Calvary Church
Teach Us To Pray - Dustan Bell - Part 6
‘We see a growing church, meeting in many locations around the world, helping people to know Jesus, find community and make a difference.’
Locations & Times
Calvary Sunshine Coast
212 Crosby Hill Rd, Tanawha QLD 4556, Australia
Sunday 5:00 PM
Teach us to Pray
31st August 2025
Praying in the Spirit
When it comes to praying in the Spirit (or ‘praying in tongues’) many people don’t desire it, don’t have a Biblical understanding of it, or simply don’t have a habit of it.
There is a dynamic spiritual reality to the Christian life that, if lost, leaves us only with a dead religion. Jesus said that His followers would be:
•Born again by the Spirit (John 3)
•Indwelt by the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17)
•Baptised with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5)
Elsewhere, the New Testament encourage us to be:
•Filled with the Spirit
•Live in the Spirit
•Walk in the Spirit
•Be led by the Spirit
•Have the fruit of the Spirit
•Operate in the gifts of the Spirit
•Become more like Jesus by the Spirit
John 7:38-39
“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive…
After Jesus crucifixion and resurrection, He urged his followers to wait in Jerusalem until they received the promised gift of the Spirit. Soon after Jesus’ ascension, the Spirit was poured out as Jesus promised on a Jewish religious holiday called Pentecost.
Acts 2:4
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
What does it mean to ‘speak in tongues’?
•The divinely given ability to speak or pray in a language not learned by natural means.
•Sometimes in an unlearned ethnic language (as in Acts 2) to connect people to God.
•More often in a spiritual language to connect the individual believer to God.
•Speaking in tongues is prayer that originates and flows from our inner spirit and not from our natural mind.
•It is not a naturally learned ability, but a supernaturally imparted ability. For this reason, our natural mind does not understand it.
1 Corinthians 14:14
“For if I pray in tongues, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful…”
Through the Book of Acts, which is the record of the early Church, we see tongues was not just a phenomenon on Pentecost but was a pattern through the early Church.
Mark 16:17
“And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;”
Acts 8 – The believers in Samaria
Acts 8:14–18
Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money…
Acts 9 – Saul / Paul receives the Holy Spirit
Acts 9:17
So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
1 Corinthians 14:18
“I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.”
Acts 10 – Peter at the home of Cornelius
Acts 10:44-46
“While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.
Acts 19 – The believers in Ephesus
Acts 19:1–6
And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.
Summary:
•Numbers of people believed in Jesus and had even been baptised but had not had a subsequent experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
•When people were filled with the Holy Spirit, tongues seems the most common sign.
•Being filled with the Spirit and speaking in tongues was important to early Church leaders Peter, John and Paul and they believed it was important for all Christians.
•Praying for believers to be filled with the Holy Spirit and teaching on the practise of praying in tongues was standard in the early Church.
Ten Benefits of Speaking in Tongues
1. Tongues brings me into a direct connection with God.
1 Corinthians 14:2
“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.”
Tongues makes a connection with the Father that is more than just intellectual.
1 Corinthians 14:14-15
“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. 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.”
Tongues gives me another mode to connect with God.
2. Tongues strengthens my inner being.
Ephesians 3:16-17
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
1 Corinthians 14:4
“Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church.”
When I pray in tongues, it is doing a strengthening work in my spirit.
3. Tongues helps me commune with the Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 13:14
“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
Many Christians have a theory and doctrine of the Holy Spirit, but no personal or experiential knowledge. There is an experiential reality called ‘fellowship’ with the Holy Spirit.
Corey Russell
Praying in tongues brings you into unity with the Holy Spirit and, thereby, unity with Jesus and the Father.
4. Tongues subdues my flesh and humbles my pride.
The Christian life begins in humility and simple faith but can shift into a mode of self-reliance and pride.
Galatians 5:24-26
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Praying in tongues crucifies my self-reliance and humbles my pride, because to the natural it’s foolish.
Fasting and praying in the Spirit are acts of humility and dependence upon God, which is why they attract His grace.
5.Tongues empowers me to pray when I don’t know what to pray.
Romans 8:26-27
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”
Jesus is at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us. The Holy Spirit is within us making intercession for us in accordance with the will of God.
When I pray in tongues and allow the Spirit to intercede for me, in that moment two persons of the Godhead are praying in accordance with the will of God for my life!
6.Tongues builds my faith.
Jude 1:20-21
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.”
When you most need faith is when you least feel faith.
Praying in the Spirit builds us up in faith.
