It has been reported by medical science recently that praying can affect a sick person’s outcome for the better. One study showed that even when the sick person did not know people were praying for him/her, their health improved. As believers, we know personally what prayer has done for us in our times of sickness (Js. 5:15-16). But did you know that “praying in tongues” can actually make you healthier?
Speaking in Tongues Can Boost Your Immune System
A few years ago, a brain surgeon at Oral Roberts University did a study of what happens in the brain when people pray in tongues. He found that they secreted two chemicals that can boost the immune system by 35-40%! Think about the effects this can have on opportunistic diseases such as cancer. God created the immune system to be our defense against harmful invaders: bacterial, viral, fungal, parasitic, and even malignant. It is when the immune system is weakened that such pathogens can attack and overwhelm our bodies. We all know that keeping our immune system strong is vital to warding off diseases, and why it is so important for us to eat a healthy diet and to avoid foods that are heavily processed. Proper exercise and sleep are also necessary to keep our immune system strong, because God has designed our bodies to recuperate and repair themselves during sleep.
God also knows how He designed us in His image as a three-part being, made up of spirit, soul, and body (1Thes.5:23), and He knows that the health of our spirits and souls is directly correlated to the health of our bodies. This is why John said that he desired for us to be in health even as our souls prosper (3John2). We already know that when a person speaks in tongues, he edifies himself; that is, he builds himself up, strengthens himself in his inner man (1Cor.14:4). Now we know that we can also fortify our immune system by speaking in tongues. The ORU doctor observed that speaking in tongues activates a part of the brain that appears to have no other function. It is only activated when one is in prayer, praise, and worship.
Another Study of the Brain While Speaking in Tongues
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Healthcare System discovered that when one is speaking in tongues, there is decreased activity in the frontal lobes of the brain, which is the area associated with being in control of oneself. They measured regional cerebral blood flow by special imaging machines, while the subjects were speaking in tongues, It showed that they were not in control of the brain’s usual language centers during this activity. This was consistent with the participants’ claims of a lack of intentional control while speaking in tongues. It reflected a complex pattern of changes in brain activity.
Speaking in Tongues is Connected To Spiritual Power
Jesus Himself was baptized in the Holy Spirit in order to perform miracles of power. He did no miracles prior to His baptism, even though He was filled with the Holy Spirit from His mother’s womb. “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee…” (Lk.4:14).
After His resurrection, Jesus appeared unto His disciples at which time He breathed upon them, and said, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost” (Jn.20:22). Yet they still had to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Why? Jesus had told them before His ascension, “Tarry here in Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high…. And you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses…” (Lk.24:49, Acts1:8).
On the day of Pentecost they were baptized with a baptism of fire, and the evidence was they 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” (Acts2:4). The baptism of fire is a baptism of power, and the evidence is speaking in tongues. Previously they had received the Holy Spirit, but they had not received the fullness of His power, and when they did, it came with tongues!
Some may feel that there is not a distinction between the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the baptism of power, but we see from Acts 10:38 that Jesus also received both: “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”
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