The secret ingredient - Part II

Last time I introduced the secret ingredient, the little used habit of praying in tongues, and explained how much it meant to me personally. How've you been getting on? Have you started? Did you set your alarm clock? I hope so.
Now I want to share with you some of what the bible says about this secret ingredient. Paul goes into a lot of detail about this in 1 Corinthians 14.

What is tongues?
Tongues is a supernatural language that you speak that you didn't learn with your natural mind. Normally we learn to speak a language by growing up in an environment where it is spoken. Our language starts very small with baby-talk which are really just sounds and not actual words. And then the day that all parents remember - he just spoke his first word. We excitedly call in our friends and family, and try to get our baby to repeat the noise he just made. But he's decided that he won't. Or maybe our friends and family tease us that it was only our imagination. But sooner or later all babies learn to talk - and they learn to talk the same language that their parents are speaking in front of them.
As babies we don't consciously put in effort to learn the language; all the effort seems to be on the part of the parents coaxing the child. We simply learn by being in our family and hearing the same sounds repeated over and over. Eventually we learn that the sounds are related to real things, and bit by bit our minds connect together and we learn more and more words, and eventually the whole language.

Tongues is the same but different. It's the same in that tongues is a language and it has meaning. And also because we end up speaking the same language as our father - God. Because God is a spirit it's not surprising that he gives us a spirit language to communicate to him with.
The difference is that we don't learn the language with our natural minds. The words come not from our minds but come direct from God's Spirit into our spiritual mind, which we then hear and speak out loud.

Now if you're a smart fella who thinks he/she is pretty clever, then that sounds ridiculous. However, remember that Jesus said in Luke 18:17 "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”. Tongues is a real humbling experience, because we have to receive the gift like a little child. It doesn't make a lot of sense to our great big intelligent adult minds. How can speaking in a language I don't even understand help me? The answer is quite simple if you remember that you're born again.
The part of you that got born again was not your body, or your mind. It was your spirit. And just like speaking in a known language will help your natural mind grow, in the same way speaking in an unknown  language helps your spirit grow. (It's unknown to your mind but known to your spirit).

Who are we speaking to?

1 Corinthians 14:2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit.

This verse is vital to your understanding of the purpose behind tongues. When you speak in tongues you're not speaking to the people around you. You're speaking directly to God. And it's normal that no one understands you. I know that sounds backwards, but God is way more intelligent than us, and if that's the way he designed it then I'm not going to argue with him.

Again, who are we speaking to? We are speaking to God.

What am I saying?
If I don't understand the language with my mind, then it's only natural to ask What am I saying? The last part  of the above verse gives us the answer - he utters mysteries with his spirit. i.e. we're speaking mysteries.
Think of one of those detective whodunit movies. All throughout the movie there are clues pointing to the mystery, and right at the end the hero puts all the clues together to explain the mystery. We watch the movie because we know all will be revealed in the end. We don't give up and say what's the point in these clues - they don't make any sense. We know that eventually all will become clear, because it's supposed to be a mystery.


Guess what - exactly the same here. We speak mysteries. And at the start our natural mind has no idea what we're talking about. But later on, all the clues will come together and we will understand.

1 Corinthians 14:13 For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says. 

The word interpret there is important. It's not translate. We don't get a word-for-word translation through each clue of the movie. It's only at the end that everything makes sense. And as you pray in tongues, you're speaking lots of clues in this spiritual language. Eventually your mind will understand, but not until later.
In the movie we have to wait for the hero to reveal the answer to the mystery. In tongues our hero is the Holy Spirit. He's sent to guide us into all truth. But in true mystery fashion he waits until we have enough clues so that it will all make sense. It may take several hours, days or even weeks of praying out all the spiritual clues before the Holy Spirit is able to piece the spiritual mystery together and present them to our natural mind in a way we can understand.
But oh boy! When that happens! It's like a bomb going off on the inside of you. Suddenly it all becomes clear. It's like the difference between night and day. You have an aha moment, and it all makes perfect sense. In fact you can't imagine why you didn't know this before. Surely everybody knows this mystery - it just all makes sense. All the pieces fit together - no pieces left out.

I guess you get the idea that I like it when the answer to the mystery comes. It's worth waiting for.

Which mysteries?
So I hope you believe me when I say you're speaking to God not people. And you're speaking mysteries. But what mysteries are you speaking?
Obviously God is all knowing, so it's not a mystery to him. And it's not a mystery to the Holy Spirit. But it is a mystery to us (remember - our minds don't understand what we're saying) and to others. The mysteries are truths of the spirit.

1 Corinthians 14:14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays,but my mind is unfruitful. 

 When your spirit prays, it uses spirit words, and it's about spirit matters. The mysteries are about the spirit realm that you've been born again into. Our natural eyes cannot see angels and demons. Our physical eyes cannot see God or satan. But believe me, they're real. And when we're born again we have a knowing deep down on the inside of us, in our spirit, that God is real. We know this because we can see him with our spirit eyes. And know Him with our spirit mind. Our natural mind senses this knowing, and believes, but naturally speaking, our mind sure would like to see physical evidence and not have to rely on invisible spirit evidence.

Too good to be true?
And the most important spirit truth or mystery that we are praying is the truth about Christ.

Colossians 1.27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 

My natural mind cannot understand how Jesus Christ could give his life up for me, and die in my place, so that I could be reconciled to God. My natural mind says "If you knew me, you would know I'm not worth that much". It is a complete mystery how God could love us so much that he could allow his Son to be killed on a cross, but it happened. God loves you that much! It's beyond belief.
God knew that it would be hard to understand in our natural mind. So He gave us a special language, with special terminology, that could precisely describe exactly what God did for us - it's called tongues. As we speak in tongues, we're speaking the mystery of all that Christ did for us, and how he is the hope of glory.

To think that one day, Christ will return to this earth for us, and then he will finish the job he started.
When we were born again we got a brand new, top-of-the-line, latest-model spirit. But in case you hadn't noticed, he left you in the same old physical body with it's aches and pains. But when he returns ... we get the whole enchilada. No more sickness, disease, physical weakness or disability. No more tears, emotional stress, anxiety or worry. It will be glorious which is why it's called the hope of glory.

So do you like mysteries?
God knew that it wouldn't always be easy being a christian. It's a whole new culture - a new family - with different goals and values. It's a new realm, or dimension. Although we cannot see the spirit realm, we now belong to it just as much as we belong to the natural or physical realm. You may feel like a fish out of water, but believe me you were born for this.
God gave you a fool-proof method of learning about this new family - the family of God - that you were born into. God didn't discriminate against the young, or the old, or the clever, or the not-so-clever. He gave you a means of finding out all the mysteries, everything there is to know about Jesus Christ, and how to piece the clues together. It truly is the secret ingredient.
As you pray in tongues you speak the spirit truths in a mystery, not to other people, but direct to God. And in time, when you're prayed out enough clues, then the Holy Spirit comes alongside, pieces them all together and explains the mystery to your natural mind.
The more you pray in tongues, the more clues you are giving to your spirit, and the smarter spiritually you will become. (By smarter I mean that you will come to know and enjoy relating to God more).

So what are you waiting for? Start now.

Acts 2:38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. [39] The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” 

 God doesn't have favorites. This is the gift of the Holy Spirit. It cannot be earned. It's freely given, to anyone who repents of their sin, and puts their trust in Jesus Christ. And you too can start to understand the mysteries of all that Jesus Christ has done for you!