To counter stress, many people resort to tobacco, alcohol or tranquilizers. These things, besides having harmful side effects, are costly and often lead to addictions.
God has something better for us. It is powerful, costs us nothing and has no harmful side effects. He calls it “the rest” and “the refreshing.” What is He referring to? Speaking in tongues—“For with stammering lips and another tongue…”
One of our church members was on medication for nine long years for a host of problems: severe depression, suicidal thoughts, insomnia, chronic sinusitis, gastritis and panic attacks. Every day, he had to take up to 30 tablets to keep these conditions under control.
He suffered from such bad sinusitis that he had to visit the hospital regularly to drain the mucus. He could not sleep much—at most three hours—even with sleeping pills. And because of his panic attacks, he could not go to work and seldom left his house. His wife had to look after him and their three kids. The side effects of the long-term medication also caused his physique to balloon.
One day, he felt God prompting him to pray in tongues as often as he could. He obeyed. The moment he started to pray in tongues, even though it was just a few syllables, he felt a rest, a peace. This encouraged him to pray in tongues more. And the more he prayed in tongues, the more rest and peace he felt.
His sinuses began to clear up and he was healed of gastritis. Slowly, the fears and panic attacks left him too. He also started to have quality sleep without the sleeping pills! The Lord even taught him how he was to eat—two meals a day, but to eat whatever he wanted. Today, he is back to his normal weight!
Through praying in tongues regularly, God delivered this man from a host of long-term illnesses. My friend, this is the rest and the refreshing which God has promised us. So start praying in tongues regularly, and let His rest and peace saturate your entire being!
"I'M HERE TO TELL YOU" EDITOR'S NOTE
Does praying in tongues really help? How can saying jibber jabber to God ever help out your situation. Praying in tongues has been argued among Christians for eons. What is it really? What it is is a show of faith. You believe that you are relying on the Holy Spirit that Jesus gave you to communicate correctly and directly with God. When you are praying in tongues you believe that the Holy Spirit takes over and guides your thoughts and desires directly to the throne of God. What works about this way of thinking, this kind of faith, is that you are relying on God and not yourself. God wants us to rely on Him. God's ways are truly way above what we could ever understand. It's like the little lamb and his shepherd. The lamb knows next to nothing, but he knows that his shepherd loves him and will provide for and protect him. So be the little lamb, reduce your stress and care levels. Let go and let God take care of all the worries and troubles you have. He is your good shepherd and He will take good care of you. He loves it when we allow that to happen. Today, try praying in tongues. Let God's Holy Spirit take over your time speaking with Him and see if that relieves the stress of the fact that we really don't even know what to pray for. God knows what we need. Thank God for knowing what we need and what we want before we ask.
