CHAPTER 1
How to Overcome Hindrances
to Speaking in Tongues
We address ourselves in this chapter primarily to those charismatic Christians who, for one reason or another, occasion some difficulty or hindrance regarding prayer in the Spirit, and who lack freedom in tongues and release in the Spirit which they had hoped would accompany their infilling with the Holy Spirit.
“I received the baptism in the Holy Spirit several months ago,” a Christian said to me, “but I have spoken only two or three words in new tongues. I greatly desire more freedom in the Spirit, but nothing more seems to come. Why is this?”
Another confided: “I experienced a wonderful anointing by the Spirit at the time of my baptism, and I spoke fluently for some time. However, I have not prayed in the Spirit too often since, as I seldom feel this anointing to speak in tongues. I thought the anointing remained with us after receiving the baptism in the Spirit. What has happened?”
In another instance, a Christian remarked: “I have not continued to speak in tongues since my baptism, as God did not give me the gift of tongues.”
A Methodist pastor stated: “I pray in tongues occasionally, usually when I am in some charismatic gathering with other Spirit-filled Christians. But generally I feel that it is just me doing the speaking, so I don’t pray regularly in the Spirit.”
Another confided with concern: “I was not aware that I was supposed to continue to pray in the Spirit after my baptism; therefore, I did not continue to do so. Since then I have seen the error in this, but now I find that I am unable to speak in tongues, even though I have tried and tried, and have prayed earnestly about the problem.”
What is the cause of such difficulties as these? We have found that due to some hindrance many charismatic Christians who spoke in tongues at the time of their baptism in the Spirit either do not continue to pray in the Spirit, or do so infrequently, often without any real freedom. Generally, hindrances to the continuation of speaking in tongues after the initial experience result from one of the following causes.
1. A negative attitude and confession
Many Christians do not seem to realize how often they defeat themselves by their negative attitudes and by what they say or confess. The Scriptures warn that “as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7), and that you can be “snared by the words of your mouth” (Proverbs 6:2).
“I received the baptism in the Holy Spirit several months ago,” one concerned woman confided, “but I still cannot speak more than two or three words in new tongues. Can you tell me what is wrong?”
“Yes,” I replied. “The solution to your problem is really quite simple. It is your attitude. Your negative confession is defeating you. You can only speak two or three words simply because you do not expect more than two or three words. And since this is what you believe, it is reflected in your confession of failure. The next time you pray in the Spirit confess beforehand that you will speak more than two or three words in tongues, and then act on your confession of faith. Expect a full language to come, and you will find that it will happen.”
I have also found that this negative attitude and confession prevents some Christians who desire to be baptized in the Holy Spirit from receiving the experience. After the service one evening, a woman asked why she had no evidence of her baptism, saying, “I received prayer for the baptism in the Spirit, but I have never spoken in tongues. Actually, I never felt that speaking in tongues was important; but I have prayed, ‘Lord, if you want me to have this evidence, then let me receive it.’”
As in the case of the other individual, she too was being snared by the words of her mouth. “God will never give us anything He has promised us,” I answered, “unless we reach out by faith and appropriate it. Since speaking in tongues is the evidence or sign of the baptism in the Spirit, then you cannot receive such evidence as long as you are expressing disinterest or doubts as to its validity. Settle the matter from the Word of God, and then in faith ask for the evidence, and you will find that you will receive it.”
In another instance similar to this, a woman who had received prayer for the infilling of the Holy Spirit had not spoken in tongues because of her negative attitude which had resulted from erroneous teaching on the subject by her denomination. She called one morning stating her problem on the phone. She anxiously desired to be baptized in the Spirit, but confessed that she had reservations about speaking in tongues as evidence of the infilling.
“You teach that speaking in tongues is the evidence and sign of the baptism in the Spirit,” she said, “whereas my church holds that speaking in tongues was an experience limited to the early church, and that we receive the baptism today without such evidence.”
“Then, I would suggest,” I replied, “that you lay aside for the present what I have said, as well as what your church has taught you on the subject, and spend some time reading the Book of Acts to see what God has said about the matter, giving particular attention to chapters 2, 9 (with I Corinthians 14:18), 10 and 19. If after a sincere, prayerful study of these passages you still do not see the validity of tongues as evidence of the baptism in the Spirit, then you may as well forget the matter, for you will not receive the experience.”
