Having encounters when speaking in tongues is sweet. Not only do you learn new things through the encounters but you also grow in your faith.
If you can speak in tongues until you get an encounter, your confidence in the tongues you speak will grow. And that confidence in prayer is exactly what the Bible tells us to develop in the book of Hebrews 4:16.
But having encounters is such a mystery. How do you start having an encounter? There are certainly no courses out there teaching people how to have encounters.
But worry not because I searched for the knowledge required to have encounters when speaking in tongues. This is not just hear-say type of knowledge; I tested this knowledge and had a number of encounters myself.
I then wondered why God has not made this beautiful knowledge public. The reason I received was in form of a parable:
When a rich man in a city organizes a wedding party to celebrate the marriage of his daughter, he doesn’t invite everyone in the city. Even if the rich man is able to feed all the people in the city, he will only invite those who are close to him.
God does the same thing with the knowledge of encounters. It is available but God has to trust you enough to let you have it.
The One thing responsible for having encounters when speaking in tongues
If you want to have encounters whenever you speak in tongues, take care of your purity. Being pure is the single most important factor in getting encounters when you speak in tongues.
And it is no surprise that Jesus mentioned it even though many of us barely notice. Do you remember when Jesus said “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God” in Matthew 5:8? Was that not plain enough for everyone to understand?
If we go back to the beginning, man had communion with God on a daily basis. His life was one beautiful encounter. But when man sinned, God withdrew from him.
The withdrawal of God was for a good reason. You see, God is very pure. The Bible tells us in 1st John 1:5 that God is light and in Him is no darkness.
Any form of impurity is an abomination before God. Since we are constantly defiled by many things, God put a barrier between us and Him so that our impurity doesn’t get to Him and force Him to punish us.
And because of the distance that exists between us and God, prayer was invented for us to communicate with God despite the distance.
Prayer was perfected by the Holy Spirit through the gift of speaking in tongues but of course that was not enough. God wants us close to Him so that we don’t have to pray.
Remember when Jesus was around, people didn’t need to pray. All they needed to do was to go tell Him whatever they wanted. In some cases, Jesus would do for them things they didn’t even know they needed like raising Lazarus from the dead instead of mourning with them.
That was possible because Jesus was in the flesh. Now that He is glorified and seated with the Father, it is our duty to work with the Holy Spirit to be pure enough to approach Him in His holiness.
The purer you are, the closer you can get to God when you pray in tongues.
The Different Forms of Purity when Speaking in Tongues
1. Purity of the Tongue
This is straightforward; the tongue you use to speak to God must be pure. The Bible tells us in the book of James 3:9-10 that we use the tongue to praise God and use the same tongue to curse other men who are made in the likeness of God.
James tells us that should not be the case. He uses the saying “Fresh water and salty water should not come from the same stream”.
When we are speaking in tongues, the tongue is the most important tool. If it is pure, then we stand a good chance to get close to God and have an encounter.
I’ve had a few encounters where I was forbidden to talk; I only observed. I came to understand later that I was shown those encounters because my eyes were pure enough to see them but my tongue was not pure enough for me to ask anything or comment about what I was seeing.
If you ever have a heavenly dream where you can’t speak even when you want to, it means you need to work on the purity of your tongue.
The common case is the one where someone is attacked by evil spirits in a dream and he tries to call Jesus but the mouth can’t open. That happens when the tongue is defiled.
The devil knows this truth and that is why he incites people to use curse words. Those dirty words people say defile their tongues. If you ever use them, stop it.
2. Purity of the Eyes
This one answers those people who ask “Why can’t I see visions when I speak in tongues?” Seeing visions starts with having pure eyes.
There are enough things in this world to defile our eyes. Whether we do it knowingly or unknowingly, it affects us.
Simple things like seeing blood are enough to defile our eyes. The purity standards of God are shockingly high. If someone is a nurse working in a hospital, seeing blood and wounds is defiling enough to prevent her from seeing visions.
You remember those strict purity laws in the book of Leviticus? They never changed. God still demands those levels of purity only that those levels of purity are not a necessity for salvation.
If you want to have encounters with God, then those purity laws are a must. If you are a woman, don’t waste your time seeking to have an encounter during your monthly cycle. Plan to get close to God outside of the time of your monthly cycle.
Of course you can pray and read the word during that time but you won’t be allowed to get close to God.
3. Purity of the Ears
I see many people teach about hearing God when you pray and it saddens me when they fail to mention purity of the ears. No matter how you speak in tongues, if your ears are defiled, you won’t hear anything from God.
We know clearly from the Bible that God speaks in a still small voice. That voice is audible enough if your ears are not defiled.
