An Ordinary Life

Speaking In Tongues

ROUGH DRAFT

Speaking In Tongues

Let me tell you a little about my personal experience speaking in tongues.

It started in Florida in 1975. I was living in Cocoa, Florida and my sweetheart was living in Beaufort, South Carolina. We exchanged letters. He wrote professing his love for me as well as sharing the news. One day as I was headed out the door to work, the mailman arrived with another love letter from my beau. I grab the treasured letter and stuck it in my pocket. I could hardly wait to read it.

As soon as I got clocked in at work, I took a private moment to read through his letter. Throughout my work day, I would take a stolen moments here and there to read his words again. some of the really sweet things he said, I shared with the girls I was working with.

And then it happened. I sensed the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart. It was as if God was saying, "I want you to read my Word the way you are reading that love letter."

That was the beginning of my love affair with the Bible.*

I did start reading it as though it was God's love letter to me. I also started exploring it to see what I believed. I knew I believed the Bible to be true so it stood to reason that I believed the things in the Bible to be true. The sea did part. Jesus did walk on the water and so did Peter. Flames of Pentecostal power did touch the apostles and they did speak in other tongues. So did the household of Cornelius. So did those in the early church.

As I read the book of Acts, I wanted what they had. I wanted to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Based on what I read, I believed that if I were filled with the Holy Spirit, I would speak in tongues. As I prayed, I felt what I believe was the power of God but I did not speak in tongues. (Actually, I did not speak at all because I had been raised to pray silently and that's what I did.)

I had been raised in a Methodist church. On the bus on my way to Florida, I had read an article about the importance of being baptized by immersion. The article persuaded me. My first Sunday in Cocoa, I attended a Baptist church. As we sang "Just As I Am" at the end of the service, I responded to the altar call and asked to be baptized. They were glad to honor my request.

Something else that had happened earlier that year, my sister had talked to me about the difference between simply accepting Christ as your Saviour and making Him Lord of your life. So, before feeling prompted to read the Bible like it was God's love letter to me, I had made a decision I wanted Jesus to be Lord of my life and I had followed Him into baptism.

At this point, I am reading the Bible. I am actually devouring it. And I want what the disciples had. I want to be fully surrendered to God through Jesus Christ and to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I wanted God to use me.

At this point, the only place I had ever heard about speaking in tongues was in the Bible. I read in Mark: "These signs shall follow those who believe..." One of the signs was, "they shall speak with new tongues."

At this point, I did not know anyone who spoke in tongues. I wondered why? I wondered when it had stopped. I wondered why it had stopped. I wanted what the early church had.

I went in to talk to my pastor about it. I told him I had a question. I showed him the verses in Mark. He asked me what my question was. I said, "Well, there's a whole lot of people around here who believe but I don't see these signs." He then told me we didn't need these signs any more. He pointed me to a verse that says something like, "When the perfect shall come, the imperfect will pass way."

He told me "the perfect" meant the Bible. He said that the early church did not have the Bible so they needed the gifts of the a Holy Spirit but we do have the whole Bible today so we no longer need those gifts.

I did not believe him.

I wasn't sure why the folks around me weren't speaking in tongues and other things but I was thoroughly convinced that the perfect meant Jesus. When we see Jesus face to face, we will know as we have been known and THEN we won't need the gifts off tongues and prophecy, etc.

I continued to seek God.

Then I changed jobs. I had been working as a waitress. I got a second job working at a gas station. I took my Bible to work with me and read it between customers. I excitedly shared my faith with the owner and the other employees. I later found out the owner was not a Christian at that time. I had talked to him as though he was.

His wife was a Christian and their bookkeeper was, too. They were excited to find out I was. (They were also happy to hear the owner didn't seem to mind me talking to him about God. They told me why later.)

Then they asked me THE QUESTION. "Have you received the baptism?"

Well, having just learned about and experienced baptism by immersion, I excitedly told them, "Yes! I've been baptized by immersion!" They let me know that was not what they were taking about. I remember, I wasn't really sure WHAT they were talking about but they called it "the Baptism of the Holy Spirit" and it was something I did not have.

I was embarrassed that I did not know what they meant and I was to shy to ask very many questions. I remember going home and using a concordance to find every place Spirit was mentioned with a capitol S. I continued to pray. Now I was pretty sure I wanted what these ladies had as well as what the early church had.

I prayed. I felt what I now know to be the Anointing. I knew even then it was the power of God. Sometimes, as before, it was so strong, I could barely stand but I did not speak in tongues.

