A Sermon Delivered on Wednesday evening, October 14th, 2020, by
Evangelist PAUL ACQUAH, Live on MZ Radio London, Uk
In writing to the church at Corinth, the apostle Paul specifically encouraged the Christians to follow the practice of speaking in tongues in their private prayer lives, and he gave several reasons for it. You see, speaking in tongues is the initial evidence of the infilling of the Holy Spirit. And it is one of the most powerful tools that we have in our arsenal as believers to live out the abundant life.
God has given each of us a supernatural means of edifying ourselves or building ourselves up spiritually. God has also given to us a supernatural means of communicating with Him and worshiping Him. Are you as a spirit filled believer taking full advantage of the gift of speaking in tongues? The purpose of this message is to help you to receive the blessings that can be yours through daily appropriating the power of the Holy Spirit in your life.
Keep on speaking in Tongues. Continue speaking for the rest of your life. The apostle Paul, writing to the Ephesian church said in Eph. 6:18, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. Then He said in verse 19 that,
19 pray for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel.
What’s the prayer for? That utterance may be given to me, said Paul, ‘that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel’. That’s the way to pray for ministers. That utterance will be given onto them and that they will speak under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. What does it mean to pray in the Spirit? That means pray in tongues. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. Hallelujah!
For whom? For all saints. You don’t know all saints to pray for them, so you have to do it in the spirit. And you don’t know all things. Get around people who believe like you do. People who believe in praying in tongues. Iron sharpens iron. They will strengthen and encourage you. The same spirit that lives in you gives you utterance in tongues. When you pray in tongues, you are not speaking to men, you are speaking to God, but you don’t understand what you are saying.
People don’t understand that when you pray in tongues, you are releasing the hidden wisdom of God. There are a lot of people who just pray in tongues to prove that they have got the baptism of the Holy Spirit. There are others who spoke in tongues 10 years ago and have never spoken in tongues again. If that is you, then you are missing one of the greatest tools that God ever gave us for moving into the spiritual realm.
When you pray in tongues, it’s absolutely foolishness to your mind and if you stay in the natural, just like a carnal person, then you will quit praying in tongues because you can’t do it carnally. But if you continue to pray in tongues, it makes you get over into faith, into the spirit realm. You will start thinking about spiritual things. It’s just like a can opener that will open up the life of God that is inside you and let the Spirit of God start flowing. You need, you really need the ability to speak in tongues.
Friend, don’t let the devil deceive you. The devil will say you are wasting your time when you are praying in tongues. He will say if you didn’t understand what you prayed, then what good will it do for you? Now you need to tell him that the Bible says he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Remember that anything which is unbelief and doubt is of the devil. Tell the devil that you have been talking to God, and that you weren’t talking to yourself or anyone else. No one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.
Whoever speaks in tongues speaks mysteries which is secrets. So, tell the devil that you have been speaking secrets to God. Halleluiah!
He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself. Tell the devil that you have been edifying yourself. You have been building yourself up. He will shut up if you don’t give up. The apostle Paul said in 1 Cor. 14:15 that,“what’s the conclusion? I will pray in the Spirit, and I will pray with my understanding”.
There are two kinds of prayer we are talking about here: I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with understanding. Speaking in tongues is not only the initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy spirit, But it’s a continuous experience. In other words, keep on speaking, continue speaking for the rest of your life. Don’t stop, pray in the spirit frequently and consistently as part of your amour. The apostle Paul said I pray in tongues more than all of you. When you pray in the spirit, God gives you wisdom and understanding. Keep praying in tongues my friend.
No matter what’s going on in the world; recession, family trouble, disease, believers have tools at their disposal that they can choose to change everything. Pray and God will answer you. Receive your directions from your father. Pray His words to receive the answers you need. Praying in tongues is a great tool God has given us. The world cannot help you. The world doesn’t have the Holy Spirit, but you and I do. The Bible says, stir up the gift which is in you. And a lot of us need to be stirred up because we only pray in tongues in times of intense joy or intense sadness. But tongues are for every day, it’s not for particular occasions.
There are some of you who are praying in tongues every day, but there are others who do not have the fluency because they speak in tongues occasionally. God has so much for us, so pray in tongues frequently.
Speaking in tongues is a way of life. As you keep speaking in tongues, your fluency will grow. You can speak it anytime you want. The Holy spirit helps your spirit to pray in a straight-line prayer to God. You can pray in tongues and you can stop and pray in your own native language. In this society that we live in, you have to know what to do. Speak in tongues and God’s response back to you will enable you to know what to do. So many times in my life, when I don’t know what to do, I just start praying in tongues and understanding comes. My friend, do what benefits you. Go for what the word of God is saying.
God is always speaking. Jesus said he that has ears to hear let Him hear, and he that has ears to hear, more will be given. Open you ears because He said any of us will hear His voice. He said my sheep know my voice. He always has a plan and His plan is the best and it’s for your outstanding success. Pray in tongues my friend. God has a job for you to do. He has a divine plan for your life. The Holy spirit lives inside us so we can live the life of the Kingdom of God. Speak the words of the Kingdom. Jesus said the words that I speak to you are spirit and life. Walk in His word. Your spirit is connected to the Holy spirit. You and God are connected together. My spirit and your spirit have the mind of Christ. Your born-again spirit never sleeps and never forgets anything. Let kingdom words convert the way you think and the way you talk.
