Fresh Manna; Holy Spirit; Jesus; spiritual strength; to

By Pastor Tim Burt

Jude 1:20 NIV “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.”

Conflict. It seems like there is so much of it almost everywhere. It is a reminder to me of why I need all the gifts of and help from God that I can get.

Have you ever had something happened to you that either made you quite mad or upset? Just a few times huh? Me too! I realize we might be different in how we work through or process conflict but I think it’s fair to say that when most of us face conflicts of some kind, there can be this tendency to run the conflict over and over again in our mind. It’s like we have this digital recorder playing the same picture or scene over and over again as we try to think it through.

Jesus knew we would come to those “instant replay” moments. This is why He gave instructions to forgive so many times in a day. We see this in Matthew 18:21-22, “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

Seven times seventy is 490 times. We aren’t going to find ourselves being offended 490 times in one day. But, we might take the same offense and run it over and over in our mind that many times. Especially if the offense comes in the evening or when it’s quiet and there is nothing else going on.

These mind battles resulting from conflict and working to perpetuate feelings of unforgiveness happen to most people if not everyone. The “instant replay” is almost like self torture yet we still replay these painful conflicts over and over again. We get tired of thinking about them and try to quiet our mind and move past them and yet they can seem impossible to shut off. This is just one of many places and ways the gift of tongues is an awesome benefit in a most practical area of our life.

When I find myself in one of these situations, I have learned that instead of playing the recording over and over in my head, I instead begin to pray in tongues. Something that happens when you pray in tongues is that the presence of God becomes greater. It’s almost as if thoughts of conflict are pushed out in the presence of God. When you pray in tongues, it’s like you are being drawn to God. In His presence, it’s like I can see more clearly concerning the conflict I’m in. Because I am in God’s presence, I am more desirous of the truth than I am winning some conflict.

I recently had a conflict with someone. I did not want to handle it in the wrong way nor did I want to say something that would make it worse and create walls. It was churning in me and I knew it was time to simply turn it over to the Lord and pray about it in the spirit – “in tongues.” I could immediately feel my thoughts and body begin to calm down. I was in one of those many situations where I needed God’s consul and direction for how I responded and worked through this situation. When I lay them before God and pray in the spirit, it’s like He helps me see more clearly, honestly, and humbly. Romans 8:26 (NLT) says, “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don’t even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words (words that cannot be understood – in tongues.)

First, I wasn’t replaying the scene any more; I was seeing my wrong part. The Lord showed me how I could have avoided it, what I did to contribute to it, and what my part was that was wrong in it. Something else happened to me while I was praying in tongues and thinking about these things. I was feeling remorse and wanting to go back and work it out. My working it out wouldn’t be blaming him. It would be telling him I was sorry and telling him that I could have handled it differently. Then just kindly instructing him what could have worked better to prevent the entire thing.

The Holy Ghost has provided me with a gift that can be like a fire extinguisher. As I pray in tongues, it’s like the fire goes out and peace comes. Pride melts like an ice cube in a frying pan. Humility rises within me like a hot air balloon. Praying in tongues seems to help me better examine myself rather than defend myself. Because of this, the Lord helps me to truly resolve conflicts and easily move past unforgiveness.

Why am I telling you all this? Because in praying in the Spirit or tongues, there can be a presence of God that helps you work through these kinds of times in a very supernatural way. This is one of the reasons today’s Fresh Manna verse encourages us – “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.”

If you would like a free book to help you learn more about the gift of tongues, write to: info@lwcc.org giving them your name and address and ask for the book Water, Wind, and Fire. I hope it will be of great blessing to you. I am confident it will help you with questions you may have.

In His Love,
Pastor Tim Burt
http://readfreshmanna.blogspot.com/