If I asked you who was the most prolific tongue speaker in the Bible you will most likely say Apostle Paul and you won’t be wrong. Apostle Paul was among the first people to receive the ability to speak in tongues and he utilized that opportunity perfectly.
The Bible tells us that Apostle Paul laid hands on a number of people and they spoke in tongues. But most importantly, Apostle Paul spoke in tongues more than other disciples as he wrote it himself in 1st Corinthians 14:18.
Reading this scripture made me wonder why Apostle Paul was so good at speaking in tongues. And even though the Bible does not give us obvious reasons, it didn’t take me long to learn why Apostle Paul was so good at speaking in tongues.
You can copy what made Apostle Paul so good at speaking in tongues and become good at it also. Why not?
What made Apostle Paul so good at Speaking in Tongues
1. Zeal for the Lord
If there was a man who was very zealous for God apart from Jesus, it is definitely Apostle Paul. He was willing to go to unimaginable extents just to please God.
We are told that at one point he was stoned when he went to Lystra in Acts 14:19. But shortly after being stoned, he woke up and went back to the city to preach. Tell me if that is not epic level zeal.
How many of us today will continue preaching the gospel if we are slapped leave alone being stoned?
The zeal of Apostle Paul didn’t just apply to preaching the gospel but in every aspect of his life. There is an infamous quote that says ‘How you do anything is how you do everything’.
Basically, how you preach is the same way you speak in tongues. With the same zeal you study the word, you will pray in tongues.
It is obvious that Paul applied the same zeal he had in speaking in tongues. Speaking in tongues has hardships of its own but they must have been a walkover given the level of zeal Apostle Paul had.
With this in mind, you can build your own zeal when it comes to speaking in tongues. Zeal comes from knowledge. If you know and are fully persuaded that speaking in tongues is a powerful gift, zeal will come automatically.
But of course for you to be persuaded that speaking in tongues is a powerful gift you will need to practice it for a while.
The secret is to learn more about Jesus. When you know Jesus so well, you will automatically know God the Father and in the process you will have a hunger to commune with Him.
Since we commune with God through speaking in tongues, the zeal you have for God will naturally push you to launch deep in tongues.
2. Serious Encounters with God
There is a lot of talk that goes on about the things of God but one serious encounter is better than 10,000 paragraphs of speech.
Apostle Paul had one of the most powerful encounters of anyone in the Bible on his way to Damascus. It was so powerful that he went blind for three days.
There was no way Apostle Paul would forget Jesus after having such an encounter with Him. Because of the vivid memory of the encounter, Apostle Paul must have found it easy to speak in tongues.
One of the toughest challenges of speaking in tongues is keeping your mind focused on God. But after multiple encounters with God, it will be easy for you to focus.
For someone like Apostle Paul, his powerful encounter must have sailed him through levels of speaking in tongues. It is no surprise that at one time he was caught up into the third heaven and saw things that no man is permitted to say.
I have had a number of encounters and they have greatly helped me in speaking in tongues. One of the most vivid encounters I’ve had was on 1st of March 2020.
It only lasted for about three seconds but I remember it as if it happened yesterday.
For a brief moment, the Lord allowed me to taste of the life to come. We were in church having a session of praying in tongues and worship.
The feeling was so good beyond what I have ever experienced. I cried when the encounter ended even though the encounter had only lasted for a few seconds.
The memory of that sweet experience encourages me to push through tough sessions of speaking in tongues.
What Apostle Paul experienced was definitely more powerful than what I experienced and it must have given him a stronger boost in speaking in tongues than what I got.
Desire to have encounters. They will help you be better at speaking in tongues.
3. Accustomed to Suffering
‘Endure hardship as a good soldier of Christ Jesus’. This is what Paul told Timothy. It is obvious that Apostle Paul was no stranger to hardship and suffering.
His writings are full of statements that show that he was constantly in pain. To the Romans he said ‘The suffering of this present time is not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed’.
Still in Romans he quotes the psalmist by saying ‘We are considered sheep for slaughter all day long’.
And most painful of all he writes in 2nd Timothy 4:6 that he is already being poured out like a drink offering and his time of departure is near.
If Apostle Paul had the courage to endure this level of hardship, the challenges of speaking in tongues were a walkover to him.
Speaking in tongues comes with its fair share of suffering. From people ridiculing you, to losing friends, to having numb knees when you kneel for long etc.
But such challenges are nothing if you have survived being stoned, being bitten by a snake and being chained for preaching the gospel.
If you adjust your mind to accept suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus, you will become really good at speaking in tongues.
Apart from speaking in tongues, I usually do workouts. The resilience I get from the workouts serves me well when it comes to speaking in tongues.
If I can push myself to do 30 sit ups when I am tired, it won’t be hard to push myself to speak in tongues for 30 minutes when I am tired.
Suffering is uncomfortable, but if we take it positively, it will help us become good at speaking in tongues like Apostle Paul.
I hope you’ve learned something from Apostle Paul’s exemplary tongue speaking performance. Implement these lessons and grow in the gift of speaking in tongues.
Until next time…peace!