Benefits of Praying In Tongues.

1. Praying in Tongues Gives You Supernatural Understanding of God’s Mysteries

"For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries" (1 Cor. 14:2, NKJV).

Corey describes the Holy Spirit as the Google, or “search engine of heaven.” God is mysterious, yes, but the Spirit who knows everything about the mysterious, expansive, glorious God is the same Spirit who lives inside of you! And furthermore, He wants to reveal mysteries to you about God, His will, your life and the circumstances you are facing.

How do we access this revelation? Communion with the Holy Spirit on His level—in His language. Remember, Paul defines Holy Spirit as the One who “searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets” (1 Cor. 2:10, NLT). As you pray in the Spirit, you will discover things that were previously mysterious and unknown will start coming into greater focus and clarity.

2. Praying in Tongues Grants You Access to Other Revelatory Gifts of the Holy Spirit

"For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit ... to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues" (1 Cor. 12: 8, 10, NKJV).

Praying in tongues actually unlocks other revelatory gifts of the Holy Spirit in your life, namely the word of wisdom, word of knowledge, prophecy and discerning of spirits. Remember, you are not praying on a natural dimension, but rather engaging on a purely spiritual one. Don’t be surprised if, while praying in tongues, the Holy Spirit gives you supernatural insight about something, leads you to pray for people and unlocks clarity over people, situations and even regions, enabling you to effectively pray for and break off the spiritual strongholds that are influencing them.

3. Praying in Tongues Opens Up the Bible in a New, Living Way as You Read It

"However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak" (John 16:13).

For some modern believers, reading the Bible can feel like a life-draining experience. It’s not just history. It is not a mere record of facts. Scripture isn’t just stories. The same Holy Spirit who inspired the writing and assembly of the Holy Scriptures lives inside of you. He wants to guide you through the Bible, make the words jump off the page, give you understanding on confusing matters, empower you to apply God’s Word to your everyday life, share prophetic promises with you and help you discover your role in God’s unfolding story. Corey describes praying in tongues as a way the Holy Spirit “shines a flashlight on Scripture.”

4. When Praying in Tongues, You Are Speaking Directly to God

"For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God" (1 Cor. 14:2).

As you pray in tongues, you have a direct line to the president of the universe. Sometimes while praying in our native languages, we have the tendency to veer off and get distracted. We may start complaining. We may start going through the routine laundry list of prayer requests—and by the time we are finished reading them off to God, we feel more burdened than refreshed (because we actively thought of every single one of those circumstances as we listed them off in prayer). Tongues keeps us talking directly to God, praying in agreement with His perfect will (Rom. 8:26-28).

5. Praying in Tongues Empowers You to Engage Spiritual Warfare From the Position of Victory

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit" (Eph. 6:18).

Praying in tongues is not some magic formula that guarantees us some free and easy lifestyle of health, wealth, prosperity and all of those fixings. Jesus assured us that in this life, we will experience tribulation (John 16:33). In the same passage, the same Jesus declared that He has overcome the world. Victory has already been secured at Calvary.

In times of trial and assault, it is easy for us to become weary in the place of prayer, often not knowing what or how to pray. Praise God for the Holy Spirit! Paul reminds us "for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us" (Rom. 8:26). When in the heat of spiritual combat, it is easy to start praying prayers that agree with the size of the attack, emphasizing the problem rather than focusing on the size of the blood-bought victory that Jesus purchased at the cross. Praying in tongues empowers you to agree with God’s victorious battle plan for your life and your circumstances, no matter what is going on around you. It does not deny reality; it simply positions you to agree with the higher truth of Scripture: Victory has been purchased, and it is yours through Jesus Christ.

Energize your life!

God has created you to be a victor, not a victim. Jump-start your day by celebrating the very best that God has for you! These daily inspirations will help you grow in your relationship with the Lord and equip you to be everything God intends you to be.

How to Establish a Daily Quiet Time.

You Can Benefit from Time Spent with God

All of us, whatever our age or stage of life, can benefit from time spent with God, so I encourage you to develop a daily quiet time with the Lord. If we’re not careful, we find ourselves hurrying through prayer and reading God’s Word to get to the “important things,” but really, there is nothing more important than this.

