Some of you may have been at a talk by Patti Gallagher Mansfield or watched one online. Quite frequently if the day has been long she will get everyone to stop, and to stand, and then invite the participants of the day to pray in tongues so as to refresh their spirits.
Interesting, yes?
There is scriptural back up for this idea. St Paul says (1 Cor 14:4) 'The one with the gift of tongues talks for his own benefit.' Other translations use the word edification, but the net result is the same, using this gift of God is good for us and beneficial.
Patti obviously understands this at a level that the rest of us don't. But don’t dismiss it. Recently I read a short tract about the gift of tongues written from a Protestant perspective, and it contained a story about a sick person who had been asking God to heal them for a long time. However it wasn't until that sick person prayed in tongues that the healing happened.
Interesting, yes?
It is something that surprises us, but it shouldn't. When we open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit in that way, our spirit aligns with the Holy Spirit and our spirits, our souls, our emotions and our bodies benefit.
I recall Colin Sutton (may he rest in peace) often inviting people to pray in tongues for 10 minutes every day for a month and to compare their lives before and after. Take his challenge, and compare your well-being levels before and after. At minimum, the things that currently send you into an emotional pit won't nearly have as much effect on you.
If we believe that God only gives good gifts, then we shouldn't be surprised when this much maligned gift actually has far reaching impact.
What do we fight against most? Discouragement, tiredness, anxiety, monotony, feelings of abandonment by God? This charismatic gift of God is an effective weapon against these attacks. Use it regularly. Use it daily.
As Damien Stayne says "We have to pray to move beyond the idea that the charisms are an optional extra, like having a sunroof in your car or tinted windows. Charisms are as essential as the steering wheel and the accelerator. There is no work of God, so spiritual work of God among the people of God that is not a charismatic act. Without the charisms, the mission of the Church is over".
Take the situation of a group of people with strong prayer lives. They gather for prayer each week. Just about all of them have been baptised in the Holy Spirit, and yet none of the charisms are being overtly used. They are praying with holy hearts. Of course God is listening to them. But they are still largely in control, and the options for God moving in and through them are very limited, as limited as a group of bricklayers trying to build a wall with both hands tied behind their backs.
The charisms of God are good; they are beneficial,
they are necessary.
Let them out, let them flow, allow God to take control.
Only then will we see more than we could ever ask for or imagine happen.
Interesting, yes?
There is scriptural back up for this idea. St Paul says (1 Cor 14:4) 'The one with the gift of tongues talks for his own benefit.' Other translations use the word edification, but the net result is the same, using this gift of God is good for us and beneficial.
Patti obviously understands this at a level that the rest of us don't. But don’t dismiss it. Recently I read a short tract about the gift of tongues written from a Protestant perspective, and it contained a story about a sick person who had been asking God to heal them for a long time. However it wasn't until that sick person prayed in tongues that the healing happened.
Interesting, yes?
It is something that surprises us, but it shouldn't. When we open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit in that way, our spirit aligns with the Holy Spirit and our spirits, our souls, our emotions and our bodies benefit.
I recall Colin Sutton (may he rest in peace) often inviting people to pray in tongues for 10 minutes every day for a month and to compare their lives before and after. Take his challenge, and compare your well-being levels before and after. At minimum, the things that currently send you into an emotional pit won't nearly have as much effect on you.
If we believe that God only gives good gifts, then we shouldn't be surprised when this much maligned gift actually has far reaching impact.
What do we fight against most? Discouragement, tiredness, anxiety, monotony, feelings of abandonment by God? This charismatic gift of God is an effective weapon against these attacks. Use it regularly. Use it daily.
As Damien Stayne says "We have to pray to move beyond the idea that the charisms are an optional extra, like having a sunroof in your car or tinted windows. Charisms are as essential as the steering wheel and the accelerator. There is no work of God, so spiritual work of God among the people of God that is not a charismatic act. Without the charisms, the mission of the Church is over".
Take the situation of a group of people with strong prayer lives. They gather for prayer each week. Just about all of them have been baptised in the Holy Spirit, and yet none of the charisms are being overtly used. They are praying with holy hearts. Of course God is listening to them. But they are still largely in control, and the options for God moving in and through them are very limited, as limited as a group of bricklayers trying to build a wall with both hands tied behind their backs.
The charisms of God are good; they are beneficial,
they are necessary.
Let them out, let them flow, allow God to take control.
Only then will we see more than we could ever ask for or imagine happen.