These are notes on the sermon, Benefits Of Praying In Tongues, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, 5 December 2021, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
Be sure to sign up to get updates on the latest sermon notes by Team JP.
The Lord has given us an easy way to walk in the Spirit and to possess all the blessings He has purchased for us at the cross.
Today we’re going to continue from last week’s sermon and learn how walking in the Spirit will cause us to possess our possessions.
“Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory.”
— Joshua 1:3–4 NKJV
“Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you” — For Joshua and the children of Israel, the promised land described here was a physical land. But for us today, this is a picture of all the blessings that Jesus has purchased for us through the cross.
Let’s look at the different geographical points mentioned in the verses:
When we connect the four points together, we can see a picture of a cross. Today, the promised land God wants us to possess refers to all the benefits of the cross (e.g. healing, provision, protection, etc.).
Recap of last week’s sermon
Last week, we learned that having a good opinion of the Lord imparts faith to our hearts for us to possess God’s promises of healing, practical provision, and breakthroughs bought for us by the finished work of Christ.
Today, when we pray for healing, we can pray with authority knowing that God’s Word says the Lord has surely borne our diseases and pains on the cross (Isa. 53:4a–5).
Abundant provision is another thing that God wants us to possess. When God tells us He wants to prosper us, He is not telling us to be materialistic or have avarice in our hearts. But He does want us to know that practical provision is something Jesus purchased for us as well (2 Cor. 8:9). Our heavenly Father does not want us to be poor and needy.
Besides taking our sicknesses, pains, and lack at the cross, Jesus also took our sorrows, stress, and anxiety. When the Lord sweat blood In the garden of Gethsemane, He redeemed us from the curse of stress and laborious toil (Gen. 3:19 NASB, Luke 22:44). We can simply receive what we need from Jesus and rest in His finished work and love for us.
The name of Jesus is higher and greater than any other name (that includes COVID-19 and all its variants). Let’s receive the peace and rest He has already purchased for us at the cross.
Regardless of what variant of COVID has appeared, God’s Word says that every knee will bow to the name of Jesus (Phil. 2:10 NASB), and He is far above every name that can be named (Eph. 1:21 ISV).
God has given the church the spiritual authority to pray against this virus.
Pastor Prince shares that as he was preparing this message, the Lord spoke to him about encouraging all of us to set aside time each day—about half an hour to an hour—to pray in the Spirit against the COVID-19 virus. Before you pray, you can ask the Spirit to intercede on your behalf (Rom. 8:26 KJV), saying, “Lord, even as I pray, let Your Holy Spirit make intercession right now to put a stop to the COVID-19 virus in the name of Jesus, Amen.”
There are people tuning into our services from all over the world. Pray against the COVID-19 virus on behalf of your country. Let’s use the spiritual authority that God has given us, and start praying in the Spirit and in the name of Jesus.
Praying in tongues is not something we have to observe legalistically, but it is important we know that God’s Word does encourage us to do it often for there are many benefits to it. One of the benefits is that it activates God’s power and protection against the attacks of the enemy.
“So shall they fear
The name of the LORD from the west,
And His glory from the rising of the sun;
When the enemy comes in like a flood,
The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.
"The Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,"
Says the LORD.”
— Isaiah 59:19–20 NKJV
“the enemy comes in like a flood” — We can see that the COVID-19 virus is an attack of the enemy because it is sweeping the world like a flood; no nation has been spared from this virus.
The pandemic is coming in like a flood, and now is not the time for the church to fight one another but for us to unite as one to pray against this attack.
“The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him” — When the enemy comes in like a flood, our assurance is that the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him, which indicates that we will have the victory. A standard is only lifted when the victory has been won in a battle.
How does the Spirit of the Lord lift up this standard against the enemy? He does this when we pray in tongues.
““As for Me," says the LORD, "this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants' descendants," says the LORD, "from this time and forevermore.””
— Isaiah 59:21 NKJV
“this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you” — This is the new covenant that the Lord has made with us. He has given His Holy Spirit to be upon us, and we will speak the words that He has put in our mouths.
“My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth” — This refers to praying in tongues. This verse also calls to mind Joshua 1:8, which says, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night . . .” which we will expound more on later.
Under the new covenant, God desires for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit, which results in us praying in tongues.
We see this in the New Testament. On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples in the upper room, and “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4).
This is what God has ordained for us to do when we see the enemy coming in like a flood: pray in the Spirit!
Praying in the Spirit also unleashes many other blessings that the Lord has purchased for us through the cross. It is one of the ways we possess our promised land today.
What words do you speak when the Spirit is upon you? Spiritual words.
The apostle Paul says that when we pray in tongues, we are speaking with words that are not taught by man’s wisdom but are taught by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 2:13 KJV).
“For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God . . . howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.”