Scripture tells us that Jesus longs to have fellowship with us. We have an open invitation from Him. The apostle John said that our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself said “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” When we spend time with the Lord, we learn from Him. Students learn in the presence of their teacher, and we learn in the presence of ours. Just being in church once a week is not enough. When we refresh our spirit every day by spending time in His presence, our whole being is affected in a positive way.

Is there a good example for this? There is. It’s Jesus Christ. As He walked this earth, He sought to spend time with God the Father. He spent time in prayer. He spent time alone with God — away from even His closest disciples and family. He consistently met with God, sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, and sometimes in the evening. He pulled away from the demands of ministry and deliberately maintained intimate contact with the Father. And He told His followers to follow His example: I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.

How do we do this?

I believe there are four things that will help us:

1. Remember that spending time with God is not about ritual, but relationship

When you and I were born again, we entered into a relationship with Almighty God. He is not only our God, he is our Heavenly Father. We have freedom before Him, and access to His throne. We don’t have to be afraid of Him. Rituals might be burdensome, but relationships with loved ones rarely are. Spending time with one that you love is exciting and life-changing — and that’s how your daily time with your Father God should be.

2. Establish a specific time every day when you will spend time with the Lord.

Don’t you find that what gets scheduled usually gets done? I do. Find a time that works with your lifestyle and your family demands, then stick to it! Make it a top priority. That’s how habits are developed. Persevere even when you are tired, and don’t feel like it. Remember, we’d never get anything accomplished if we lived by our feelings alone!

3. Minimize your interruptions.

When you’re spending time with God, give Him all of your attention. Turn off the telephone and the television. Find a nice, quiet, cozy spot where you are comfortable. If you have children, teach them to respect your privacy during this time, and explain to them that this is your time with God. Then they will learn the importance of a daily quiet time, and you’ll reinforce its importance in their eyes, too. Pray that they will follow your example, and encourage them to do so.

4. Choose a Bible version and a Bible-reading plan.

This is so important — especially for new Christians. Ask a pastor or friend to help you select a good translation. I like the New International Version or the New Living Translation. Doing a little research to find the right translation for you will help you in the long run. Then get a reading plan. Don’t just open the Bible and randomly skip around. Again, ask a pastor or a friend to help you select a reading plan if you’re not sure. Balance your reading between the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament is rich in history and knowledge — and the New Testament presents the story of Christ and the birth of the church. Both are so valuable — and reading one will help you understand the other.

5. Interact as you read.

The Bible is a living book, written by a living God. As the Holy Spirit to give you understanding, wisdom and revelation as you read. Read the Bible as if it were a love letter, because it is — it is God’s love letter to you! Pray as you go. Take notes, and don’t be afraid to mark scriptures in your Bible itself. Interact with your Bible, and ask God to use it to change your heart and life.

All of these things are important, but the most important thing you can do is to begin — and that you can do today!

Keeping the Connections.

“Love must be learned, and learned again; there is no end to it.” Love should not remain the same year after year; love is supposed to grow. Relationships evolve over time, people change over time, and our love should strengthen and grow over time too. The apostle Paul prayed that our love would abound and grow in knowledge and depth of insight. That tells me that I cannot put my love on autopilot. If we put our love on autopilot and think that the people in our lives will simply “know” that we love them, our relationships will not grow or be as fruitful as they were intended to be. That’s why it’s so important to make every effort to keep strong connections in our relationships.

The Gift Everybody Needs.

Find Somebody to Be Good to Every Day

I wonder what our world would be like if each of us would find somebody to be good to every day. What would our city be like? What would our offices be like? What would our schools be like if we made it a priority to brighten somebody else’s day? Scripture teaches “Every opportunity we have we should do good to people” (see Galatians 6:10). That means we need to be on the lookout. We need to be proactive. We need to have the mindset of, “Who can I bless today?” “For whom can I do a favour?” You can’t just sit back and wait for the need to come to you. You have to go after it.

The Scripture says that in the last days the love of the great body of people will grow cold (see 2 Timothy 3:1–8). That simply means that people will be so busy, they’ll be so focused on their own needs, they’ll be so caught up in their drive for success that they won’t take time to make a difference.

Sometimes it’s easy for us to get so caught up in our own little world that we’re focused only on ourselves. “I’ve got my plans. Don’t get me off my schedule.” “I’d love to help you out with some work around your house, but I’m sorry, this is football season. I just don’t have the time.”

