In my previous post, I shared my journey toward understanding the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. In this post, I want to speak about one aspect that often raises questions for many believers, speaking in tongues. For a long time, this was something I approached with a lot of caution.
Growing up, the church tradition I was part of believed that tongues always had to be a human language. The idea was that when someone spoke in tongues, it would be a language spoken somewhere in the world, just as it happened on the Day of Pentecost.
I am Zimbabwean, and Zimbabwe has two major languages, Shona and Ndebele. Interestingly, whenever someone in church testified about receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, they would say something like:
“I began speaking in Shona.”
“I began speaking in Ndebele.”
Usually the testimony was that if someone was Shona, they suddenly spoke Ndebele, and if they were Ndebele, they began speaking Shona. As a young believer, this made me curious. Zimbabwe has many other languages. If the Holy Spirit was giving people languages they had never learned, why were the languages always the ones people could potentially have learned anyway? At the same time, I was also cautious because of something else I observed. Some of the people who spoke very confidently about speaking in tongues were living lives that did not seem to reflect transformation, holiness, or zeal for the gospel. This raised questions for me.
I want to be clear that I am not suggesting that those who shared these testimonies or those I observed had not genuinely received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, nor am I minimising their experiences. I simply found myself sincerely wanting to understand how this worked and what Scripture actually taught about speaking in tongues. However, because of that, I also sometimes wondered whether tongues could be:
- Rehearsed,
- Copied,
- Emotional,
- or even something questionable.
So I became very careful about accepting things simply because others said they were true. And honestly, I think God welcomes that kind of sincere questioning. When our questions come from a genuine desire to know the truth, He is faithful to lead us into understanding.
Discovering What the Bible Actually Says
As I began to read Scripture more carefully for myself, I realised that the Bible describes more than one expression of tongues. On the Day of Pentecost, people heard the disciples speaking in known human languages (Acts 2:4). But Scripture also describes another type of tongues, a language not understood by human listeners.
Paul writes:
“For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 14:2 )
This was a completely different picture than what I had previously assumed. Here, the person speaking in tongues is not speaking to people at all, they are speaking directly to God. Paul also explains another purpose of this gift:
“Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves.” (1 Corinthians 14:4)
This helped me understand that tongues are not about impressing others or proving spirituality. They are about strengthening the believer’s inner life with God. The book of Jude also encourages believers to do this:
“But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit.” (Jude 1:20)
And Paul reveals something even more profound:
“The Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans… because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” (Romans 8:26–27)
This means that when we pray in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit Himself is helping us pray according to God’s will. That realisation changed how I viewed tongues completely.
My Personal Journey Into Praying in Tongues
After understanding these scriptures, I began to earnestly desire this gift, particularly as a prayer language. The truth is that many times I simply do not know how to pray. There are situations where words feel limited. However, the beginning was not easy for me. When I first tried to pray in tongues, I often felt like I was just:
- Repeating sounds I had heard before
- Saying random syllables
- Or simply speaking what felt like gibberish.
This made me hesitate. But over time, I sensed the Holy Spirit encouraging me not to stop, but to keep yielding and trusting Him. Scripture says:
“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:4)
The Spirit gives the utterance, but we must yield our voice. Gradually, something began to change.
My prayer language developed. It no longer felt forced. Over time I began to notice something interesting, the tone and rhythm of the language changed depending on what was happening in prayer. There are moments when I know I am:
- Simply praising God
- Interceding for someone
- Engaging in spiritual warfare
- Or praying deeply when I don’t understand the situation.
The syllables developed naturally over time, and prayer in the Spirit became something that flows rather than something I try to create.
How Tongues Changed My Prayer Life
Praying in tongues has transformed my prayer life in several ways. First, it allows me to pray for long periods of time without running out of words. Paul wrote:
“I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding.” (1 Corinthians 14:15)
Both are important. Sometimes I pray with understanding, and sometimes I pray with the Spirit.
Second, I often pray in tongues while doing everyday tasks, cooking, cleaning, or working around the house. Instead of draining me, it actually feels energising. Scripture encourages believers to:
“Pray in the Spirit on all occasions.” (Ephesians 6:18)
and
“Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
Praying in the Spirit makes this kind of continual prayer possible.
Third, I have noticed that when I feel overwhelmed or heavy emotionally, praying in tongues for a while often brings peace and lightness. It aligns my heart with God again.
Sometimes I also ask God for interpretation, and there are moments when I begin to understand the direction of what I am praying about or sense specific things God wants me to pray for.
A Gift That Draws Us Closer to God
One of the most important things I have learned is that tongues are not a badge of spiritual superiority. They are simply a gift of grace. They are not a reward for maturity. They are a tool for prayer, alignment, and intimacy with God. What matters most is the transformation of the believer’s life. The Holy Spirit’s work is always aimed at drawing people to Christ and shaping us to reflect His character.
At its heart, speaking in tongues is simply the Spirit of God helping our spirit communicate with the Father. It is a divine partnership in prayer. When words fail us, the Spirit prays through us. When our understanding is limited, He aligns us with God’s will. And when we yield to Him consistently, we discover that prayer becomes less about effort and more about communion.
Prayer
Holy Spirit,
Thank You for the gift of praying in the Spirit.
Thank You that when I do not know how to pray, You help me and intercede through me according to the Father’s will.
Teach me to yield more fully to You.
Let my heart remain sensitive to Your leading and my spirit open to Your voice.
Strengthen my inner life as I pray in the Spirit,
and let everything I do bring glory to Christ.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Speaking in tongues in Scripture appears in two distinct ways. There is a personal prayer language, where a believer speaks directly to God by the Spirit for prayer, worship, and personal edification (1 Corinthians 14:2,4). This expression is primarily private and strengthens the believer’s inner life with God, this is usually practised by believers during prayer sessions even in church. There is also the public gift of tongues, which operates within the gathered church and must be accompanied by interpretation so that the whole congregation can be edified (1 Corinthians 14:27–28). This happens when someone clearly speaks in a tongue addressing the congregation. While both are Spirit-given, their purposes are different, one builds up the individual believer in prayer and intercedes, and the other serves to build up the church.
Last modified: 25/04/2026