Can every believer pray in tongues? What does the Bible actually teach on this topic? To answer this question, let’s first look at the portion of Scripture that seems to indicate that not all believers can pray in tongues.
29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? 30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? (1 Corinthians 12:29-30, KJV)
At first glance, that verse seems to indicate that the gift of speaking in tongues is not for every Christian. Paul’s line of rhetorical questioning communicates a clear message, right? Well, as with all Scripture, context and study are key.
Consider these points:
Firstly, Paul lists several other gifts in that key selection of Scripture. Are all teachers? No. But the Bible teaches us in 1 Peter 3:15 that all believers should be ready to teach about their faith. So there’s a clear difference between having the gift of teaching and just being able to teach. Are all workers of miracles? No. But there’s a difference between the gift of miracles and experiencing miracles in one’s own life. Do all have the gift of healing? No. But the Bible teaches us in Mark 16:18 that all believers will be able to lay hands on the sick and see them recover. So there’s a difference between the gift of healing and a believer being able to lay hands on the sick and believe for a healing. The same reasoning would apply to the gift of the evangelist. Not every believer is an Ephesians 4:11 evangelist, but every believer should evangelize.
So is the Bible contradicting itself? By no means. It’s clear that there’s a difference between a gift, which is a public and focused area of Spirit-enabled grace, and an everyday act of faith. Likewise, there’s a difference between the personal prayer language of the believer and the gift of tongues used in public Church settings (Along with the gift of tongues interpretation.)
If the verses in 1 Corinthians 12 actually taught that the gift of tongues is not for every believer, then the same verses would also have to mean that not every believer can believe God for miracles, believe God for healing, or, if we applied the same logic to Ephesians 4:11, that not every believer can evangelize.
The second point to consider about 1 Corinthians 12:29 & 30 is simpler. Note that it asks, “Do all speak with tongues?”, not “Can all speak with tongues?”
So can all believers pray in tongues? Here’s what Paul says:
I wish you could all speak in tongues, but even more I wish you could all prophesy. (1 Corinthians 14:5, NLT)
Why would Paul the Apostle wish for something that was contrary to God’s will? And, if that wasn’t the will of God, why would the Holy Spirit allow that wish to be permanently recorded in the inerrant Word of God?
In Acts 2:4, the Holy Spirit didn’t discriminate. All spoke in tongues.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:4, KJV)
And Peter clearly taught that all believers could do the same.
This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.” (Acts 2:39, NLT)
What promise? What is for all who have been called?
And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today. (Acts 2:33, NLT)
That promise, for all who have been called, was both seen and heard. What was seen and heard? They saw them receive the Holy Spirit. They heard them speaking in tongues.
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