Go on a Word Fast: Ten Reasons to Pray in Tongues

Sermon outline

Without the Holy Spirit we fizzle out, so pray in tongues every day to be charged up, built up and changed, and then speak words of faith to the root of every problem.

1. Without the Holy Spirit we fizzle out

   We can work in our own strength and reasoning for a short time, but without the power of the Holy Spirit we get frustrated and tired. Jesus said it was necessary for Him to go so the Comforter could come. Most people keep their Christianity in a Sunday box, but you are a Christian every moment of every day, and tongues are the initial evidence of being filled with the Spirit.

   Illustration: An IT company without computers, hardware and software is useless, because that is the core of its business. A child of God without God is the same.

   “Without the Holy Spirit, we are absolutely useless.”

   • John 16:7
   • Acts 2:4
   • 1 Corinthians 14:18

2. Pray in tongues and get charged up

   Speaking in tongues speaks to God and builds you up in your most holy faith. Rather than going to a palm reader for your future, go into your prayer closet. Pray in tongues before the important meeting, the presentation or the decision that needs wisdom, and a boldness and wisdom that is not natural will come out of you. If you are not yet filled by Sunday, come forward and let the pastors lay hands on you.

   Illustration: A car battery works well when it is fully charged, but a flat battery cannot even start the car. A laptop at half charge will die in the middle of the working day.

   “Speaking in tongues is the door into the life of the supernatural.”

   • 1 Corinthians 14:2
   • Jude 1:20
   • Ephesians 6:10

3. Your gift will make room for you

   The soul realm, the emotions and intellect, is where we struggle and feel inadequate, but time with the Holy Spirit builds up the inner man until you know who you are. Be serious and intentional about yourself, and God will make your gift available before great men. When Peter and John spoke, the leaders marvelled at unlearned fishermen and realised they had been with Jesus.

   “When you're not serious, people don't take you seriously. So be serious about yourself.”

   • Proverbs 18:16
   • Acts 4:13

4. Ten reasons every believer should speak in tongues

   One, the word of God teaches it, and it is the initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Two, it makes you aware of the Holy Spirit's presence. Three, it builds your faith from weak to strong. Four, it keeps you free from the profane elements of the world. Five, it builds you up spiritually. Six, it helps you walk in love and eradicates selfishness. Seven, it teaches you to give thanks, which overflows into generosity. Eight, it yields your tongue to the Holy Spirit. Nine, it refreshes you. Ten, you pray the mind of the Holy Spirit, who knows everything.

   Illustration: She says people look at her and think she is so confident, but she has been through fire and is still being tempered like gold. A worship song asking to be tried by fire is, she agrees with Chandler Moore, a dangerous prayer.

   “The tongue can no man tame. But thanks be unto God. He is the tamer of the tongue.”

   • Acts 10:46
   • Jude 1:20
   • 1 Corinthians 14:4
   • James 3:8
   • Isaiah 28:11-12

5. The pity parties stop

   As the Holy Spirit refreshes you, the half-empty becomes half-full, and you refuse to be down and depressed. You no longer need someone to feel sorry for you or someone to blame. You take responsibility for where you are, and when you reach the point of saying you are the problem, not other people, it is marvellous, because you are becoming a greater person.

   “You realize, I'm the problem, not other people. God will cause you to come to that point, and when you get to that point, it's marvelous.”

   • Isaiah 28:11-12

6. Make the excuses stop

   To be an effective father, mother, son or daughter you need the Holy Spirit to teach and guide you, and a hunger for the word. If you do not like reading, get an audio Bible or listen to messages; the excuses are just excuses. The Spirit will teach you to gather resources like the ant, to handle money and to make decisions, and show you the will of God for your life.

   “When you are in the perfect will of God, you win all the time.”

   • Proverbs 6:6-8

7. Go on a word fast and speak to the root

   You can pray until tomorrow and get no answer if you are praying in unbelief. Jesus spoke to a fig tree that had leaves and no fruit, and though nothing seemed to change in front of the eye, by the next morning it had dried up from the roots. Many people fast and pray and have no fruit because of the words they speak. Do not worry about what is not changing; the atmosphere has heard you.

   “When you speak, don't worry about what's not changing. Just know the atmosphere's heard you.”

   • Mark 11:12-14
   • Mark 11:20-21
   • John 14:12

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