— 1 Corinthians 14:2 KJV
Paul, who wrote three-fourths of the New Testament, prayed in tongues very often. This is why he was able to understand the mysteries hidden in the Old Testament and hidden even from the foundations of the world.
“mysteries” — When the word “mystery” is mentioned in the New Testament, it does not refer to something that is still hidden. It refers to things that were once hidden in the Old Testament but are now revealed.
When you pray in tongues, the Holy Spirit reveals the mysteries and secrets found in God’s Word. As you are praying in tongues, the Word of God comes alive.
The Holy Spirit is an extremely powerful gift that was given to the church on the Day of Pentecost. On that day, the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples in the upper room and they started praying in tongues.
Under the old covenant, God gave the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai and 3,000 people died at the foot of the mountain (Exod. 32:28). Under the new covenant of grace, God gave the Spirit on Mount Zion and 3,000 people were saved (Acts 2:41). This goes to show that the law kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Cor. 3:6b).
When we understand this, we will understand that the way to live a victorious and holy life is not by living under the law but by living under grace. When we walk in the Spirit, we are living under grace.
God’s Word says that by the law is the knowledge of sin (Rom. 3:20b). When the law is introduced, sin is stirred up and revived (Rom. 7:9).
If someone is living in sin and claims that he or she is living under grace, that person is not truly living under grace. The law is designed to bring man to the end of himself. Any attempt to try to keep it with his own strength will only result in sin. The good news is that God has made provision for us to reign above sin through the cross:
“Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.”
— Romans 7:4–5 NKJV
“dead to the law” — Under the new covenant, we are now dead to the law and married to another, Jesus Christ, and this union with Christ causes us to bear good and godly fruits for His glory.
This can only happen when you are dead to the law and married to Christ. When you are Christ-occupied, not law-occupied, moral excellence is fulfilled in you through Christ.
“sinful passions which were aroused by the law” — Contrary to what some may think, preaching grace and forgiveness in Christ does not produce licentiousness. Instead, what we have seen through the many testimonies we have received over the years is that when grace is preached, true moral excellence and deliverance from sinful habits are the results.
This is not to say that nations should not be governed by laws. We believe that a nation should be governed by Judeo-Christian laws but these laws can only govern us outwardly; they do not produce true inside-out transformation. In our personal lives, what we want is not just behavior modification but heart transformation. Grace transforms us inside-out so that our hearts are transformed, not just our outward behavior, which can be temporary.
The law is holy, just, and good. It was designed by God to expose man’s weaknesses, sins, and inability to be holy, just, and good so that man would see his need for a Savior. The children of Israel only decided to build a golden calf to worship after the law was given to them.
Pastor Prince shares a powerful testimony of a brother in Ohio who had tried for years to be free from drugs, alcohol, and pornography. Despite his best intentions and efforts to be free from these addictions, he was unable to break free until he heard the gospel of grace. It was by hearing about the grace of God and knowing that he has been forgiven and made righteous in Christ that he experienced a supernatural inside-out transformation.
One of the provisions of Christ on the cross is this, “our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with” (Rom. 6:6).
Every time you experience a temptation, don’t acknowledge that your flesh is alive. See the sinful stirrings and other outworkings of the flesh dead and of no effect. Don’t compliment the old man by trying to struggle and fight against it.
Though we may still experience the residual feelings of our old self or the “old man” (in the form of sinful tendencies), God tells us to count them as dead. Why? Because Jesus has conquered our old self at the cross and given us a new self. We are a new creation in Him! In our experience, the old self seems alive, but to faith, it is dead.
When God looks at you today, He sees you in your new identity: the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21).
It is by the Holy Spirit in us that we are able to live out our righteous identity in Christ and experience the benefits bought for us by the finished work.
God said to Joshua that to possess the promised land, he only had to walk on it.
“Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you . . .”
—Joshua 1:3 NKJV
The way to possess all of God’s promises is by walking.
This motif of walking is also seen in the story of Enoch. Enoch was walking with God when God raptured him (Gen. 5:24).
Walking with God is something done outwardly. When someone walks with God, he is close to God but it is not the closest we can be.
Besides Enoch, we also see how Abraham walked before God.
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.”
— Genesis 17:1 NKJV
“walk before Me” — This is the Hebrew word “paniym.” God is saying, “Walk before My face.” To walk before God’s face is to be conscious that He is looking at you with favor (Num. 6:25).
Abraham practiced this; he walked before God, which also indicates closeness to God. Yet this is still not the closest we can be to God.
Today, we are under the new covenant, and this is the new covenant way of walking with God:
“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
— Galatians 5:16 NKJV
We are not just walking with or before God (which would indicate the Holy Spirit dwells outside of us). Instead, we are to “walk in the Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit is God Himself, one of the divine Godhead in the trinity. Today we are meant to walk in Him! The Holy Spirit dwells within us, and our spirits are joined to His.
