Friends, listen.
When you pray in tongues, today I will focus on one benefit, not about intercession.
The benefit is how it builds up your body.
And keep you alright, in a place where you’re built up so that stress, worry, fear, anxiety,
panic attacks will not have anymore leeway, or anymore, victory over your life.
You can be free from addictions, and you can even be free from physical infirmities.
Are you ready?
So can we just focus on this one area first amen?
And in the days to come if the Spirit of God sees fit to focus on this, we’ll focus on
other benefits.
Can I have a good amen people?
1st Corinthians 14 verse 4, “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself.”
Say.
“Edifies.”
The word ‘edifies’ is made of, the etymology of this word comes from two Latin words alright?
Aedi fi.
Aedes is actually a house, or a building.
Like edify can be an edifice, a tall building, a large building.
So the word ‘edify’ the etymology is from the Latin aedes which is house or building.
Ficare, fi, fis, alright for the word ‘built, construct.’
Put them together it is the word ‘to construct or to repair, to build a house.’
Today we say edify in terms of, “Well Pastor Prince, your message today was edifying.”
In other words, morally comforting, morally inspiring or whatever, or we think in terms,
we don’t think in terms of physical ok?
But the root word actually is ‘physical.’
It’s referring to a building.
In fact in the Greek, this word here, in the Greek ‘edifies’ is the word ‘oikodomeo.’
‘Oikos’ is a house, a building.
‘Domeo’ is to build the building.
Amen?
‘Domeo’.
In Italy you see a lot of domeo.
Alright?
Building.
Dome, domeo.
Oikosdomeo, to build a house.
Oikos, a house.
“Oh well Pastor Prince, we are not houses.”
Heh heh.
Alright we are.
We are temples.
You know which part of you is a temple, oh my spirit, that’s what we’ve been told.
Your spirit is not a temple, your body is a temple.
Look at 1st Corinthians 6, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple,” your
what?
“Your body.
Your body is the temple.
Now I know the Holy Spirit dwells in our spirit but doesn’t say your spirit is the temple.
You cannot find in the Bible it says, your spirit is the temple.
It says your body is the temple.
Your soma in the Greek, your body, not your psyche, alright, not your pneuma.
Your soma, psychosomatic conditions you know, from your mind.
But soma is body for Greek.
So it says, “Do you not know that your soma, your body is the temple.
And the word ‘temple’ here is not the outward precincts of the temple.
The word ‘temple’ here is the Holy of Holies, and the holy place.
This is literally the sanctuary.
Your body is the Holy of Holies.
Your body is the holy place of God.
Your body is the temple of God.
And God wants His temple beautiful.
God wants His temple clean.
God wants His temple holy.
God wants, the word ‘whole,’ ‘healthy’, ‘healthy’ comes from that old word that
says ‘hale’ which is the word ‘whole, complete, healthy.’
Amen.
Healed, complete, completeness.
God wants your body complete.
Amen.
So back then God will say, “Your body is today the temple of the Holy Spirit.”
Are you listening?
So go back to 1st Corinthians 14 verse 4, “He who speaks in a tongue oikodomeo’
builds himself.”
Another thing is that the mistake we make and I grew up amongst some great teachers
who taught on praying in tongues, but I think where the emphasis was wrong was this.
They say that, “When you pray in tongues, you charge your spirit.”
Now thank God your spirit is charged.
But not just your spirit, doesn’t say he will build, he speaks in a tongue, builds
up his spirit, but himself.
‘Himself’ means what?
All of you.
Now which part of you is the temple?
Your body.
Especially your body.
Why is this teaching important?
Because had we preached like this, people will know every time they pray in tongues,
and the devil says, “You are just making it up.
Stop it.”
And they get discouraged they stop it, they don’t realise that they’re stopping their
health.
They’re stopping their wholeness.
They’re stopping their health from springing forth speedily.
Are you listening people?
Amen?
So it’s important we hear the Word.
