Strengthen Yourself in the Lord – Week 4

Points to Ponder:

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Hi friends, here are some points to meditate on this coming week. Please don’t rush through them. Partner with Holy Spirit as you honestly answer each question. Maybe consider only answering 1 or 2 questions a day. This is where non-judgemental self-awareness is crucial. To be honest with yourself and God about what your thoughts, feelings and beliefs really are, is an incredibly empowering step to becoming the strong, courageous, powerful, loving and free person you were designed to be:

1. “The moment we choose to follow Christ, we sign up for an ongoing process of transformation in our lives that works to change us into a house that can truly express the glory and nature of God in the world.” Have you found this to be true for you? How does the statement make you feel? Are you personally aware of God’s transforming work in your life?

2. Before listening to this teaching about the gift of tongues, or reading the chapter in the book, was praying in tongues a tool you would use to strengthen yourself in the Lord? What did you find particularly helpful about this teaching/chapter?

3. How can you go about being filled with the spirit and speaking in tongues? I’m going to share below very simply what Julian and Katia Adams suggest in their podcast Union with God and Demystifying the Gift of Tongues:

If you’re a believer its helpful to get into a place of worshipping Jesus because we’re inviting the atmosphere of heaven and the presence of God as we worship. In the book of Acts, the disciples were in a place of prayer and worship when the HS fell upon them.
What we’re inviting HS to do is immerse us in His presence, so in that space begin to ask Holy Spirit to come and fill you; to come and fill you with greater power; to come and fill you with His presence. Ask Holy Spirit to fill you so that you can speak in tongues, so that you can learn to speak with His language. We can trust that God is a good father and He wants to fill us, He wants to encounter us and give us good gifts.
So, if you’ve prayed that prayer in the atmosphere of worship, then go for it. Open your mouth and start saying anything that comes to your mind, literally any word that you don’t know, that comes to your mouth. As you do that the gift is unlocked as you partner by starting to speak. It’s important to remember that Holy Spirit doesn’t take control of your vocal chords. This is not an uncontrollable thing. It is a partnering dynamic.
Many have found that it helps to take a deep breath in, and as you breathe out start to speak whatever words come out.
It’s not going to make sense to your mind, and that’s ok. There might even be a sense of fear – am I losing it? Is this right? What’s going on? It’s otherworldly so it’s ok to feel that.
The simplicity is that the more you speak, the more there will be a flow.
It’s important to understand that different people’s experiences are different. We are all unique. For some, it’s like a river that flows fluently right from the beginning. For others, the learning of HS language is more halting, and you initially only get one word which you might say again and again while your mouth gets used to it. It’s practice that allows the river to flow.
Katia says she often gets asked what if it’s not God? What if it’s just gibberish and not Holy Spirit? And I love her answer: “Well, it’s faith that pleases God, not your fluency in tongues. If we engage our faith in the moment we ask Him to fill us, and we say, ‘God I believe you are good and truthful when you say you give good gifts to your children, so I am going to step out in faith based on that, and just go for it!’ Even if your words in the very beginning are not 100% words that Holy Spirit is speaking, your faith has pleased Him. And as you step out in faith, whether you’re fluent or not, He comes to meet with you. So make a choice to stop overthinking it. If the first words you say are not Holy Spirit, probably by word 10 it will be. He comes to meet with you in the place of your faith, so step out and go for it. He wants to fill you. He wants to give you good gifts; He wants to give you gifts that edify yourself.”
If you haven’t yet spoken in tongues and would like to, I encourage you to try this suggestion out in the comfort of your home. But if you would like someone to draw alongside you, to help you to speak in tongues, please contact the church office and we will get someone to connect with you. Alternatively, speak to one of the ministry team that are available on Sundays to pray with you at our Sunday meetings.

4. Katia suggested something that I definitely want to practice more. In the podcast, she encourages those of us who enjoy the gift of tongues, but just don’t use it often, to consider engaging more intentionally. A while back she felt the need to increase her spiritual muscle around this gift, so decided to set a timer and pray in tongues for a set period of time. She started by praying in tongues for 1 minute a day and increased the timer by 30 seconds each day. It may sound strange but it seemed to be a really effective way for her to build spiritual muscle, to build up her capacity to engage with God using the gift of tongues.

She encouraged us to not be afraid to apply really practical tools so that we can grow our capacity to engage in the spiritual and supernatural. Sometimes we can be so afraid that we’re becoming religious – but that only happens when you feel you’re earning something by doing it. But God wants us to use practical tools so that we can engage in the supernatural and spiritual activities that help us strengthen ourselves in Him, and release the Kingdom wherever we go. So I challenge you to try it and see what God does!

5. Here’s the link to Julian and Katia’s podcast from Frequentsee Conversations called Union with God and Demystifying the Gift of Tongues. Just a reminder that they start talking about the Gift of Tongues from around the 23rd minute, however, I’d encourage you to listen to the whole podcast here.