I have intentionally been avoiding talking about this praying in tongues testimony because of the emotional impact it has had on my life. It has been a couple of years since it happened but I can’t get over the emotional impact it has had on me.
Interestingly, this was not the only time that praying in tongues saved me from a nasty relationship. It has happened to me three times before. But this one was the mother of them all.
I may share the other testimonies in the future but for now, let me get this one off my chest. Follow along and you will see why I have been reluctant to share it for a long time.
Relationship Background
The nasty relationship began in September 2019. I used to attend a college fellowship where we mostly prayed in tongues. As you would expect, there were beautiful girls there. And would you blame me for eying one of the girls given that I was a young man in the same fellowship?
In my young mind, I thought getting a girl from the fellowship would be the perfect thing to do given that we used to pray in tongues together. Who wouldn’t think the same?
I had been in the fellowship for two years and I was serving as the vice chairperson. The girl I chose to date was the Bible study coordinator. Match made in heaven, right?
The relationship began on Tuesday evening after one of the fellowships. It was on the 24th day of the month. I clearly remember that evening because it was the day before her birthday.
The girl came to me after the fellowship and told me about her upcoming birthday. Since we had never been close, I wondered why she would tell me such news.
Either way, I decided to buy her a birthday gift because she had told me about her birthday and I was the vice chairperson (I felt it was my obligation as a leader to celebrate the birthday of a member in the fellowship).
I bought her a green apple (always my first choice gift). It’s beautiful, it’s healthy and it is believed to have been the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Why not eat some forbidden fruit on your birthday?
As you would expect, the green apple was the matchstick that sparked the flames of love between us or so I thought.
Days after her birthday, we were talking often and going for dinner together. Though we had not made it obvious that we were dating, it was clear to both of us that there was something going on.
Turning to Praying in Tongues
It has always been my custom when I get into a relationship to pray to God. I know that human beings are no strangers to living double lives.
Whenever I get into a relationship, I ask God to warn me of any red flags. I admit that no matter how wise and sharp I am, a girl can easily outsmart me.
This relationship was no different. I didn’t tell the girl but I prayed in tongues fervently for many days for God to let me know whether the sea was clear or a storm was brewing.
At first, I got mixed signals. Of course I was biased and I wanted God to tell me everything was clear but that was not the case.
The Fruit of Praying in Tongues about the Relationship
Three months after the green apple affair began, the semester was closing. The girl would be heading home for Christmas. In the gentleman spirit, this called for one last date before the month long holiday.
I asked for a date and it was promptly given. I pushed my limits a bit and decided to have the date in her room. Very dangerous I know!
I went to her room, we ate snacks and took photos. The green apple affair was at its all-time high? Who could separate us?
That evening, when I went to bed, I had a dream; a dream that shattered all the hopes I had.
The dream began EXACTLY as the day had been. I went to see that girl in her room and we did exactly what we had done during the day. But the dream had additional information.
In the dream, after I left the room of the girl, she went home and something very strange happened. Then the dream ended.
I had that dream in the morning hours of December 12th 2019 and as it is said, dreams that people have during morning hours usually come true.
The shock and disappointment of the dream made my sleep vanish. I woke up and it felt as if I had been hit by a 100 ton Mack truck.
Though the dream had been very clear, the passion I had for the girl made me look for favorable explanations.
I knew the safest thing to do was to pray. I began praying in tongues and continued for several days. I could not shake off the dream. I thought about it when I went to bed and when I woke up. It really disturbed me.
But because I was praying in tongues, I believed everything would eventually be fine.
The Reality of the Relationship
Praying in tongues after the dream gave me comfort of some sort. But that was only the calm before the storm.
After the holiday, the girl came back to college and I was hoping we would continue with our passion right where we left it but I was wrong.
When I met her the first time after the holiday, she looked very uneasy. She kept talking in parables but I assumed it was an issue that we could easily iron out and forge on with our relationship.