Now, there was something else I wanted. I wanted to HEAR someone speak in tongues. I could not tell these two ladies that. I was to proof to reveal my ignorance. I did tell God. I told Him I wanted to HEAR someone speak in tongues.

God granted my request but I did not realize it at the time.

I was at work one day and had a horrible migraine. The bookkeeper asked me if she could pray for me. Of course I said yes -- I don't know how I could tell someone, "No, I don't want you to pray for me."

We were in her office at the time. She was sitting at her desk and I was sitting in a chair in front of her desk. I just expected her to sit there and pray...maybe even silently...but she got up and came around to the front of the desk. She put her hands on my head and began to pray. She then began to pray in a different language - I thought it was Italian. I think she was of Italian heritage. I remember thinking, "Awww...isn't that sweet, she speaks English but reverts to get native tongue when she prays. It was not until years later that I realized she was most likely praying in tongues.

Eventually, I sort of invited myself to dinner with this lady and her family. I was suppose to be at her house at about 5:30 for dinner at 6:00. That did not happen.

This was in the days before GPS tools. The lady gave me directions to get to her home but I got lost, lost and more lost. It was about 8 pm by the time I finally knocked on her door. They had finished eating. I can't remember whether or not they saved me a plate. I do know it did not matter to me. I did not go to her house to eat. I went to her house because I wanted the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

(SIDE NOTE: The whole speaking in tongues and baptism in the Holy Spirit thing is debated a lot in Christian circles. I am not here to promote any specific doctrinal position. Had I already been filled with the Holy Spirit? Maybe. Maybe not. I do know at this point, I had never spoken in tongues.)

My friend sat in her big, black recliner with a big, black Bible open on her lap. I asked questions and she shared verses. They were all verses I had already read and ones I had already read MANY times.

I remember her sighing and putting her hands palms down on the pages of that Bible in a gentle sort of slap and saying, "I don't know what more I can tell you."

I began to cry and asked, "Why can't I receive it?"

She got very excited and so did her young son (a boy about nine). He excitedly exclaimed, "Can I pray with her, Mom? Can I? Can I?

His mom said he could and she took both of us into a nearby bedroom for privacy. The three of us knelt at the side of the bed, her on one side of me and him on the other. We prayed. Nothing happened. She told me to open my mouth and say something -- something not in English --I couldn't. I began to feel a bit anxious and self-conscious -- afraid, actually.

Suddenly she said, "Spirit of fear, I command you to leave in Jesus' Name."

She then encouraged me again to let sound come out of my mouth.

I did. I said, "Lou Lou"

Well, then I really did feel stupid. It sounded to me like I was talking about Little Lou Lou and it certainly did not sound very spiritual but...

Both of them declared I was speaking in tongues and encouraged me to keep doing it. They said it would become more and more fluent.

I listened to them and more words did come out that night and I continued to pray in "my prayer language" often.

It didn't seem to become all that much more fluent. In fact, it seemed limited to a small group of phrases. But I read in my Bible that the Holy Spirit would pray through us according to the perfect will of God and if we asked God for the Holy Spirit, He would answer our plea.

Time went on... and I backslid.

Well, let me say that before I backslid, I attended a Pentecostal church with this lady and they were all talking in tongues and praying at the same time and it scared the daylights out of me.

Both of the ladies from the gas station had been raised Catholic. When they received this overflowing blessing of the Holy Spirit as evidenced by speaking in tongues, one of them left the Catholic church and the other chose to stay. After my scary visit to the Pentecostal church, I decided to stay at the Baptist church (in spite of what that pastor had said).

It wasn't very long until I moved to another state and got married. My marriage probably led to me back-sliding. But this is a story about speaking in tongues so I will leave the whole backsliding story for another time. The short version: I chose to smoke pot. I tried to say it was okay. It was not. It led me to stop praying (in English and in tongues) which led to me not reading my Bible which led to me not attending church which led to God not being an important part of my life. (Well, He was still a most important part of my life, I was just not giving Him the respect and honor He deserves.)

Then I got a call that my grandmother was on her deathbed. My husband and I went to see her in the hospital in Maryland where she lay dying. (Again, another story for later.)

When we were on our way home, I realized I had not prayed with my grandmother even though I knew she was dying. As my husband drove, I talked to God -- or actually, He talked to me. He made me aware of how far I was from Him and He gave me a choice. I knew in that moment, I had to make a choice to walk with God or not. I chose God.