If you don’t know Jesus personally, then what I have said doesn’t apply to you. You have a sinful nature that’s separated from God, and no matter how much you try in your actions to change, you can change your actions to a degree, but you cannot change your nature. Your good actions don’t change your bad nature. You have to be born again my friend. You just have to humble yourself and make Jesus your Lord and receive God’s righteousness as a free gift. You need to do that. And if you are born again, you absolutely need the baptism of the Holy Spirit. If you are born again and you don’t have the baptism of the Holy Spirit to speak in tongues, then you need that. These are two things that every single person should have. Every person needs to be born again and to be baptized with the Holy spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues,
If you need one or both, I want to pray for you. This is the most transforming life experience you can have with the Lord outside of being born again. And when you get born again, that’s an internal thing. It’s your spirit that God changed, and sometimes there is no outward manifestation, but when you receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, it is to release this power in your life. As far as your outward experience goes, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the most transforming experience that you can have. It’s very important. You are never going to be the same. You are going to be stronger in the race of life.
Before you can receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you must be born again. Jesus is the one who gives the Holy Spirit, so you have to receive the giver before you receive the gift. You cannot receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit until you receive Jesus Christ. There are a lot of people who think they are good people because they go to church. They believe that there is a God, but the Bible says even the devil knows that there is a God. It takes more than acknowledging that God exits. You have to believe in Him and make Him your Lord. You need to confess Him as your Lord and saviour. Maybe you acknowledge that God exists, but you haven’t made Him your Lord. Have you committed your life to Him?
I ask you a question. If you are not absolutely certain that you have turned your life over to Jesus, and you want to be born again, then you need to confess Him as your Lord and saviour and make sure that you are born again.
You can pray this prayer:
Heavenly father I’m confident that you will give me right now the baptism of the Holy spirit. Fill me, baptize me with the Holy Spirit. Jesus has been glorified; therefore, the Holy Spirit has been given. And I receive right now the baptism of the Holy Spirit, overflowing in me in Jesus’ name. I pray this prayer for every single person who wants to be saved and receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
How do you speak in tongues? You just have to start; you may start with people who already speak in tongues and that will help you to get your own prayer language as the Holy Spirit gives you utterance. Repeat some words and the Lord will take you to your own prayer language. As you do that, you will notice a syllable coming out of your mouth which is different from what you started with. You will have no idea about what you are saying, but the Lord understands what you are saying. You will be edified.
As you keep praying in tongues time after time, you will notice each time that a few more syllables will come out of your mouth, so will your fluency keep improving. This is because in order to speak a language fluently, you need to speak it frequently. As you pray in tongues and pray with your understanding, you will notice that ideas, insights, and concepts will begin to flood your mind. God will help you to understand what you are supposed to do with your life. The Holy Spirit will help you to do what God has asked you to do.
You can pray in tongues anytime you want. You don’t have to wait until you are happy or sad to pray in tongues; this has been some believer’s common practice. You can start praying in tongues and you can stop and start praying in your natural language which is the same as praying with your understanding. Remember, Paul said I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with understanding. You are in control; you can start and stop at will anytime you want.
So, let’s begin to pray in tongues. If you’ve never prayed in tongues before, open your mouth and join in our prayer and let the Holy Spirit take you into your own spiritual language. Begin to pray in tongues. You will not speak unless you open your mouth. You can stop at any time because it’s under the control of your will. You can start and stop at will. Paul said I will pray with my spirit, and I will pray with my understanding, so you can start and you can stop. It’s not an out-of-control experience. You can stop when you want to.
Now begin to speak in tongues. You are in control; The Spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet. The Holy Spirit will not force you. The Holy Spirit will not open your mouth and force you to speak in tongues. He will not do that. You speak and He gives you the language, – the new tongue. That’s how He works. He will not force you and He will not let you stop. That’s not God. You can start and stop any time you want to. You are in control. Now you can stop and pray in English, start with the very first word that comes in your mind. The more you practise, the more fluent you become. The Holy Spirit will give you more words. You will speak new tongues you haven’t said even before.
And if you are not absolutely certain that you have turned your life over to Jesus, and you want to be born again, then you need to pray this prayer after me, saying every word from your heart:
Dear Lord: I recognise that I am a sinner and need to be saved. I understand that Jesus died in my place and suffered the judgment of all of my sins. I believe that Jesus rose from the dead, and He is at the right hand of the father. Lord Jesus, I surrender my Life to you. Come and Live in my heart and be my Lord and saviour. Thank You for saving me. AMEN!

Paul Acquah is the founder of Christ Is All Ministries (CIAM), an evangelical ministry meeting the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of people. He is passionate about seeing people transformed by the Word of God and making heaven more crowded! Read More