This is why preachers insist that believers should not listen to secular music. Listening to anything that is ungodly will defile your ears and make it hard for you to hear God when you speak in tongues.
For this reason, I bought noise cancelling earphones and I go everywhere with them. If I find myself in an environment that defiles my ears, I put them on and play worship music.
This saves me time when I go to speak in tongues. Instead of spending half an hour praying for the Holy Spirit to purify my ears, I hear what God is saying straight away.
4. Purity of the Hands
You can have an encounter when your hands are defiled but that will mean that you won’t be allowed to touch anything. I’ve had testimonies of believers who found themselves in a heavenly garden but they were not allowed to touch anything.
That happens if your hands are defiled. Sometimes there is no time to purify your hands and God decides to let you have the encounter but without touching anything.
I’ve mentioned before of an encounter I had while praying in tongues. In the encounter, I was standing before the throne of God speaking to Him but my hands were tied behind my back.
Physically, I had folded my hands behind my back while speaking in tongues. The Holy Spirit led me to do that before I had that encounter. It may sound like comedy but it happens.
Hands get defiled when we touch defiled things. In the book of Numbers 6, the Bible warned Nazarites against touching dead things in the vow of the Nazarite. The story of Samson is the prime example of a Nazarite who was warned against touching any dead thing even though he disobeyed that command by eating honey from a dead lion.
5. Purity of the Feet
“Take off your shoes for the ground on which you stand is Holy” If Moses was asked to take off His shoes just so that He could have an encounter with God, do you think you can have an encounter with defiled feet?
In the book of proverbs 6:18, the Bible tells us that God hates feet that are quick to run to evil. The purity of our feet affects the encounters we get when praying in tongues.
If you have an encounter with defiled feet, you will only be allowed to observe things from a distance. Or if you are lucky, you will be suspended in the air as you watch the vision but you won’t set foot on God’s holy ground.
To us it may seem funny but the angels of God will make sure nobody with defiled feet steps on holy ground. The Bible assures us in the book of Revelations 21:27 that nothing that is defiled will enter that Holy City.
If you want to have encounters where you walk around and experience the heavenly realms, make sure you don’t defile your feet.
Our feet get defiled when we use them to go to places that defile us.
6. Purity of the Nose
“I smelt a sweet heavenly aroma when praying in tongues” I’ve heard some believers testify. Such believers have pure noses that are able to capture sweet heavenly aromas.
How many times have you had someone testify of an encounter they had but didn’t mention the sweet aroma of the place?
As it is the case, such believers don’t even notice that they could not smell the sweet aroma of the place because their noses were defiled.
The same happens with believers who see visions but don’t touch the objects they see. It doesn’t click in their mind that their hands are defiled and that is why they can’t touch the things they see.
When it comes to the purity of the nose, you have to avoid bad smells. You think your hate for bad smells is just for nothing? God put it there so that it will deter you from going to places that defile you.
We know from the Bible that evil spirits have a foul smell. Sometimes they are even called foul spirits. If someone allows those evil spirits to come close to them, they will defile your nose and you will find it hard to experience heavenly aromas.
Have you ever tried praying in tongues while using the washroom? It feels weird because the washroom is a defiling environment. Farting while praying in tongues has the same negative effect. Gross but true!
Desire to have Encounters while Speaking in Tongues
Your level of purity when you are speaking in tongues determines the nature of encounters you will have and the depth of your experiences.
If your ears are pure, you will hear God every time you pray in tongues. If your tongue is clean when you are praying in tongues, you will always feel you are talking directly to God.
If your nose is pure, you will smell sweet heavenly aromas every time you pray in tongues. If you have a combination of a pure nose and pure ears, you will hear God and smell heavenly aromas when praying in tongues.
It all comes down to what you desire. Keeping yourself pure is not easy but if you really desire an encounter, then you know what to do.
I have had varied encounters mostly because I was testing to see what it takes to have an encounter of a given nature. In my case, I find it easy to hear from God and I always feel I’m talking directly to God whenever I pray in tongues but I struggle with purity of my eyes and my nose. I don’t remember a single encounter where I’ve experienced a heavenly aroma.
Because I know my strength and weakness, I do my best to balance them out well so that I get close to God. All in all, we are in the process of purification and none of us should feel guilty for not being pure enough to have encounters.
The more we pray in tongues and yield to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the purer we will become and the more encounters we will have.
Therefore, as you desire to have encounters while praying in tongues, remember to work on your purity. The Bible tells us in James 1:27 that true religion is to take care of orphans and widows and to keep ourselves undefiled by the world.
Until next time…peace!