Our spirits are the innermost part of our beings. Just like we have a triune God made up of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we also have three parts that make up who we are. We have our spirit, our soul (thoughts and emotions), and our body. God designed our bodies to be affected by our soul, and our soul to be affected by our spirit.
The Holy Spirit dwells in our spirit.
When we do this, we are communing with God in the most intimate way.
Praying in the Spirit is not about praying more passionately or loudly. You can pray softly, and you can even sing with the spirit (1 Cor. 14:15). What is important is that when you pray in tongues, it is your spirit, the most intimate part of you, that is praying (1 Cor. 14:14).
When we pray in tongues, the innermost part of us prays and that is how we commune with God on the most intimate level.
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God,”
— Jude 1:20–21a NKJV
“most holy faith” — When you pray in the Spirit, you are praying from your most holy place, the Holy of Holies, which is your spirit.
When you pray in tongues, you are not praying with your own intellect or ideas. Sometimes when you pray in your native language, there comes a time when your words may run out and your ideas may run out. But when you pray in the Spirit, you are able to keep on praying because you are not depending on your mind or emotions.
“praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God” — When you pray in tongues, you are also keeping yourself in the place of the love of God and all His provisions.
Today, it is sad that this amazing gift of praying in tongues is sometimes esteemed as the least among the other gifts in the church. However, when we read the Scriptures, we see the many benefits of using this gift.
This is not to say that the other gifts are not important. They are. However, this gift of praying in tongues is available to EVERY believer, while the other gifts of the Spirit are given to some more than others (i.e. we all flow in different gifts of the Spirit).
Paul did not say that he wished we had the gift of wisdom or the gift of faith—other gifts of the Spirit—but he said, “I wish you all spoke with tongues” (1 Cor. 14:5). We can see that there is a priority placed in praying in tongues!
Our spirit—the part that prays when we pray in tongues—is the most important part of our being. While our soul and body were also given by God, they are both affected by our spirit. God does not want us to spend all our time cultivating only our physical bodies or our minds while neglecting our spirit. We are to build up our spirit by praying in tongues.
When we pray in tongues, we are praying with our spirit instead of our mind. Don’t allow your mind to disrupt your praying in the Spirit (1 Cor. 14:14 KJV).
“I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.”
— 1 Corinthians 14:18–19 NKJV
“I speak with tongues more than you all; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding” — Here, Paul makes it clear that he would rather speak five words with understanding (in a known language e.g. English) than 10,000 words in tongues when he stands before the church, otherwise no one would understand him. (Paul was also saying this specifically to the Corinthian church because they were abusing the gift of praying in tongues—they were shouting at each other in tongues as a badge of spirituality, but in private they were not doing it.)
By the same token, Paul is also saying that it is because he prays in tongues so much in his private time (1 Cor. 14:18) that all he needs to say is five words with his understanding for the power of God to be released. Paul goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 2:4 that his preaching is “not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”
Likewise, when you spend time praying in the Spirit in your own private time, the few words you speak in public will demonstrate the Spirit working in you and the power of God.
“I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.”
— 1 Corinthians 14:18–19 NKJV
“that I may teach others also” — Here, Paul is saying that when he prays in tongues, he is able to teach others. The word “also” implies that God Himself first teaches him when he prays in tongues. It is only then that he is able to teach others also.
Pastor Prince shares how he has noticed that when he goes through seasons of protracted praying in tongues, he experiences how the Spirit gives him new revelations from God’s Word.
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things . . .”
— John 14:26 NKJV
The Holy Spirit teaches you all things (John 14:26), and much of His teaching happens when you pray in tongues.
“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
— Galatians 5:16 NKJV
Notice that “walk in the Spirit” comes before “you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Yet many people teach it the other way around—that we need to not fulfill the lust of the flesh before we can walk in the Spirit.
God’s Word makes it clear that it is when we walk in the Spirit that the result is that we shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh! We can see this same pattern when God told Abraham, “Walk before Me and be blameless” (Gen. 17:1). Walking before God comes first, then being blameless.
When Abraham walked before God (being conscious that God was showing him favor), then he could be blameless (live above sin).
It is important we don’t get the order wrong!
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
—Joshua 1:8 NKJV
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night” — In the Old Testament, Joshua had to meditate on the law (the Torah) because there were no other books of the Bible written yet.
Today, the Spirit has taken the place of the law. Under the new covenant, what we are to meditate on is the Spirit, and we do that by praying in tongues.
“then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” — When you pray in the Spirit, you will make your way prosperous and you will have good success.
Psalm 1 also talks about similar benefits of meditating on the law (which, under the new covenant, we can read as praying in the Spirit):
“But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.”
— Psalm 1:2–3 NKJV
“He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper” — In these benefits listed, we can see the image of a fruitful tree planted by the rivers of water. This is the result of someone who “in [God’s] law . . . meditates day and night.”