I am thoroughly convinced that a sincere search of the Word of God is the only way for contemporary Christians to overcome their confusion and the erroneous ideas which they have been taught about such matters as the baptism of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, divine healing, the charismatic gifts, and the validity of the miraculous in the church today. About an hour later this woman called back, rejoicing in the Lord, saying, “I did as you suggested and began reading the Book of Acts with an open heart—and then it happened! I was only able to get to chapter 10 when I received the baptism in the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in new tongues.”
Thus, we see how wrong attitudes or a negative confession concerning speaking in tongues present an insurmountable obstacle to receiving the baptism in the Spirit. They are also major hindrances to receiving freedom in the Spirit and fluency in tongues. It is imperative to keep in mind that one cannot rise above the level of his confession. Your condition and experience tend to parallel your attitude and confession toward them.
2. Reliance upon feelings
It is interesting how often we encounter Christians who tell us that they have received the baptism in the Spirit with the evidence of new tongues, but that they have not continued to pray regularly in the Spirit after their initial experience. Often they confide that the reason for their failure is due to the fact that they seldom “feel the anointing” when they attempt to do so, and that they do not wish to do anything “in the flesh.”
“I had a wonderful anointing from the Lord the night I received the Holy Spirit,” a man once said to me, “but I have not continued to pray regularly in the Spirit because I seldom feel this same anointing. I thought the anointing to speak in tongues remained with us when we received the baptism. Why is it that I only experience this occasionally?”
Of course, it is only natural that we would feel the anointing of the Spirit initially at our baptism when we begin to speak in new tongues, and this anointing often stays with us for some time afterward. However, the time will eventually come, after one has received the baptism, when the initial anointing will diminish and it will not always be present when praying in tongues. Moreover, one should not always expect to “feel” an anointing before praying in the Spirit, inasmuch as speaking in tongues is, without exception, an act of faith, and has absolutely nothing to do with how one feels. Although an anointing may at times accompany prayer in the Spirit, it is essential that we understand that the experience of speaking in tongues is always initiated by an act of faith on our part in precisely the same manner in which we initially received the baptism in the Spirit (Galatians 3:2,14, “by faith”).
We are admonished several times in Scripture to pray in the Spirit as this is the means by which we edify ourselves, worship God, and minister on behalf of others (I Corinthians 14:2,4; Acts 10:46; Ephesians 6:18). Paul speaks of praying “in the Spirit” and praying “with the understanding” (I Corinthians 14:15). Every Christian uses prayer with the understanding to strengthen himself and to pray for his and others’ needs, as well as for praising and worshipping God. He certainly does not wait until he “feels” an anointing before praying in English for these purposes. How much more then should he not wait upon some “feeling” before praying in the Spirit, especially in view of the fact that God has given him specific assurance that such prayer is always effective (Romans 8:26-27), and is the means of spiritually edifying himself (I Corinthians 14:2,4).
Effective prayer has nothing to do with how one feels when he prays; it has only to do with whether or not he prays in faith. Likewise, edification is not based upon feelings or other sense evidence. When one edifies himself he spiritually strengthens the inner man, and he builds up his faith (Jude 20).
In one instance, a woman had actually received the baptism in the Holy Spirit; yet she had come to doubt her experience because she had never been taught the difference between edification and feeling.
“I had prayer several years ago to receive the Holy Spirit,” she confided to me. “But I did not feel anything, although I began to speak some strange words which others told me were new tongues. I can still speak this way, but I don’t feel a thing, so I am not edified.”
Like many, she was confusing edification with feeling. Edification does not mean “feeling edified.” It is not an emotion or an anointing. Edification is a deep work of the Holy Spirit, whereby our inner man is strengthened spiritually, and our faith built up as we pray in the Spirit.
3. Confusion between the “sign” and the “gift” of tongues
Occasionally we find that some Christians do not continue to speak in tongues after the initial experience because they do not realize that tongues as the evidence of the baptism is not the same as the charismatic gift of tongues.
“I spoke in new tongues at the time of my baptism in the Holy Spirit,” a Christian said to me one day. “However, I haven’t continued to do so, because the Lord hasn’t given me the gift of tongues. Doesn’t Paul say in I Corinthians 12:30 that all do not speak with tongues?”