Somehow people have this idea that when you pray in tongues only your spirit is being
charged.
And I think they got this idea from 1st, same chapter but later on verse 14 says, “If
I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prays.”
Which part of you pray?
My spirit prays—so they—they think that, "Oh, that is the part that got charged."
No, it is just telling you which part of you is praying when you pray in tongues.
When you pray in English, your mind—you must know the words, right?
Your mind is praying.
But when you pray in tongues, which part of you is praying?
Your spirit is praying.
Are you listening?
Your spirit is praying.
Doesn't say your spirit is the one that gets edified, but your spirit is praying.
But which part of you gets edified?
Back to verse 4.
"Edifies himself."
And because the word "edified", "oikodomeo" means "building, constructing or repairing
a house or building" - which part of your—your person is the temple?
Your body.
That means when you pray in tongues, you are preparing your building.
You are constructing, you are repairing your body.
Then the apostle Paul quotes from the Old Testament, from the prophet Isaiah specifically,
"In the law it is written, "With men of other tongues and other lips, I will speak to these
people," and yet for all that, they will not hear Me, says the Lord."
Unfortunately, a segment of God's people, even, will not hear Him when it comes to praying
in tongues.
And the context here is tongues because the next verse says "..Therefore tongues are for
a sign."
So it is very clear it is talking about praying in tongues, ok?
He is quoting the Old Testament.
Whenever the Holy Spirit quotes the Old Testament, it will do us—it will pay us good.
It will benefit us for us to look at the quotation.
So let's go to that quotation in the Old Testament.
It is from Isaiah 28.
"For with stammering lips and another tongue, will I—" will God speak to these people.
To whom God said, now watch this.
Now, there is an additional benefit.
That’s why you—it always pays you well to look up the reference.
And the context here says, God is saying, "This is the rest," definite article - ha
menuchah - definite article.
"This is the rest which you may cause the weary to rest.
And this is the—" margeah, "the refreshing, yet they would not hear."
You know, God is offering you R&R - rest and refreshing.
Guys, you all know right, after your—your—your term and exercise in the field and all that,
overseas, you have an R&R days, right?
Rest and refreshing.
Literally, rest and recreation.
This is God's rest and refreshing.
God is saying, "This is the rest," 'the' is the definite article.
And the word 'rest' here is actually the word menuchah.
It helps you to remember the menuchah honey?
Alright, same pronunciation.
Menuchah, alright, menuchah.
This is the menuchah.
In other words, there is a place of rest.
In the midst of a world full of stress, worries, anxieties with bad news almost every day,
amen?
It is very easy for our hearts to be fearful but God says there is a place called menuchah.
This is the rest and the whole context there is referring to stammering lips and another
tongue.
The Old Testament, the Promise Land is the land where they will enter the land and drink
from wells they did not dig, eat from vineyards they did not plant.
Live in houses they did not build.
In other words, the promise land is a literal land of which they did not do the work.
That is why God sends the giants in first.
Because the giants build big houses.
The giants dig deep wells.
The giants are strong enough and God says, "I have prepared for you."
It’s a land, amen?
Like a rest, you just enter in.
But what is our rest today?
Our rest today, in Hebrews, is actually the rest of God.
Watch this.
This same word, Menuchah, in Psalms, it says, "God swore in My wrath," about the children
of Israel that refused to believe Him, alright, God says, "Enter the land," what I have just
told you just now, "I have given you a land flowing," not just filled, but flowing.
Idea of over—superfluence, abundance, superfluous, it is exceeding and flowing with milk and
honey.
And yet they say, "No, I—I—you know, God hates us, that is why God brought us to this
land."
And it broke God's heart.
And God says, "I swore in My wrath, they will not enter my rest."
Hebrew - menuchah.
And the interesting thing is that Hebrews 4 talks about this same passage and says,
"Let us labour therefore to enter the rest."
I wonder if the labour is praying in tongues because praying in tongues sometimes it is
like a labour.
