Written by Taylor Foster
I’ll never forget that December night at my grandparents’ house. I was twenty-two and about to fly across the world to smuggle Bibles into a closed country. I knew I was in the Lord’s will, yet I felt unprepared and underqualified. The chances of getting arrested or deported were real. I answered my grandfather’s questions as best I could, despite many unknown details.
Finally, he extended his hands and calmly said, “Let’s pray.” My right hand stretched across the kitchen table to him, and I held my grandma’s hand with my left. After Grampy prayed, my grandmother began praying—but it was different. Her words came out like an avalanche of power and love. Her prayer carried unique authority, and it was in a different language. As she prayed, their cat meowed. I began to weep as my spirit understood her prayer. It was as if my heart was translating to my head. I didn’t “know” this language, but with each syllable she said, my spirit interpreted what she meant.
As soon as she ended, my grandpa looked up and asked, “I didn’t get it, did you?” I nodded while wiping tears. He probed, “Do you have liberty to share? If not, that’s fine.” I shared every detail of her prayer, which included divine wisdom for a village we would visit, as well as a request of my grandpa to pray a specific blessing over me. He looked at me, closed his eyes, then walked around the table. He put both hands on my shoulders and imparted a spiritual gift the Holy Spirit commanded him to do through his wife’s prayer.
Isn’t it beautiful how the body of Christ is designed to work together in harmony rather than independently? Nana prayed, I interpreted, and Grampy obeyed—each of us played a critical role in the kingdom advancing that night.
Weekly Reflection Questions
- Paul says all believers should desire this gift. When reading that, how does it make you feel?
- Do you speak in tongues? If not, do you desire the gift of speaking in tongues? If you don’t, what makes you hesitant about desiring the gift of tongues?
- How can you grow in trusting the Holy Spirit, even when you don’t have all of the answers?