Practice the Prophetic

• Take turns focusing on one person. Ask the Lord how He would strengthen, encourage and comfort them (1 Corinthians 14:3). Then sit quietly and listen. You may receive a thought, picture, passage or even a physical sensation (such as a pain in your body).

• When sharing this impression, avoid overly authoritative language like “Thus says the Lord.” Instead, offer impressions gently and invite the person to test it with the others present. Say something like: “I had a thought/picture/passage/pain that might be from the Lord. Does this resonate with you? What do the rest of you think?”

• If nothing comes, that’s okay—prayerful listening is part of learning.

• Test everything using the ABCTest.

• Don’t force it. But if something comes to mind, share it. The goal, of course, isn’t to impress others, but to love well and build others up. And remember faith is spelled T-R-Y.

Guidelines for Tongues

1 Corinthians 12:27-30 (NIV)

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

1 Corinthians 14:1-5 (NIV)

1 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. 2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. 4 Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.

1 Corinthians 14:12-19 (NIV)

12 So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.

13 For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. 15 So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. 16 Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying? 17 You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.

18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

1 Corinthians 14:26-33 (NET)

26 What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up. 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. 28 If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.

29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30 And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. 31 For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32 The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.

• Once again, The Way believes that all the spiritual gifts are available and valuable for today. However, we do not consider the gift of tongues to be the mark of the Spirit-filled Christian.

  In the New Testament, the gift of tongues often accompanied the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but not in every case. Paul even expressed a desire that everyone would speak in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:5), yet this falls short of saying that everyone will. In fact, Paul rhetorically asks, “Do all speak in tongues?” (1 Corinthians 12:30), with the implied answer being no.

  Therefore, while the gift of tongues is still available and valuable today, it is not the defining mark of a Spirit-filled believer.

  Instead, the Spirit-filled Christian is characterized by power to be a witness for Jesus (Acts 1:8), along with whatever gifts the Spirit chooses to give, whether permanently or situationally (1 Corinthians 12:1–11, 27–31). And all these gifts of the Spirit must function along with the fruit of the Spirit, especially love (1 Corinthians 13).

• Once again, We need to make a distinction between speaking in tongues and praying or singing in tongues. When a tongue is spoken in the context of a MicroChurch that needs an interpretation. Praying and singing in tongues doesn’t necessarily need an interpretation.

• If you are discussing tongues, feel free to ask someone to give a demonstration. Some people may never have heard a tongue. If you are demonstrating the gift that doesn’t necessarily need an interpretation.

• You can certainly pray for the gift of tongues and you can pray over those who wish to receive this gift. And it’s okay to explore and experiment with this gift. For example, since the gift of tongues is in control of the person with the gift (it's not out of control ecstatic utterance) when someone is seeking the gift they may need to try it on for size. In other words, they may need to open their mouth and try saying something. If something comes and continues, that’s probably the gift. If something comes but doesn’t continue, well, maybe not. Once again, it’s okay to explore and experiment. And why can’t we ask for this gift more than once? Just don’t manipulate or manufacture it. And never make anyone feel second class for not speaking in tongues, including yourself. The gift of tongues is just one of the many good gifts the Spirit gives as He wills. We need to celebrate any and every gift the Spirit gives.

• If a tongue in prayer or song is heard by the group, that doesn’t necessarily need an interpretation. However, it might be best for that person moving forward to pray or sing in their tongue silently or under their breath. The point is you don’t want the gift of tongues in prayer and song to call attention to itself.

• There may be times when you ask everyone to pray and praise out loud altogether. People may want to speak in English or Spanish or in a tongue. The idea is everyone is praying at the same time and if there are tongues, once again, those don’t necessarily need an interpretation.

• If a tongue is spoken, however with the intention that the whole group listens, that needs an interpretation. Pause the group, pray and ask the Lord to give your group an interpretation. The person who gave the tongue or another may give the interpretation. Often this interpretation is not a word for word sort of thing, but a general sense or drift. In other words, the interpretation may take less or more time to say than the tongue itself. This interpretation is to be tested by the same ABC Test used for the gift of prophecy.

• If an interpretation doesn’t come, throw a “towel” to the person who gave the tongue! They may feel rather exposed. Say, “Thanks for that tongue. Thanks for taking that chance. There isn’t an interpretation AT THIS TIME. One may come though, but at this time we’ll need to move on. And if later anyone gets a sense of interpretation about that tongue, just let us know.”

LIVE / LEAD

• What did you discover in this training session?

• What is your “I will …” statement flowing from this training?