- Mar 28, 2005
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I was thinking about how I use the gift of tongues, and working out when I am speaking in genuine tongues and when I may not be. I came to the conclusion that the intended purpose of tongues for me is during my private prayer time with God where He is the sole listener to the language I am praying. In answer to my question whether the tongues would be genuine if I submitted an example to a linguist, I concluded that doing that would be outside of its intended purpose and it would be gibberish instead of tongues. This is why every example of tongues submitted to linguists has turned out not to be identified as a genuine language, It is not the intended purpose of tongues to be tested by linguists, therefore it would be gibberish spoken in the flesh and not the Spirit.
Also, for me, speaking audibly in the hearing of others would be outside of its intended purpose, therefore it would probably be in the flesh because Paul did not recommend that tongues be used in public gatherings without interpretation. But through the sovereignty of God, there is the exception to the rule, where, in my case, I was praying quietly in tongues during a church service and my NZ Maori friend sitting beside me told me that I was speaking in fluent Maori language and what I was saying was encouragement to her. In a church prayer meeting where there was a visitor from Ghana, my friend was praying in tongues (in that Pentecostal prayer meeting they all did), and Badu, the Ghanaian stopped the prayer meeting and told my friend that he was praising God in his own rural village dialect. There was no way my friend could have known that dialect. Therefore, God, through His sovereign will, caused those tongues to be understandable languages for the express purpose of encouraging those select people.
It is the same with healing. We know that divine healing is not guaranteed by demand, but God can and does heal through His sovereign will, even though He might not bestow the actual gift of healing on anyone these days.
So when I pray to God in tongues privately according to 1 Corinthians 14:2 where in that environment I am speaking mysteries in the Spirit, then my prayer language is genuine; but if I use the gift outside of its intended purpose for me it would be through the flesh and not the spirit, and so it would be meaningless syllables and words. So my advice is for those who are unsure about whether their prayer language is genuine or not, to seek the Lord and find out from Him what the intended purpose is for them in how they are to exercise the gift of tongues.
Also, for me, speaking audibly in the hearing of others would be outside of its intended purpose, therefore it would probably be in the flesh because Paul did not recommend that tongues be used in public gatherings without interpretation. But through the sovereignty of God, there is the exception to the rule, where, in my case, I was praying quietly in tongues during a church service and my NZ Maori friend sitting beside me told me that I was speaking in fluent Maori language and what I was saying was encouragement to her. In a church prayer meeting where there was a visitor from Ghana, my friend was praying in tongues (in that Pentecostal prayer meeting they all did), and Badu, the Ghanaian stopped the prayer meeting and told my friend that he was praising God in his own rural village dialect. There was no way my friend could have known that dialect. Therefore, God, through His sovereign will, caused those tongues to be understandable languages for the express purpose of encouraging those select people.
It is the same with healing. We know that divine healing is not guaranteed by demand, but God can and does heal through His sovereign will, even though He might not bestow the actual gift of healing on anyone these days.
So when I pray to God in tongues privately according to 1 Corinthians 14:2 where in that environment I am speaking mysteries in the Spirit, then my prayer language is genuine; but if I use the gift outside of its intended purpose for me it would be through the flesh and not the spirit, and so it would be meaningless syllables and words. So my advice is for those who are unsure about whether their prayer language is genuine or not, to seek the Lord and find out from Him what the intended purpose is for them in how they are to exercise the gift of tongues.