7. Tongues leads me into revelation knowledge.
Ephesians 1:17
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him…
John 16:13
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.
The Holy Spirit doesn’t just relay truth to our minds – He reveals truth to our spirit.
John was exiled on Patmos, but the under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Revelation 1:10–11
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches…”
Smith Wigglesworth
Some people read their Bibles in Hebrew, some in Greek; I like to read mine in the Holy Ghost.
8. Tongues stirs up my passion and faith for other spiritual gifts
2 Timothy 1:6
“For this reason I remind you to stir up the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands”
Paul is reminding his young protégé that spiritual gifts can fade in strength when they’re not used and encouraged.
9. Tongues strengthens me to overcome spiritual opposition.
Ephesians 6:18
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”
In the preceding verses, Paul has been describing the spiritual armour we need to put on so we’re able to withstand the devil’s schemes.
And he concludes by reminding us to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions…”
We ought not obsess about the devil and give him too much attention – but we ought take the Bible seriously enough to recognise our need to pray in the Spirit so we can withstand opposition and live overcoming lives.
10. Tongues helps me become more like Jesus
Ezekiel 36:27
I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
The Spirit within us causes us to walk in God’s ways. As I yield my heart to the Holy Spirit, He leads me into holiness.
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Praying in the Spirit seems to prepare the soil of our heart for the fruit of the Spirit to grow.
Corey Russell
I can say without question that praying in tongues has made me more like Jesus. His love, tenderness, compassion, patience, and gentleness have been formed in me.
2 Corinthians 3:18
“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
Sheer will power alone is not enough to make us like Christ. It comes from the Spirit.
Conclusion
Some Christians want to get into arguments about why we don’t need tongues. After considering all the benefits, why argue your way out of it!
There’s no need for hesitancy about the Holy Spirit or spiritual gifts.
Luke 11:11-13
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
How do we receive the filling of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts?
A. Believe
It’s the promise and pattern of Scripture, so believe: God wants to fill me with the Holy Spirit!
B. Ask
We ask for God to forgive our sins.
We ask for God to heal our bodies.
We ask for God to fill us with the Holy Spirit.
Luke 11:13
“… how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
C. Step out in faith
Like anything we receive from God, it’s a gift that we access by faith. When you ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit, you have to exercise faith to begin speaking in other tongues.
John 7:37
“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
Tongues doesn’t flow from our mind, it flows from our spirit.
Acts 2:4
… they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
31st August 2025
Praying in the Spirit
When it comes to praying in the Spirit (or ‘praying in tongues’) many people don’t desire it, don’t have a Biblical understanding of it, or simply don’t have a habit of it.
There is a dynamic spiritual reality to the Christian life that, if lost, leaves us only with a dead religion. Jesus said that His followers would be:
•Born again by the Spirit (John 3)
•Indwelt by the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17)
•Baptised with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5)
Elsewhere, the New Testament encourage us to be:
•Filled with the Spirit
•Live in the Spirit
•Walk in the Spirit
•Be led by the Spirit
•Have the fruit of the Spirit
•Operate in the gifts of the Spirit
•Become more like Jesus by the Spirit
John 7:38-39
“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive…
After Jesus crucifixion and resurrection, He urged his followers to wait in Jerusalem until they received the promised gift of the Spirit. Soon after Jesus’ ascension, the Spirit was poured out as Jesus promised on a Jewish religious holiday called Pentecost.
Acts 2:4
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
What does it mean to ‘speak in tongues’?
•The divinely given ability to speak or pray in a language not learned by natural means.
•Sometimes in an unlearned ethnic language (as in Acts 2) to connect people to God.
•More often in a spiritual language to connect the individual believer to God.
•Speaking in tongues is prayer that originates and flows from our inner spirit and not from our natural mind.
•It is not a naturally learned ability, but a supernaturally imparted ability. For this reason, our natural mind does not understand it.
1 Corinthians 14:14
“For if I pray in tongues, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful…”
Through the Book of Acts, which is the record of the early Church, we see tongues was not just a phenomenon on Pentecost but was a pattern through the early Church.
Mark 16:17
“And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;”
Acts 8 – The believers in Samaria
Acts 8:14–18
Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money…
Acts 9 – Saul / Paul receives the Holy Spirit
Acts 9:17
So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
1 Corinthians 14:18
“I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.”
Acts 10 – Peter at the home of Cornelius
Acts 10:44-46
“While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.
Acts 19 – The believers in Ephesus
Acts 19:1–6
And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.
