Speaking in Tongues

Today’s a new day! This past weekend, I was watching a prayer gathering online, where I saw someone praying over a woman with cancer. The lady praying asked the woman dealing with cancer if she had the gift of speaking in tongues. The cancer warrior stated she did not. The woman praying then made the comment that maybe that’s the reason this lady fighting cancer had not experienced a healing. My heart broke. This is false teaching! You will not find this teaching anywhere in the Bible.

Sadly, I have been at gatherings like the one above and have seen many Christians manipulate people into speaking in tongues. They have people basically parrot what they’re hearing. This is wrong and definitely not from Jesus. He never did that. No where in scripture, do you ever read where Jesus told anyone to be healed as long as they spoke in tongues. I have been in numerous religious settings where everyone is speaking in tongues and there is no interpreter. That is not Biblical.

I have also been to religious meetings where it taught that speaking in tongues is evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Once again, the Bible does not support this. We do see in the Bible that sometimes when people received the Holy Spirit that they spoke in tongues (another language).  All believers have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and are baptized with the Holy Spirit.  All, however, do not speak in tongues.

A point I want to make here is, I believe people have the gift of speaking in tongues. Just like some people have the gift of Serving, Healing, Teaching, Leadership, Evangelism, etc. But not everyone has all the gifts. And that’s okay.

Just like with speaking in tongues, we cannot coach or manipulate someone into having any of spiritual gifts unless the Holy Spirit gives them a particular gift. Some people have been blessed with multiple gifts. And that’s awesome!

Not all Christians need to speak in tongues and not all Christians will. Once again, that’s okay.

My heart is broken, when I see people who are hurting walk away from a religious gathering feeling like they did not measure up or they did not receive a healing because they did not speak in tongues. I believe God will deal with people who preach this false gospel in His own way.

I encourage every Christian to seek a personal and intimate relationship with God. Pursue your dreams and live your life to the fullest. Acknowledge God in whatever you do and he will show you the way you should go.

You do not need to speak in tongues to experience a more effective prayer life. The Bible says that if we pray according to God’s will, then he hears us and will meet our needs. Jesus can heal that person with cancer or some other health issue who does not speak in tongues, just as easily as He can decide to bring that person with cancer who does speak in tongues home to Heaven. There is never a requirement to speak in tongues to get your prayers answered or to experience salvation in Jesus.

So today, walk in the freedom of Jesus and watch Him move in your life. ~OC