Speaking in Tongues: Interfacing With God

When a computer is coordinating harmoniously with another computer or with peripherals (or the computer user for that matter) they are “interfacing.”

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My Pentecostal experiences have helped me “interface” with God.

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When I received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, the actual experience of speaking in other tongues was almost anticlimactic compared to the thrill of “pursuing” God until He granted His “blessing.” This is not a disavowal of the doctrine of speaking in tongues as the initial physical evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. It is an affirmation that Pentecostal Spirituality is more than a one-time experience.

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I am a Pentecostal not because I speak in tongues. Rather, I speak in tongues because I am a Pentecostal. Being Pentecostal is holistic and tongues are part of a larger spirituality.

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Pentecostal spirituality involves a cooperative or shared intimacy with God.

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Just as the circuits in an appliance wired to receive 110 volts will sizzle and meltdown when plugged into a 220 volts outlet unless it is retrofitted, no human can interface with the omnipotent God without facilitation. Answering the challenge to know God—not just cognitively, but experientially—requires divine help.

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As I thrashed around in the shallows of His presence, I felt frustrated and frail.

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It was as I relaxed and was suffused in the depths of His love that the divine assistance to interface with Him came.

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With the help of the Holy Spirit, I was able to express the ineffable. The ability to pray in an unknown language helped and continues to help me interface with and experience God.