Speaking in tongues for long hours is a good practice and every tongue speaking believer should desire to do it. Some may argue that the length of a prayer doesn’t matter but I have a different opinion.
While praying in tongues for long is not the only determinant of a successful prayer session, it is a serious factor. Praying in tongues for long activates the principle that Jesus talked about in the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8.
The widow had a request for the unjust judge. The request itself was not anything the judge would consider urgent. But the widow spent a lot of time mentioning the same case to the unjust judge until he could no longer withhold what the widow wanted.
Jesus also mentioned the case of the friend at midnight in Luke 11:5-8 who kept knocking on the door until when it was opened despite his friend being asleep with his family.
King Solomon coined a proverb for this principle in the book of Proverbs 25:15 saying that a gentle tongue can break a bone.
While it is clear that praying for long hours delivers great results, the strategy of doing it is not very clear. I have had a desire to pray in tongues for long hours and I have done so on several occasions. In the process, I learned a little secret that helps me pray in tongues for long.
The Secret to Praying in Tongues for Long Hours
While there may be other strategies out there, this is the one I discovered and it is very easy. Surprisingly, the Bible mentions it. I’ll let you know the verse once I’ve told you the secret.
When you want to pray in tongues for long, there are obstacles. Finding a way around those obstacles is the difference between praying in tongues for a few minutes and praying in tongues for several hours.
One of the major obstacles is faith. It is hard to keep yourself praying in tongues if you have doubts if it is effective. As humans, we only do what we believe is effective and worth our time. Anybody who does an activity that is ineffective and not worth his time is called a fool.
While we may easily say praying in tongues is effective, feeling the effectiveness is not straightforward. I have had sessions of praying in tongues that felt like a waste of time.
Such sessions may have been important but just because I didn’t see their immediate effect, I assumed the sessions were a waste of time.
When you experience a number of sessions of praying in tongues that feel like a waste of time, it becomes very hard to pray in tongues for long. You will only pray in tongues as long as your willpower can go.
But because our willpower is limited, it will be impossible to pray for long. That is where the secret I learned comes in…
To overcome this obstacle, mix praying in tongues with praying in understanding. As I told you the Bible mentioned this secret.
Apostle Paul told us in 1st Corinthians 14:15 that to solve the problem of his mind being unfruitful when praying in tongues, he chose to pray in tongues and also pray in understanding.
How to Implement the Secret of Praying in Tongues for Long
1. Start by Praying in Understanding
Starting a prayer session is the hardest part. It is not easy to gather your mind to focus on praying. This is why you need to start by praying in understanding.
Praying in understanding will force your mind to adjust to the prayer mood that you want to create.
If you have been speaking in tongues for long, it won’t be hard to get into the prayer mood. Experienced tongue speakers can skip this step but those still in the learning curve will benefit themselves if they start by praying in understanding.
The prayer you make in understanding should at least help you compose yourself and build your faith. You can ask God to give you the grace to pray, ask Him to calm your mind down, ask Him to remove doubtful thoughts in your mind etc.
You can then state your request to God. If you are praying for your marriage, for a friend or for direction, mention it. That way, you will convince yourself that at least God knows what you want.
2. Switch to Praying in Tongues
After you have laid the foundation by praying in understanding, switch to praying in the spirit. Some believers actually believe that praying in tongues comes automatically after you have invested time in praying in understanding and they are not wrong.
The important thing to note is that you can switch consciously to praying in tongues rather than waiting for it to happen automatically.
If you are an experienced tongue speaker, the Holy Spirit will quickly take over the moment you start praying in understanding. But for those still learning the ropes, it may require them to initiate it consciously.
Provided you start praying in tongues after you are convinced that God knows what you want, you will have a good chance of praying in tongues for long. It won’t feel like a waste of time.
3. Occasionally switch to Praying in Understanding
After you get the flow of praying in tongues, continue but make sure you switch to praying in understanding every so often. Switching to praying in understanding will help you stay on track and keep you feeling encouraged.
I like keeping the prayers I make in understanding in the middle of praying in tongues short. That way, they don’t interrupt my flow of praying in tongues.
If I am praying for a friend of mine in tongues, I will add phrases like ‘build his faith’ in the middle of the tongues I am speaking to encourage myself to keep praying.
Though I am praying in tongues and I don’t know what I am saying, by repeating such a phrase, I will convince myself that at least God knows I want Him to build the faith of my friend.
These short declarations in the middle of praying in tongues will keep you going for hours. It usually gets to some point the Holy Spirit gives me the phrases to say in understanding. It is like a mother who gives her baby a toy to play with so she can focus on doing her work.
When the baby gets tired of playing with the toy, the mother gives the baby something else.
The affirmations and declarations that the Holy Spirit gives you keep your mind occupied while He intercedes for you. Before you know it, you will have prayed in tongues for several hours.
If it has been your desire to pray in tongues for long, try this strategy. It has worked well for me. I’ve actually recorded one such session before.
Until next time…Peace!
Great inspiration. God bless you 🙏
God bless you too!