But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God…
—Jude 1:20-21

Among believers there are different opinions about, and attitudes towards, other tongues, or praying in the Spirit. Some pray in other tongues; others think this gift is not for every Christian; and still others regard those who “babble who knows what” as possessed. And no wonder, for even Paul wrote: “…and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?” [1 Cor.14:23]. Whatever we believe about tongues, if we believe in Jesus, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. Using one gift of the Lord or another does not make us better, but our life will certainly be better and easier. For if the Lord has given something, it is only so that things would be easier for us, because He loves us and cares for us. Now I would like to explain a little about the gift of the Holy Spirit called other tongues, and I hope this will clear up misunderstandings and confusion. Scripture speaks of three kinds of other tongues in which a Christian can speak or pray:

Tongues as a sign: On the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus’ disciples, it is written that they “began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” [Act.2:4]. These tongues were different dialects of languages known at that time [as English or French are today]. Paul calls these tongues “a sign to unbelievers” [1 Cor.14:22] And indeed, all who heard the disciples speaking in tongues on the day of Pentecost did not believe in Jesus. They had gathered in Jerusalem that day from all the surrounding regions, and they heard Jesus’ disciples speaking in their own dialects of the wonderful works of God [Act.2:8-12].

Tongues as prophecy: Another manifestation of other tongues is when God edifies the church through some believer. Paul writes: “If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret.” [1 Cor.14:27] Such tongues always need interpretation. “But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.” [1 Cor.14:28] There is no point in speaking to the church in an unknown tongue if there is no interpretation, because no one will be edified: “So likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air.” [1 Cor.14:9] This tongue is one of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12. God gave all nine of these gifts for the edification of the body of Christ.

Praying in the Spirit: The Lord loves us so much that He has taken care that even when we do not know how or what to pray, the Holy Spirit helps us. Paul writes to the Romans: “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” [Rom.8:26]. The Greek word for “which cannot be uttered” is alaletos, which literally means “what cannot be expressed in words”, or, as another English translation puts it, “with groanings too deep for words.” Interestingly, after Paul wrote about praying in tongues in Romans 8, he wrote about the love of Christ, and that nothing can separate us from it. What is the connection between praying in the Spirit and the love of Christ? Paul writes: “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself” [1 Cor.14:4]. And with what do we edify ourselves? It is written: “…love edifies” [1 Cor.8:1] Jude writes about the same thing: “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God…” [Jud.1:20-21] When we pray in the Spirit, we abide in the love of God, and the Holy Spirit pours out the love of God in our hearts [Rom.5:5].