, baptize other people with the gift etc.
Knowing that there are higher levels in speaking in tongues should motivate you to work hard to grow in the gift.
I hope you are now in a better position as a beginner to explore speaking in tongues.
May God guide you!