GLOSSA: Harnessing the Power of Tongues
Fear has a way of shutting down your voice. For me, that’s exactly where this story starts—a teenager in a house surrounded by soldiers, too scared to speak, until a prayer burst out in a language I had never learned. That moment didn’t come out of nowhere. It was the end of a long road filled with doubt, family tension, and a quiet hunger for something more.
I grew up Anglican in a home where speaking in tongues was considered wrong. My sister’s conversion caused fights, and my dad preached strongly against the practice. So at first, tongues felt like something that divided families, not something God would use to help anyone. But in a small, warm church I began attending, one gentle teacher made the whole idea feel possible. I started wanting it. But wanting didn’t make it happen. No one laid hands on me. No miracle happened instantly. I waited. I wondered. I questioned.
Then real trouble came. Our community faced kidnappings and a local conflict, and one night soldiers camped around our home. Fear pressed in so strongly that it felt like I couldn’t breathe. And in that moment—when my own languages failed—words flowed out from a deeper place. It wasn’t planned. It wasn’t learned. But the more I prayed in tongues, the more peace pushed fear away. A scripture came alive in me: Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. The guns outside didn’t disappear, but something inside me changed. I felt guarded by Someone stronger.
That night became a turning point. Speaking in tongues didn’t make danger vanish, but it changed how I faced it. It became a tool—a way to pray when I had no idea what to say, a way to stay calm when my mind was overloaded, a way to find faith in the middle of panic.
As I kept praying in tongues over the months that followed, I noticed something else. There’s a difference between the authority every believer already has and the empowering effect that tongues brings. Authority comes from being in Christ—it is steady and not based on performance. But tongues increases sensitivity to God. It makes you bolder. It helps you hear clearer. Jesus listed signs that follow believers—casting out demons, speaking in new tongues, healing the sick. You can operate in one gift even if others are still developing. But tongues, I discovered, often awakens the rest. The more I used it, the more other gifts—like teaching, faith, healing, and discernment—started bubbling up.
Meditation played a huge role in this. Not meditation in the empty-your-mind sense, but filling your heart with scripture until it becomes part of you. Instead of chasing spiritual “moments,” I learned to let the Word soak in deeply so that it rose naturally during pressure. Reciting scripture helps, but truly living with a verse—speaking it, imagining it, acting on it—is what changes you. Prayer then becomes less about shouting at the problem and more about aligning with God’s truth. When you know who you are in Christ, your words come from a different place.
Tongues helps with that alignment. It bypasses overthinking. It keeps your spirit active even when your mind has no answers. When I pray long enough, confusion clears, fresh ideas come, and courage returns. It is like giving your spirit permission to breathe.
The word glossolalia comes from two Greek words—glossa (tongue or language) and laleo (to speak). It simply means “speaking a language given by the Spirit.” It’s not earned or studied. It’s a gift. Teachers like Kenneth Hagin helped me understand it, but experience taught me its everyday value. Tongues brought color back into my faith—not just for church, but for work, family, and fear. It helped me live a wider, deeper, more confident life.
And the invitation is the same for you.
Try praying in the Spirit. Let it come gently, without pressure. Give your spirit room to speak when your mind reaches its limit. Let scripture become familiar enough to rise when you need it most. And practice awareness—daily—of who you are and Who is in you.
When you do, peace will begin to outrun fear, and buried gifts will start rising to the surface.
This is the power of glossa: a language that strengthens you from the inside out. Let it shape your everyday walk with God.