Hey everyone,
Some people describe it as a real language that no one nearby understands. Others talk about it as a personal prayer language between them and God. Is praying in tongues a good thing? Is it the same as speaking in tongues?
Yes, when it comes from the Holy Spirit, praying in tongues is a good thing. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14 that the person who prays in a tongue “edifies himself” and then adds “I thank God I speak in tongues more than you all.”
Scripture treats it as a gift. His caution in that chapter is aimed at people using it to show off in public gatherings without interpretation.
Praying in tongues and speaking in tongues are related, but they work differently. At Pentecost in Acts 2, people heard real earthly languages they recognized. What Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 14:2 is someone speaking “not to men but to God” where “no one understands him.” That second one is what most people mean by a personal prayer language, between you and the Lord.
5 Likes
Praying in tongues can be a good thing, but it isn’t proof that someone is especially spiritual. Look at the fruit: whether it deepens their prayer life and produces actual love and self-control. As a measure of Christian maturity, tongues gets a 1/10 from me.
Christlike character matters way more.
I wouldn’t pressure anyone to produce a prayer language or make them feel like something’s missing if they don’t have one. 1 Corinthians 12 is pretty clear that gifts get distributed differently. Anyone who does practice it should still pray with understanding and follow biblical order around others.
Freedom to pray: 9/10. Pressure to imitate: 0/10.
2 Likes
Nobody nearby understands it, and it’s a personal prayer language with God, at least that’s how it works for me. I wouldn’t say it’s the same as speaking in tongues in every case though, since one is aimed at God while I’m alone and the other often happens where people are listening.
My beloved, begin to surrender yourself to the Lord, and let the holy Spirit do the work in your life.
I’ve seen friends quietly feel like second-class believers without a prayer language, so that point about not pressuring anyone really matters.
Fruit over feelings, love over language, that’s the chorus I keep coming back to whenever someone treats tongues like a maturity test.
The tongue spoken alone in the prayer closet builds up the one who prays, but in the assembly it must be interpreted so the whole body is edified.
I like the emphasis on fruit over outward signs. I’d add humility to the list too, since it’s part of that fruit. A real gift should push someone toward serving others, not ranking themselves above believers whose gifts look different.
Your “freedom to pray, no pressure to imitate” distinction was helpful. It protects sincere practice while still keeping the unity Paul stresses in 1 Corinthians 12.
Test the fruit before trusting the fireworks.
Tongues in Scripture were actual languages people recognized, not the same syllables on repeat while a friend invents some dramatic interpretation.
It’s an act of faith, and you take the initiative. The Holy Spirit doesn’t force it on you.
At first I was overthinking it and feeling self-conscious. But once I surrendered and started moving my mouth in faith, it became this prayer language that’s changed my relationship with God (see this).
It gets more natural the more you practice, like learning any language.
Ask with simple faith. God wants to give good gifts, like Matthew 7:11 says.
This prayer language is mainly for building yourself up and connecting with Him beyond your own understanding.
7 Likes
Got the gift at 15 in youth group. Still use it regularly. Apparently the Archbishop of Canterbury prays in tongues every day too.
It’s biblical. Paul lays it out pretty clearly in 1 Corinthians 14.
Not every unintelligible utterance is a prayer language. In Scripture, tongues were actual human languages the speaker didn’t know, and there was always supposed to be someone present who could interpret. The biblical pattern involves structure and accountability, not just spontaneous speech that nobody could ever verify.
Angels speak human languages throughout the Bible, so there’s no evidence of some separate heavenly dialect we’re supposed to use.
The one verse in 1 Corinthians 13 that gets used for angelic tongues isn’t mentioned again in the passage, which leaves it on shaky ground.
Look at whether praying in tongues draws you closer to God and produces fruit.
Tongues is good if it’s drawing you deeper into relationship with the Holy Spirit instead of becoming another box to check.
Cutting out distractions and carving out a dedicated place to pray has helped me a lot, even if it’s just a corner of a closet. Reading Scripture beforehand gives direction.
The real key is showing up day after day until the Holy Spirit starts to refresh you and you find yourself almost watching him pray through you.
I was skeptical too when I first heard about praying in tongues and wondered what it even looks like in practice.
From what I’ve studied in Acts, it’s not something you can decide to do on your own. It comes when someone receives the Holy Spirit after believing the gospel and turning from their old way of living. You see it in the passages (Acts 2, Acts 10, Acts 19), people speaking in tongues as a sign the Spirit had come upon them.
Surrendering control and trusting God’s timing was what it came down to.
I’d encourage you to try that same posture of complete openness. Reading Scripture and praying consistently while seeking Him with your whole heart prepares the ground for receiving this gift.
When it comes, there’s no room for doubt.
If it edifies you, why does Paul say in 14:14 his mind is unfruitful?
2 Likes
In 14:13 Paul tells the one who speaks in a tongue to pray for the power to interpret, and in 14:14 he explains why: “if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.” Something real is happening in the spirit, and that’s the edification he mentions in 14:4, but the understanding isn’t engaged and so has nothing to show for it.
“Unfruitful” seems to carry a second sense as well. Fruit in Paul’s letters is usually something that benefits others, and a mind that doesn’t grasp what is being prayed can’t pass anything on.
Paul’s own conclusion in 14:15: “I’ll pray with my spirit, but I’ll pray with my mind also.” He doesn’t treat the unfruitful mind as a reason to abandon praying in the spirit, or the spirit’s edification as a reason to neglect understanding. I read 14:4 and 14:14 as describing the same experience from two angles, one showing what it gives and the other showing what it lacks.
1 Like
It’s a way to keep praying when my own words run out.
When I first started praying in tongues, it felt like mumbling through the fast rap parts of Hamilton. Something was happening, but I couldn’t have told you a single word.
I use it most when I don’t know what to pray, like the night my sister was in the ER. Once my heart settles, I go back to English.