When you pray, pray, pray, pray, after one day people ask you, "Any change?"
"Yes.
Dry mouth.
Tired tongue."
Then you pray, pray, pray, another two more days.
"Is there any change in your body?"
Yes.
"What is it?"
Blur.
Tired.
Amen?
And spiritually, alright, it seems like nothing is happening and there is a spiritual attack
on you.
The devil is saying, "Give up.
Give up!
You are just making it up.
Stop it!
Stop it!"
And you are still praying in tongues, and all of a sudden you realise something is happening
but deep down inside first.
Because long before God removes your disease, long before God removes your depression, long
before God destroys that addiction in your life, alright, by you praying in tongues—first
of all, the first few days I believe, He is dealing with your fears, your panic attacks,
your anxieties, your depression, your stress.
And that is why, after you pray in tongues for the first day, you don't say, "Well, the
pain is still there.
The condition is still there."
No, God is dealing from the inside out.
I will show you more of this.
And I am telling you, people, listen carefully.
Stress is becoming a real problem especially in these last days.
Jesus says, "Men's hearts," and I believe He was referring to the literal heart.
It is hard to find whether the Bible is referring to a literal heart or a spiritual heart because
both use the word 'cardia' in the Greek.
So Jesus says, "Men's cardia will fail because of the fear of looking at what is coming up
upon the earth."
So be careful when you look at the news and things like that, alright, we are not saying
put our heads in the sand like a, like an ostrich and all that, pretend things don't
exist.
No, we are to be aware but make sure that there is a strength on the inside that you
don't get depressed on the outside.
Wherever you are watching this right now, do the same in Jesus name, amen.
Say, “Heavenly Father, I am confident that you will give me right now the baptism of
the Holy Spirit.
Inundate me, fill me, baptise me, with the Holy Spirit, Jesus has been glorified, therefore
the Holy Spirit has been given, and I receive right now Your Holy Spirit to overflowing
in Jesus name, amen.”
I will count to three right now
and then release yourself in the heavenly language,
one, two, three.
Go ahead!
Now increase your volume,
now speak undertones.
You can do this at work,
you can do this at home, when people are around
The Bible says speak to himself and to God.
Quietly, amen?
You are in control.
Listen, you are in control.
The spirit of the prophets are subject to the prophets,
When an evil spirit takes over,
you have no choice, he makes you shout, he makes you scream,
alright, but then the Holy Spirit stops when you stop, amen.
In other words, He will not force you, He is a gentleman.
You cannot wait for the Holy Spirit to open your mouth, He will not do that, you must
open; you speak, He gives you the language.
That’s how God works.
Evil spirits will force you and won’t let you stop, that’s not God’s way.
That’s why this is the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Now we are going to sing in tongues, no music for a while please, we are going to sing in
tongues, now this is wonderful, especially when you are stressed, learn to sing in tongues,
alright, maybe you might start singing in the toilet first, but whatever it is, in the
bathroom or whatever, start singing in the Spirit, amen, something like this,
Okay you can stop, you see you can stop right?
You can start, you can stop anytime you want to.
It is yours, it is yours.
It must be a river that never stops, ok?
Doesn’t matter if you are stammering for a while, keep on stammering, as you are faithful
with one, two syllables, God gives you more, amen?
God gives you more and more.
Amen?
You see you can sing without the music, because when Monday comes, it won’t be there.
Ok?
It will be you, you can sing in the Spirit, you can sing (singing in tongues), amen?
Your wife scolds you (singing in tongues), your wife tells you your mother-in-law is
coming (singing in tongues).
God bless you, lift your hands all across this place.
The Lord bless you and the Lord keep you this coming week;
You and your loved ones, the Lord
makes His face shine on you and be gracious to you, the Lord lifts up His countenance
on you, and grant to you and yours His wonderful shalom wholeness and peace, in Jesus name.
Amen.
Don’t ever let it stop, don’t ever let it stop!
Amen, God bless you.