When we got home, I started looking for a church. I decided that instead of going back to the Baptist church in that community, I wanted to go to a church that recognized speaking in tongues is for today.

I was so naïve. At this point, I did not know this was a point of contention amongst Christians.
I picked up the phone book and started calling churches listed in the yellow pages. I am not sure exactly what I asked the folks who took my calls but I let them all know I had previously spoken in tongues and was looking for a church that believed in that.

I found out that day for sure that there were many churches that didn't.

I found one that did.

I attended a service soon after.

I was nervous.My phone conversations with folks from churches that did not believe the gifts of the Spirit are for today had warned me against emotionalism. I did not want to be caught up in an emotional experience that was not real.

I arrived a bit late. The place was pretty full. I sat down at the end of a pew. I stayed seated. I really didn't participate because of my concerns. I did not want to be unduly swayed.

Toward the end of the service, the preacher spoke of the joy and peace we have in Jesus. I thought to myself, "Joy and peace? I'm a Christian. I have even received the baptism of the Holy Spirit but I don't have joy and peace. I want to die."

Oh my! That shocked me! I could not believe I had thought that sitting in church. It was as if I thought God didn't see me thinking that when I was sitting in my livingroom. Here, in church, I was VERY aware of God's presence and my thought shocked me. What happened next shocked me more.

It was as if God Himself spoke to me. It was not in an audible voice but it was VERY real to me. I heard Him say, "You're right. You need to die."

That was totally shocking.

The thought continued: "You need to die to the life you're living and live for Me."

Having spent some time in a Baptist church, I wanted to respond to the invitation at the end of the service. In Baptist terms, I wanted to rededicate my life. They didn't mention that idea in their invitation. The pastor invited folks who had never asked the Lord into their hearts to come forward - not folks like me. And this was not a church I was familiar with, I didn't know how they did things.

Abruptly, the lady sitting beside me said, "I'll go with you if you want to go."

What? She said it again and I said yes... We headed to the front of the church.

I never found out how she knew. If I remember correctly, I believe she felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to ask me and extend that offer. I was trying not to let folks see what was happening inside me but I am not sure how well I did with that.

As I walked down to the front of that church, I had no idea what to expect. I also did not know what to say. Would they understand "I want to rededicate my life"?

Since I wasn't sure, I simply told the preacher, "I want to die to the life I have been living and live for Jesus."

He told me to repeat some words after him and he began to say a sinners' prayer. I opened my mouth to repeat his words.

The preacher was an older man. He had been praying for folks for many years. What happened next surprised even him.

As I opened my mouth, I felt a strange sensation at the "root" of my tongue. My tongue felt like it was thickening and the words I had intended to say did not come out.

I spoke in tongues. Syllables flowed from my mouth. No words came out in English.

Both the preached and I were surprised.

After that day, I was able to pray in tongues with a fluidity I had not had before. I could open my mouth and let the syllables flow. I was blessed whenever I did this.

I believed I was allowing the Holy Spirit to pray through me -- according to the perfect will of God. I believed that as I prayed in the manner, my spirit was edified - I was edified.

That's not the end of this story though...

From then to now, praying "in the Spirit" (praying in tongues) has been a part of my life.

I have one more thing related to speaking in tongues I want to share before I close.

I want to tell you about the day I learned how to say, "I pray thee." in Chaldee (Hebrew).

The day I said, "Lou Lou" was 1975. It happened when I lived in Florida. The day my tongue thickened and something other than English flowed from my lips was 1977 when I was living in Illinois.

Then came a day in 1983 when I was living in Texas. We were living in and attending a small full gospel church. A dear elderly woman had been seeking the baptism of the Holy Spirit in church that day. You could feel the power of God as we gathered around her praying. She could barely stand. We were holding her up. She did not speak in tongues that day. Like me, all those years ago, she did not speak at all.

Returning to our rooms in the back of the church, I found myself thinking back to the day I prayed, "Lou Lou". I remembered how silly I had thought that was --Lou Lou, like Little Lou Lou. I was praying about the whole idea of just opening your mouth and letting something come out that is not English.

On impulse, as I was praying that day, I took my copy of Strong's Concordance from the shelf. I turned to the L's in the Chaldee section in the back. What did I find there?

I found a word that can mean "I pray thee": luw'. It is pronounced: loo.

Lou Lou might have been Luw', luw'. It might have meant, "I pray thee, I pray thee." I like to think that it did.

~ ~ ~ JESUS is LORD! ~ ~ ~