How can we be sure that under the new covenant, we can replace meditating on God’s law with praying in the Spirit?
Rivers of water are a picture of praying in tongues
“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
— John 7:37–39 NKJV
“as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit” — Here in the gospel of John, Jesus was quoting the prophet Ezekiel (Ezek. 47) and John recorded that the “rivers of living water” referred to the Holy Spirit who had not yet been given.
Let’s look at Ezekiel 47, where we can see imagery of fruitfulness similar to what we see in Psalm 1.
“Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar.”
— Ezekiel 47:1 NKJV
“there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple” — Our body is the temple of God (1 Cor. 6:19). This is a picture of how from our innermost being shall flow rivers of living water when we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 7:37–39).
The result of this is great fruitfulness and healing.
Today, we can see that Ezekiel’s prophecy coming to pass in both a literal and spiritual way.
Ezekiel prophesied that the northern part of the Dead Sea will be healed but the southern part will not. Today, we can see that a land strip is being formed that divides the Dead Sea into two, showing that this prophecy is coming to pass.
There is a literal fulfillment of prophecy taking place but there is also a spiritual fulfillment happening. This spiritual fulfillment that is happening includes all the benefits we will experience when we allow the rivers of living water to flow out from us as we pray in tongues.
“And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes.”
— Ezekiel 47:9 NKJV
“will live” — As you pray in the Spirit, people will start to experience life, rest, and refreshing when they are around you (Isa. 28:12 KJV).
“very great multitude of fish” — As you pray in the Spirit, you will also see people around you getting saved. Fish are a picture of evangelism (in Matthew 4:19, Jesus Himself said to His disciples, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”) When you pray in the Spirit, there will be evangelism and many who will come to know Jesus.
“they will be healed” — As you pray in the Spirit, there will also be great healing wherever the river flows.
“Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.”
— Ezekiel 47:12 NKJV
“their leaves will not wither, their fruit will not fail” — This is reminiscent of Psalm 1. When you pray in tongues, you will experience life, fruitfulness, and health.
Psalm 1 talks about the blessed man meditating on the law, but we of the new covenant, who meditate on the Spirit and pray in the Spirit, will experience the same results: good success, fruitfulness, and healing.
Pastor Prince shares how missionaries like David Wilkerson and Jackie Pullinger both testified that when drug addicts were baptized in the Holy Spirit, they were delivered from drug addiction without experiencing cold turkey. The Holy Spirit demonstrates the power of God in our lives!
Pastor Prince prays for those who have yet to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is a gift to be received.
“Say: Father, I thank You for the gift of the wonderful Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus, right now, baptize me with the Holy Spirit, with speaking in tongues.
Right now, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Pastor Prince demonstrates how we can start and stop praying in tongues any time at our own will. The Holy Spirit does not take over your body to the point where you have no control over what you are speaking. The Holy Spirit does not force you to do anything. You get to cooperate with Him by first opening your mouth and speaking.
Pastor Prince encourages all of us to pray in the Spirit often and for protracted periods of time.
“Heavenly Father, I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe You sent Him to die on the cross for my sins. And I believe He bore all my sins in His own body and He was cursed and condemned in my place that I might be justified, favored, and blessed.
Jesus Christ is my Lord and my Savior. Thank You, Father. You have raised Him from the dead when I was justified in Him. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
“This coming week, the Lord bless you and your families and the Lord keep you. The Lord bless you with the blessings of Abraham. The Lord keep you from every danger, harm, and from all evil. The Lord make His face to shine on you and be favorable to you and your loved ones. The Lord lift up His countenance on you and grant to you and all your loved ones His shalom peace, tranquility, and wellbeing. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And all the people said, Amen.”
The Lord wants you to live a life of victory where you are possessing more and more of the benefits He has purchased for you at the cross. That includes healing for your body, freedom from destructive habits, protection, practical provision, a flourishing family life, wisdom for every situation, and good success in all you do.
How do you actively and intentionally possess this promised land of blessings in your everyday life? By walking in the Spirit, and one of the ways you can do this is by praying in tongues often.
Praying in tongues is such a simple yet powerful gift that God has given to every believer. It releases His power into every area of your life and causes you to win. Don’t settle for a life that’s less than God’s best when He has already given you a key to walking in victory!
This week, prioritize praying in tongues and ask the Lord to show you how you can make it a habit to pray in tongues often throughout the day. You’ll begin to experience the abundant, fruitful life He meant for you to live!
We hope these sermon notes blessed you! If they did, we encourage you to get the sermon and allow the Lord to speak to you personally as you watch or listen to it.
© Copyright JosephPrince.com 2021
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
Sign Up for Latest Sermon Notes Updates
SubscribeTo complete the subscription process, please click on the confirmation link in the email we just sent you.
You're already in our mailing list. Thank You!