But we weren’t created to live selfishly. We were created to make a difference in the lives of others. John Bunyan, author of the classic Pilgrim’s Progress said, “You have not lived today until you have done something for someone that cannot pay you back.”

Friends, all around us are hurting people who need our love and encouragement. Don’t miss the miracle of the moment. Don’t be too busy, or insensitive to the needs of those around you. Be willing to be inconvenienced. Be sensitive and pay attention to those around you, your friends, your coworkers and your relatives. Listen to what they’re saying. We shouldn’t miss opportunities to do good whenever situations come across our paths to bless people.

Jesus said. “When you do it to the least of one of these, it’s like you’re doing it unto Me,” (see Matthew 25:40). Proverbs 19:17 says, “He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, and He will repay him for his good deed.” When you give to those in need, you are lending to God. And God knows how to pay you back — with interest! You may not be able to give money, but you can baby sit that single mom’s children. Why don’t you give her a break one night? Tell her, “You go do something special for yourself. Here’s a gift certificate. You go up to the mall. You go get your nails done. Our family is going to keep your children tonight.”

If you see one of your friends wearing the same clothes all the time, why don’t you step up to the plate and say “Let me buy you a new suit or two.” Or, “Take this gift certificate and go get yourself some new clothes.”

Maybe you and your family go out to eat every Sunday after church. Why don’t you take a single parent family along with you? Or better yet, be a mentor to one of those young children. That doesn’t take a lot of money. It just takes time and love. That just takes somebody that cares, somebody that’s willing to make a difference.

I heard a story about a young boy that lived in the inner city. He was about eight years old and was very poor. One cold day, he was looking in the window of a local store admiring a pair of tennis shoes. As he stood there, cold and barefooted, a lady came along and asked,

“Young man, what are you doing staring so intently in this window?”

Shyly he said, “Well, I was just sort of praying and asking God if He’d give me a new pair of tennis shoes.”

Without hesitation, the lady took him into the store and very gently and lovingly washed off his cold dirty feet. She put a brand new pair of socks on his feet. Then she told him to pick out three new pairs of tennis shoes.

The boy couldn’t believe it. He was so excited! He had never owned a new pair of shoes. He’d always just worn old hand-me-downs. After she had paid for the purchase, the woman handed the shoes to the child.

“Enjoy your shoes, son,” she said.

The little boy looked at her in amazement. Nobody had ever taken that kind of interest in him.

As serious as could be, with tears running down his cheeks, he said,

“Lady can I ask you a question? Are you God’s wife?”

Friend, you are never more like God than when you give. You’re never more like God than when you take time for people, than when you do something to bless someone else.

And not just in the big things. Learn to be good to people in your everyday life. When you stop to get a cup of coffee at work, bring your co-worker back a cup, too. When traffic backs up on the free way, let that car into the lane in front of you. At the grocery store, when you have a bunch of groceries and somebody behind you has just a few, let them go ahead of you. Or how about in the parking lot, when you pull up to that last front row parking space at the same time as another car? Why don’t you back up and let them have that space?

Do you want another simple way of blessing someone? When you’re at a restaurant, be a good tipper. Don’t leave that server ten naira bill when you just spent five thousand naira bill to eat.

God’s people believe in being good to people. We believe in showing God’s kindness wherever we go.

Sow a seed into someone’s life. It’s an opportunity to bless someone with our words and our money.” 

Love is seen in our actions. This world does not need to hear another sermon nearly as much as it needs to see us being good to people.

Learn to give your time, your money, or an encouraging word. When you show love, you are showing God to the world. And don’t worry if you don’t get any credit. When you let somebody in traffic in front of you, you may never see that person again. When you give somebody twenty dollars because you had compassion in your heart, you may never hear back from them, but let me assure you, God is keeping the records. He has seen every time you’ve been good to somebody. He’s heard every encouraging word you’ve spoken. God has seen all the times you went out of your way to help somebody but they never even said thank you. The Scripture says when you do things in secret, when you do things without getting any credit, when nobody thanks you, God sees it, and you will even receive a greater reward.

It’s one thing to make a big splash and let everybody know how generous you are, but if you really want to be blessed, do something good for somebody and don’t tell anybody about it. Leave some cash in an unmarked envelope on the desk of that co-worker that’s struggling to make ends meet. At the restaurant, buy somebody’s dinner and remain anonymous. Clean up the kitchen at the office and don’t tell anybody that you did it. When you do things in secret and you don’t get any credit, you are sowing a seed for God to do great things in your life.

