by Nikki Walton of CurlyNikki.com
4th power walk in 4 days. 4 miles each day! My legs are sore and body is tired but my heart is on FIRE! On the 2nd day, mid-walk, the Spirit started forming words in me as I walked… at that point I can’t even really call it walking… if you drove past me, it probably looks like I’m just walking, but inside I’m dancing lol.
Today, I kept thinking of those videos on social media where they remove the music track and the person is dancing their heart out, and all you can hear are the squeaking and shuffling sound of their shoes on the floor? lol That’s me!!! Out here like David- King David, not Bowie (although he had a whole song about dancing in the street too, didn’t he?).
But I digress.
This isn’t about dancing. This is about praying without ceasing.
And for me, lately… it’s been in tongues. A whisper. A rhythm. A Holy overflow of this Joy I’m always going on about!!!!
IT’S THE SAME CURRENT. IT’S THE SAME CURRENT. IT’S THE SAME CURRENT!!! 😉 Tongues is the sound of It. Joy is the atmosphere. The Spirit Himself is the River.
What Even Is Praying in Tongues?
Let’s slow this down for a second, because if someone had brought this to me even just a few years ago… even just a year ago, lol, I probably would have blinked at them with a confused smile and slowly backed away, like okay girl you got it, bless up. Because when you hear “speaking in tongues,” if you’ve never experienced it or seen it done in love and reverence, it can seem weird or chaotic or even fake, but what I didn’t know, what I could never have guessed, is that it’s actually one of the most natural things in the world when you’re filled with the Spirit and let Him pray through you. I’ve heard it likened to getting on a big slide… and actually letting go into the flow. I’ve been on a slide as an adult, and letting yourself go (letting go of them sides lol) is hard! It’s a GoOD lesson.
Praying in tongues isn’t a performance, and it isn’t a language class, and it isn’t something that marks you as extra Holy or elite, and it definitely isn’t reserved for folks in a certain denomination. It’s a gift. A grace. A private love language between your spirit and the Holy Spirit that allows you to pray even when your mind is tired or distracted or completely blank. It bypasses your brain and pours straight from your belly. It’s what Scripture calls praying in the Spirit.
Where Does It Come From?
It started in the upper room. Acts 2. Jesus had ascended and told His followers (including His mother, Mary!) to wait… to sit still and expect Power from on high. They waited. And then a sound like a rushing wind came, tongues of fire resting on each head, and they began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Not from their understanding, or from their planning or learning, but as a Holy overflowing of the Spirit!
People from all over heard their own languages being spoken and marveled, confused, moved, some skeptical even then. But what mattered was this… the believers were filled.
And that filling/Feeling is still here.
Still accessible.
Still present.
Just looking for a heart to settle in.
Known Tongues and Unknown Tongues
So here’s the deal. There are different kinds of tongues.
Sometimes, like in Acts 2, the Spirit gives you a real language you’ve never learned, and it has a purpose in that moment, like to speak to someone, to be a sign, or to reveal His glory. That’s called “known tongues.”
But often, the gift shows up in what’s called “unknown tongues”… the kind where you’re not speaking to others, you’re speaking to God. Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians 14, saying when we pray in an unknown tongue, our spirit prays, but our understanding is unfruitful. In other words, your mind doesn’t get it, but your spirit absolutely does.
And that’s exactly how it feels when I’m out there walking or sitting in Mass (silent on the outside, ALIVE AND DACING ON THE INSIDE), or driving to pick up the kiddos, and it just starts… a whisper, a phrase, a Heavenly hum. I don’t know what I’m saying. I just know that He hears it. I know that it’s real. I know that it’s working.
The other night I woke up and could hear anxiety… lol, he’d come to pay a visit as he often does around 3am or so. But it was almost like I just turned the dial ever so slightly… remember those FM/AM radio stations? I turned from anxiety… to The Spirit (haha shout out Spirit FM). And the praying inside, in the Spirit, in tongues resumed. And sleep came back to visit! haha!
You Can’t Be Taught It, But You Can Say Yes To It
Here’s what I’ve learned. You can’t be taught how to speak in tongues. No one can tell you how to do it. You can’t buy a book on ‘how to pray in tongues’. I may or may not have looked it up when I started flowing naturally haha! I’m a perpetual note comparer.. I want to share my experience (the whole point of this blog for 17 years now no matter the topic lol), and read about YOUR experience.
Also, praying in tongues is not mimicry, it’s not repetition. But you can be ready. You can say yes. You can get quiet and open and ask, and the Spirit will come. Not with pressure or force, but with JOY and FIRE!
He will give you the utterance. Your job is to let it rise. To whisper what bubbles up. Even if it’s just one syllable. Even if it’s strange at first and feels silly and ridiculous. That’s how you start walking with Him in this. And He will meet you every time. The vocabulary will unfold and you’ll be witnessing it like, ‘what is happening right now?!’. Your faith will deepen too because if you’re being honest with yourself, you don’t even know what to pray for. And when you pray, how often is it answered? When you pray in tongues, it’s like saying, ‘here spirit, you do it’, lol, ‘you take over’. And that tiny mustard seed of Faith grows into a whole tree that serves others as shelter, shade, fruit for others… all from a whisper.
