I got the gift of tongues in 2017. I didn’t really use it until 2021. God told me to start using it. The first day I obeyed him, I prayed for 8 hours in tongues. We had a gay neighbor who wandered into our backyard that night yelling at whatever was threatening him from our yard. I believe my praying had something to do with it. Immediately I felt closer to God.
I’ve spoken in tongues for 3 or more hours a day for 4 years now and it has made me emotionally stable. I feel so much closer to God. I feel God in my heart sometimes doing stuff. Spiritual construction. Tongues literally makes my face have less wrinkles and always brings me joy and my spirit up. It makes it easier to go through the trials I’m going through, and it empowers me to witness to people. It allows me to see things about people to prophesy and know something like what gifts people have. It makes me feel lighter literally and makes everything brighter. It brings anointing and I always sense a river of water getting deeper and deeper the more I pray in tongues, and my thinking goes deeper too.
I pray in tongues then ask for interpretation, then I pray in English, and I pray things that I’ve never heard of or know anything about and have to study. It’s the Lord transferring the prayer of God’s will to my English language. It’s so beautiful how He includes us in the mysteries we speak when we pray in tongues.
Your story sounds similar to Dave Roberson’s. Are you familiar with him?
The Holy Spirit empowers us with good gifts. We should use them. I think you are right that things happen in the spiritual realm that we don’t see or understand when we pray in tongues. It’s not so much about making us feel good (although He is the Comforter) but our spirits speaking to God. After all, we don’t know how to pray as we ought so He helps us.
Hi Jessica, I must say your testimony has encouraged me to become more committed to praying in tongues as a daily habit. There is much power there truly. Your discipline is much, 8 hours is no joke.
I remember some years ago I was going through some challenges and asked a friend to join me for 21 days to pray in tongues for 3 hours every night from 12 mid night to 3am. After that I realized I could no longer wear shorts that were above my knees outside the house! I felt naked and that continued for years. I repeated same with another friend for 2 weeks and God revealed the problem in a dream. It’s true it heightens one’s discernment and spiritual awareness.