Or maybe you overhear one of your co-workers saying, “Next week I’ve got to take my car in the shop. I don’t what I’m going to do. I don’t know how I’m going to get to work.” Why don’t you tell her, “Let me swing by in the mornings and pick you up.”

“Oh, no, that’s too far,” she may protest. “It’s out of your way.”

You can say, “It’s no big deal. I’ll be glad to do it.”

Listen to what people are saying around you. And look for opportunities to bless them.

Why don’t you make a decision with me that you’re going to start being good to people?

And remember, true love is always backed up with our actions. People are watching us, and one of the best witnesses we could have is simply by being good to people. If you’ll get up every day and focus on how you can be a blessing and not just on how you can get blessed, God will meet your own needs as you meet others’ needs. God will meet all your needs in abundance!

The Scripture says people will know true Christians by their fruit (see Matthew 7:15–23). They’re not going to know us by how many scriptures we quote. People are going to really know that we’re believers when we’re helping other people, meeting needs, doing good works, when we are blessing people with our words and our actions.

Marked for Greatness.

Some people say this generation has it harder than any generation before. They say there is too much evil out there, too many things going against them. They say this generation will never make it. Well, I think about Moses in scripture. He was never intended to make it. Moses wasn't even supposed to be alive! He was supposed to be killed as soon as he was born, and God miraculously spared his life.

Later on, he tried to do something good and it turned out badly, and he found himself wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. Some people think they've wasted their lives. They think, "I haven't done anything yet." Moses probably thought the same thing. He was out in the wilderness, but he knew that he had the anointing of God on his life. He knew he was marked for greatness.

Moses is the one who went to Pharaoh and talked him into letting the people of Israel go. He helped them escape the bondages of slavery. They headed out and found themselves against a massive body of water. Behind them was the enemy army coming to take them back into captivity, and they were severely outnumbered! The Israelites were on foot with their families, the children and the elderly, and behind them was the enemy army full of young men with chariots and horses. Moses is the one who looked at that obstacle of water, raised his rod in faith, and watched the wind split that water in two so the people could move forward.

If that were in the news today, most people would say, "That's crazy! That's sensationalism! That couldn't have happened." I say, "No, that's our supernatural God!" Moses wasn't even supposed to make it to three years old. Then he wasted 40 years in the wilderness and still became one of the greatest fathers of our faith! If he can make it, you can make it, and this generation can make it! Moses was marked for greatness, and you are marked for greatness!"

"For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession." (Deuteronomy 7:6, NIV)

Staying Steady and Grounded

Life is full of ups and downs, twists and turns. Sometimes it seems we are just getting the hang of things when a wave of the "unexpected" comes crashing down. But no matter what kind of storm is going on around us, we don't have to let the storm get in us. God wants us to stand steady and grounded in Him. You're not supposed to be tossed to and fro, one day up and one day down. One day you're happy, one day you're not. When you are born again, God gives you a regenerated spirit to connect with Him and His Word. When you are connected to Him, He becomes your anchor. That's why we need to meditate on the Word of God every single day.

We have to fill our spirits, but another important key to staying grounded is to keep our emotional tanks filled up as well. Not everyone fills their emotional tank the same way, but I believe if you really want to have mental strength, you have to be your own biggest cheerleader. You have to keep your mind in the right direction. You can't wait for other people to validate you; you have to believe in and validate yourself. Don't wait around for someone to send you flowers, send yourself some flowers! Get up every morning and set your mind and heart in the right direction. Make positive declarations of faith and bind your mind to the mind of Christ.

A lot of times, we have a hard time making positive declarations because we aren't typically taught to say nice things about ourselves. We are taught that if we say good things about ourselves, then we are bragging. However, when you declare what God says about you, when you are speaking His word, you aren't boasting and bragging on yourself, you're boasting in the Lord! You're not talking about your own accomplishments; you are talking about His accomplishments in you. You are boasting about who He made you to be.

Today, be determined to fill yourself up spiritually and emotionally. Connect your mind with heaven. Declare what He says about you. Speak words of faith. Know that He is your ultimate source of strength. Stay steady and grounded in Him so that when the storms of life come, you can stand and see the victory!

"The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." (Matthew 7:25, NIV)