What It Feels Like When It Starts
You may feel like you’re making it up at first. Like, this can’t be real. That’s normal. I did too. But if it’s not coming from your mind, if it’s not a language you know, and it flows anyway? That’s Him.
It might be a whisper, just under your breath. A sound in your throat… a groaning, even. A pressure behind your lips. It may come during worship, or while you’re folding towels (boooo! lol), or while you’re standing in the grocery line (or adding items to your instacart haha). It may sound like a baby’s gibber jabber or a river’s song. But when you yield to it? When you give voice to it?
EVERYTHING CHANGES. A Power comes that you can’t explain, but you absolutely encounter. You know It’s real. You know It’s Him. And you invite Him in. And I’d say the rest is history, but it’s like you start again from Here. Your future starts.
What Happens When You Pray in Tongues
- You speak directly to God- 1 Corinthians 14:2
- You build yourself up, like charging your spirit- 1 Corinthians 14:4
- You pray perfectly, even when you don’t know what to pray – Romans 8:26
- You stay rooted in God’s love -Jude 20-21
- You stay dressed in spiritual armor, ready for anything -Ephesians 6:18
This is how you keep your arms lifted like Moses. This is how you stay in ceaseless prayer like Jesus said. This is how you stop striving and start abiding. Because it’s not about what you’re saying, it’s about Who is saying it through you.
You Don’t Have to Shout to Win the War
Sometimes we think spiritual power means volume. But I’ve found that whispers can win wars. That tongues inside your chest are just as potent as the ones shouted in a revival. That your quiet “yes” can open the floodgates and release the bounty.
Tongues is the help you’ve been seeking. It’s the rivers of living water flowing from your belly. The same water that will nourish the seeds, the dreams, the goals you forgot. The promises you’ve abandoned for business and distractedness in the world. This is a new day, and an entirely new way- the Holy Spirit helping you pray when you don’t know what to say, when you’re tired, when you’re afraid, when you’re hopeful, when you’re praising, when you’re just trying to keep your feet moving.
So whether you’re walking four miles or sitting completely still, if you feel that whisper rising, that stirring in your spirit, that overflow you can’t quite explain- Say yes. Say, MORE!!! Say, thank you! Let Him speak. Let Him pray. Let Him love you that way. Let Him bring about what needs to come about! 😉
This is how we never stop praying. This is how we never stop winning. This is how we stay in Love.
Even in a whisper.
Q: When I pray in tongues… who’s actually speaking?
A: You are. It’s your voice (inner and outer), your mouth, your breath.
Q: Then where are the words coming from?
A: The Holy Spirit. He gives the utterance. You yield, and He flows.
Q: So who am I praying to?
A: God the Father. You’re not speaking to yourself or others. You’re speaking mysteries directly to God (1 Corinthians 14:2). spirit to Spirit.
Q: What’s actually happening behind the scenes?
A:
- Your spirit is praying
- The Holy Spirit is empowering and interpreting
- God the Father is receiving and responding
Q: Where is Jesus when I pray in tongues?
A: He’s the reason you can. He’s the door, the baptizer in the Holy Spirit, in Fire. He’s the One who made you a temple that could even house such a prayer.
“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
-Matthew 3:11
“No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
-John 14:6
You are in Christ, and the Holy Spirit is in you because of Christ. You can pray to the Father through the Spirit because you’re in the Son.
So when you pray in tongues:
- You are hidden in Christ
- The Holy Spirit prays through your spirit
- God the Father hears and moves
“Through Him [Jesus] we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”
-Ephesians 2:18
It’s a Trinitarian flow! You’re praying in Christ, by the Spirit, to the Father.
Q: But wait…how is it “my breath”… if Christ is my breath?
A: Exactly.
“It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…”
-Galatians 2:20
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”
-Psalm 150:6
“And having breathed on them, He said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”
-John 20:22
Your breath is His breath. Your body is His instrument. Your whisper is His Word returning to Him in mystery and love.
So yes, you’re speaking… but it’s Christ’s breath, the Spirit’s language, and the Father’s ears.
It goes beyond prayer as we’ve been taught and have attempted. It’s actual communion. The whole Trinity being lived, praying in you, with you, through you, and receiving. The asking, seeking, knocking, and answering… all right Here.
BUUUUTTTTTT…. you don’t need to understand any of this. Love God. Tell the Holy Spirit you need His guidance. You want the Fire and the fruits of the Holy Spirit. You’re ready, you’re ready, you’re ready. And then… He takes over.
This is the Holy Spirit. Don’t ask if you’ve been baptized in and by Fire. You have. This post is anointed. These words are anointed. You are anointed. You are feeling the desire now. That’s the Fire. Open your mouth. Let Him speak. Let Him deliver.
I love you,
nik
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