Summary:
•Numbers of people believed in Jesus and had even been baptised but had not had a subsequent experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
•When people were filled with the Holy Spirit, tongues seems the most common sign.
•Being filled with the Spirit and speaking in tongues was important to early Church leaders Peter, John and Paul and they believed it was important for all Christians.
•Praying for believers to be filled with the Holy Spirit and teaching on the practise of praying in tongues was standard in the early Church.
Ten Benefits of Speaking in Tongues
1. Tongues brings me into a direct connection with God.
1 Corinthians 14:2
“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.”
Tongues makes a connection with the Father that is more than just intellectual.
1 Corinthians 14:14-15
“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. 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.”
Tongues gives me another mode to connect with God.
2. Tongues strengthens my inner being.
Ephesians 3:16-17
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
1 Corinthians 14:4
“Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church.”
When I pray in tongues, it is doing a strengthening work in my spirit.
3. Tongues helps me commune with the Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 13:14
“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
Many Christians have a theory and doctrine of the Holy Spirit, but no personal or experiential knowledge. There is an experiential reality called ‘fellowship’ with the Holy Spirit.
Corey Russell
Praying in tongues brings you into unity with the Holy Spirit and, thereby, unity with Jesus and the Father.
4. Tongues subdues my flesh and humbles my pride.
The Christian life begins in humility and simple faith but can shift into a mode of self-reliance and pride.
Galatians 5:24-26
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Praying in tongues crucifies my self-reliance and humbles my pride, because to the natural it’s foolish.
Fasting and praying in the Spirit are acts of humility and dependence upon God, which is why they attract His grace.
5.Tongues empowers me to pray when I don’t know what to pray.
Romans 8:26-27
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”
Jesus is at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us. The Holy Spirit is within us making intercession for us in accordance with the will of God.
When I pray in tongues and allow the Spirit to intercede for me, in that moment two persons of the Godhead are praying in accordance with the will of God for my life!
6.Tongues builds my faith.
Jude 1:20-21
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.”
When you most need faith is when you least feel faith.
Praying in the Spirit builds us up in faith.
7. Tongues leads me into revelation knowledge.
Ephesians 1:17
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him…
John 16:13
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.
The Holy Spirit doesn’t just relay truth to our minds – He reveals truth to our spirit.
John was exiled on Patmos, but the under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Revelation 1:10–11
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches…”
Smith Wigglesworth
Some people read their Bibles in Hebrew, some in Greek; I like to read mine in the Holy Ghost.
8. Tongues stirs up my passion and faith for other spiritual gifts
2 Timothy 1:6
“For this reason I remind you to stir up the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands”
Paul is reminding his young protégé that spiritual gifts can fade in strength when they’re not used and encouraged.
9. Tongues strengthens me to overcome spiritual opposition.
Ephesians 6:18
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”
In the preceding verses, Paul has been describing the spiritual armour we need to put on so we’re able to withstand the devil’s schemes.
And he concludes by reminding us to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions…”
We ought not obsess about the devil and give him too much attention – but we ought take the Bible seriously enough to recognise our need to pray in the Spirit so we can withstand opposition and live overcoming lives.
10. Tongues helps me become more like Jesus
Ezekiel 36:27
I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
The Spirit within us causes us to walk in God’s ways. As I yield my heart to the Holy Spirit, He leads me into holiness.
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Praying in the Spirit seems to prepare the soil of our heart for the fruit of the Spirit to grow.
Corey Russell
I can say without question that praying in tongues has made me more like Jesus. His love, tenderness, compassion, patience, and gentleness have been formed in me.
2 Corinthians 3:18
“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
Sheer will power alone is not enough to make us like Christ. It comes from the Spirit.
Conclusion
Some Christians want to get into arguments about why we don’t need tongues. After considering all the benefits, why argue your way out of it!
There’s no need for hesitancy about the Holy Spirit or spiritual gifts.
Luke 11:11-13
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
How do we receive the filling of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts?
A. Believe
It’s the promise and pattern of Scripture, so believe: God wants to fill me with the Holy Spirit!
B. Ask
We ask for God to forgive our sins.
We ask for God to heal our bodies.
We ask for God to fill us with the Holy Spirit.
Luke 11:13
“… how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
C. Step out in faith
Like anything we receive from God, it’s a gift that we access by faith. When you ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit, you have to exercise faith to begin speaking in other tongues.
John 7:37
“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
Tongues doesn’t flow from our mind, it flows from our spirit.
Acts 2:4
… they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
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