Then on Friday January 24th 2020, I got a rare opportunity. I was travelling to a mission upcountry. The journey would take about 8 hours. It just happened that the girl was also travelling the same route on the same day but for a different reason.
I asked if we could travel together and it seemed she had the same idea. So I knew I would be having a full day with the girl I was madly in love with. Little did I know it would be one of the worst trips of my life.
The day came and we boarded a vehicle for the long journey. About half way into the journey, the girl casually started talking about her previous dating experiences.
Her choice of topic prompted me to chip in with my own previous dating experiences. Then she began talking about a certain guy she liked.
It felt weird that she would talk about how she liked another guy to me. Was I not her boyfriend? I waited for her to get to the point where she broke up with the guy she was talking about but she wasn’t getting there.
Eventually, she broke to me the shocking news that she was in love with the other guy and they were dating! My goodness!
To make matters worse, she was travelling to the home of the guy she was talking about.
When she revealed the shocking news to me, we were about four hours away from the destination. I was seated next to her. I had to tolerate four painful hours and do my best to mask the crushing blow I had been served.
My body was literally shaking. The shaking made me sweat. I would be surprised if people in the vehicle didn’t notice something was wrong with me.
And then as if that was not enough, a man seated next to us asked me if I was taking that girl home to see my parents? I don’t even remember what I said. At that point, my emotional fabric was barely clinging on.
Eventually, the girl got to her destination and alighted. I got to my destination half an hour later.
Realizing the Truth of the Dream
Days following the shocking news made me understand what the dream I had meant. It took me days to come to terms with reality. And when I thought I was recovering, I received yet again news about the same relationship that shattered the remaining pieces of my heart.
The fact that I was reluctant to share this praying in tongues testimony four years later tells you how emotionally wrecked I was by those events.
I had another dream two weeks after receiving the first shocking news. In the dream, I was in a vehicle ready to travel to a mission. I saw someone selling fruits outside and decided to buy a few before the vehicle could leave.
As soon as I stepped out of the vehicle, it left and then I woke up. I felt horrible that I was having another seemingly bad dream even before the dust of the previous dream could settle.
Not wanting to risk another painful experience, I decided to consult the friend I was with in the dream. For him, he didn’t get off the vehicle.
I went to consult him immediately after I woke up but I didn’t know God had set it up and had something else in store for me. The twists and turns were draining me. I was literally a leaf in the wind!
When I told the friend the dream I had, he didn’t hesitate to tell me what it meant. I had suspected the same thing so it was not a surprise.
That day, the fellowship we used to attend had organized for a two day prayer retreat. I had no intentions of attending that prayer retreat as I was still getting the pieces of my heart together after the painful heartbreak.
That dream was a warning for me not to miss that prayer retreat.
On top of that dream, I shared with my friend the shocking dream I had about the girl. By that time, he already knew what had transpired.
In the dream I had about that girl, when we parted ways that evening after the last date before the holiday, she went home, slept with another guy and got pregnant.
When she told me about the other guy she liked and was dating, I automatically knew it was the guy I had seen in the dream. I thought that was all until my friend told me that the girl was actually pregnant!
My friend had spoken to the girl after she began missing fellowships. That is when she confessed to him that she was pregnant.
My friend wanted to tell me but didn’t know how to bring it up. The girl had gotten pregnant around the same time we began dating. All that time, I was in the dark.
The day I travelled with her was the day she was going to sort out her pregnancy issue with the parents of her boyfriend. My oh my!
How Praying in Tongues Saved Me
Though the entire experience left a bad taste in my mouth, I am grateful that God revealed to me the truth in a dream. On top of that, I managed to forgive the girl after the betrayal. I know failing to forgive someone is a direct ticket to hell and only God can give us the power to forgive.
Praying in tongues helped me keep my faith during that turbulent time. It also prompted God to unfold the truth to me in the safest way possible. The devil usually capitalizes on turbulent times in our lives to tempt us to quit our faith. But in my case, I prevailed in Jesus name.
Glory and praise be to His Holy Name!