“We must recognize that speaking in tongues as the evidence of our baptism in the Spirit is not the same as the charismatic gift of tongues,” I replied. “Every Spirit-filled believer can pray in the Spirit at any time he wishes if he will lift up his voice and speak in faith (cf. Romans 8:26-27; Jude 20; I Corinthians 14:5a; Ephesians 6:18). This is evidence of the indwelling presence of the Spirit, as He gives us utterance for the purpose of worshipping and praising God, as well as for edification and intercession.
“However, this is but one language or tongue, and is to be used for the believer’s personal devotions; whereas the gift of tongues is one of the nine charismatic gifts of the Spirit and consists of many tongues or languages (‘divers kinds of tongues,’ I Corinthians 12:10), which are for the purpose of ministering to the Body of Christ. It is in reference to these charismatic gifts that Paul asks: ‘...are all workers of miracles? have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?’ (12:29-30).
“Just as every Spirit-filled believer can pray for the sick (Mark 16:16-18), but not all have the charismatic gift of healing, so too every Christian who is baptized in the Spirit can pray with the devotional tongue which he received at the time of his baptism. However, not all have the charismatic ministry gift of divers kinds of tongues.”
4. Occult bondage
When Christians who desire the baptism in the Holy Spirit seem unable to receive this experience, or those who have received the baptism can speak only a few words in tongues, often it is the result of some form of occult involvement.
The Scriptures show that participation or involvement in any of the following occult practices, whether done innocently or not, opens the door to oppression or bondage by the powers of darkness: ESP, telepathy, water divining, magic healing or charming, hypnosis, astrology (horoscope), consulting fortune tellers, mediums, or the ouija board, as well as attendance at seances or false religious cults (e.g., Spiritualists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Scientists, etc.).
We have found that occult involvement invariably affects the participant adversely, frequently causing serious damage to one’s spiritual life and faith. One of the most significant ways in which the adverse effects and influence of the powers of darkness become apparent is in a Christian’s inability to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, or his failure to experience real freedom to pray in the Spirit if he has received the baptism. Liberation from occult bondage is the only solution.
Without exception, occult involvement is condemned by God in the Scriptures. Such practices are an abomination to Him and are under His curse (Deuteronomy 18:9-12; I Chronicles 10:13-14; Leviticus 19:31; Galatians 5:19-21; Revelation 21:8).
For those who experience difficulty concerning receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit, or who lack the freedom they desire for speaking in tongues, and who know of past occult involvement of any kind, liberation from occult bondage will involve two steps:
a. Confession of occult sins
In Jesus’ Name, confess as sin all your occult involvement which you can remember. In case of occult involvement which you cannot recall, simply ask God to forgive that which you have forgotten.
b. Renunciation of Satan and the command to depart
This is not to be a prayer or request, but a direct command to Satan for release by the individual seeking deliverance from occult bondage. We have found that it is necessary for the person who gave access to Satan in the first place through occult involvement to command him to depart. In faith, renounce him and all his work in your life, and command him to release you and depart. Be careful to state specifically that he must release you from all effects of occult bondage, since that involvement is the specific reason he has you bound.
Accept your liberation, and exercise your faith at once by asking for and receiving the baptism in the Spirit (Luke 11:13); or, if it is freedom in tongues you desire, by speaking forth in faith what the Spirit gives you now that you are free from your hindrances. Do not necessarily look for some “feeling” as evidence of your liberation, or you will allow the enemy to defeat you. Continue to confess and act your faith and Satan’s hold will be broken. Remember, a negative attitude or a confession of doubt will be used by Satan to defeat you, for the Scriptures state, “according to your faith be it unto you” (Matthew 9:29; cf. 8:13). Confess in faith that you will speak in new tongues; then act on your faith and it will happen according to your faith. (For complete and detailed information on this important subject see my book Angels of Light? or my tract Occult Oppression and Bondage: How to be set FREE!).
5. Lack of understanding of the purpose and value of speaking in tongues
Perhaps the greatest hindrance to the continuation of speaking in tongues on the part of many charismatic Christians results from the simple fact that they have never been taught that they should pray regularly in the Spirit. The next chapter is devoted to showing the purpose and value of speaking in tongues, for it is the Spirit-filled believer’s ministry of prayer in the Spirit which is the primary emphasis of this book.