Key #1: Pray in tongues in secret
The first key to praying in tongues for hours every day is to make it a part of your secret time with the Lord.
All of us should be having daily time with the Lord as we spend time in the secret place. Whether this in the morning, in the afternoon, at night, or all three, we should be consistently spending time with God in His presence through prayer, worship, and the reading of His word.
If we have this time established in our lives then the first step to praying in tongues for hours is to incorporate tongues in our daily time with the Lord.
Many people will start their time off with the Lord with 30 minutes of speaking in tongues so that they can begin with a proper posture of the heart. Others speak in tongues throughout their prayer time, or at the end.
The point is it really doesn’t matter how you structure it, but that you are actively placing an importance on speaking in tongues within your prayer time.
Key #2: Pray in tongues throughout the day
As mentioned previously, the Bible exhorts us to pray in the Spirit consistently throughout our day and it also gives us an example of this through the life of Paul.
“With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18)
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.” (Jude v.20-21)
“I (Paul) thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all” (1 Corinthians 14:18)
Now if the Bible tells us to pray in the Spirit/tongues at all times and we see from the life of Paul that he prayed in tongues more than the entire Corinthian church, then we can know for sure that devoting every possible moment to praying in tongues would be obeying the word of God.
You see, if we pray in tongues at all times, meaning consistently and frequently, and we also pray in tongues during our time of secret prayer, then the task of praying in tongues for hours will quickly become a habit that will produce much spiritual fruit in our lives.
[Related article: How to Pray in the Spirit at All Times].
Key #3: Sing in tongues often
Another key to praying in tongues for hours is to sing in tongues as often as possible, in our alone time with God and throughout our day. (Related article: Singing in the Spirit: What it is & How to do it).
Now of course, if you are in public I don’t recommend you sing in tongues loudly for the Bible says that when we are in public and there is no interpretation of tongues we should pray underneath our breath so that others don’t hear us.
“If anyone speaks in a tongue, it must be by two or at the most three, and each one in turn, and one is to interpret; but if there is no interpreter, he is to keep silent in church; and have him speak to himself and to God.” (1 Corinthians 14:27-28)
So when you are in public sing your worship song with the language that you know, and then switch to tongues and whisper the song. But if you are in private, sing in tongues as freely as you want.
Again, we see this as an example in the life of Paul.
“What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit, but I will sing with the mind also.” (1 Corinthians 14:15)
Paul didn’t just pray in tongues, but he also sang in tongues as well. And he switched back and forth between his known language and his tongues.
Key #4: Switch back and forth between tongues and your understanding
This leads me to my final key to mention, and that is to switch back and forth between tongues and your known language.
This is how the apostle Paul spent his prayer time with God and it is how he stayed in communion with God throughout the day; he would pray in tongues and pray with his understanding, he would sing in tongues and he would sing with his understanding.
“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unproductive. What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit, but I will sing with the mind also.” (1 Corinthians 14:14-15)
Paul did this day after day, hour after hour, moment by moment.
By living this way he could command others to do it as well. The apostle Paul never commanded someone else to do something without him also doing it himself.
In fact, Paul actually revealed that everything he taught the churches was what he actively practiced himself.
“As for the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:9)
What a profound statement!
Paul was so confident in his walk with God that he said if you copy the things I do and say God will be with you.
I sometimes wonder how many pastors nowadays can say the same thing…not very many I’m sure.
Benefits of praying in tongues for hours
You will edify and build up your spirit man. (1 Corinthians 14:4 & Jude v. 20-21)
You will keep yourselves in the love of God. (Jude v. 20-21)
You will remain in fellowship with God. (1 Corinthians 14:2)
You will be praising and thanking God in the Spirit. (1 Corinthians 14:14-17)
It will help you enter into His rest. (1 Corinthians 14:21 & Isaiah 28:11-12)
You will receive divine revelation through speaking in tongues. (1 Corinthians 14:5)
[Related article: 5 Benefits of Speaking in Tongues].
In addition to these benefits that the Bible mentions or refers to, we also know that if you are speaking in tongues for long periods of time then that also means that you are dwelling in the secret place, for dwelling in the secret place is nothing more than living a life of prayer.
The Bible mentions many benefits for dwelling in the secret place in Psalm 91.
You will be delivered. You will receive deliverance from those against you who try to trap you, and from deadly sicknesses. (Psalm 91:3)
He will cover you from your enemies and from evil. (Psalm 91:4)
You will have no fear in your life. You won’t be afraid of sickness, darkness, destruction, or man-made weapons. (Psalm 91:5-6)
No evil shall befall you. Others may fall, but you’ll be protected. (Psalm 91:7,10,11, & 15)
No sickness will come near you or your household. Sickness is never from God and those who dwell in Him will be free from sickness and disease. (Psalm 91:10)
Angels will guard and protect you. (Psalm 91:11-12)
You will have authority and power over satan and his demons. The Bible uses creatures such as lions, serpents, and scorpions to represent the enemy. If you dwell in the secret place you will “trample him underfoot.” (Psalm 91:13)
God will answer your prayers. (Psalm 91:15)
God will be with you in trouble. God will be with you as he was with other men and women of God who loved Him. He will deliver and rescue you from trouble. (Psalm 91:15)
You will be blessed with long life. Many people think that God has a timestamp for everyone, but this verse reveals that how we live our lives judges when we will die. So, if we dwell in God, He promises to “satisfy us with long life.” (Psalm 91:16)
He will show us His salvation. I believe this is twofold. (1) God will show us salvation and deliverance from times of trouble and evil on this earth, and (2) He will show us His eternal salvation by being with Him forever! (Psalm 91:16)
How long & often should I pray in tongues each day?
We should be praying in tongues for hours every day. Whether we are in our secret time with the Lord or as we go about our day, we can always be praying in tongues.
The apostle Paul actually exhorted the ephesian church to pray in the Spirit at all times.
“With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:18)
Now there are many that do not believe that praying in the Spirit means praying in other tongues, but I would like to show in a couple verse that it does in fact mean just that.
“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.” (1 Corinthians 14:14-15)
Notice that Paul said that when we pray in tongues our spirits are the one’s praying and he even goes as far as using the term praying in tongues and praying with the spirit interchangeably. (Related article: Praying in the Spirit: What it is and How to do it).
Now someone reading this will probably be thinking, “sure, but when Paul said praying in the Spirit in Ephesians 6 it was referring to the Holy Spirit (capital S), but in 1 Corinthians 14 Paul is referring to our spirit’s (lowercase s).”
To this I would say, you are absolutely right! Ephesians chapter 6 is referring to Holy Spirit and 1 Corinthians 14 is referring to our spirit’s, but have you ever read the passage of scripture that reads anyone “who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Corinthians 6:17)
So it doesn’t matter whether Paul said “the Spirit” or “our spirit” because our spirit’s are one.
Not only did the apostle Paul tell them to pray in the Spirit at all times but he also practised this himself.
“I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.” (1 Coritnhains 14:18-19)
We know that this verse is speaking of Paul’s day to day life and his alone time with the Lord, because he compares the amount he speaks in tongues alone to the amount he prays in tongues when he is in a church setting.
And for the apostle Paul to say that he spoke in tongues more than the entire Corinthian church would mean that he was constantly speaking in tongues. When he woke up, as he got ready, while he was working, in between evangelism/discipleship efforts, and in his alone time with God, Paul was continuously speaking in tongues.
Now of course, this doesn’t technically mean constantly because we have to speak to people, share the gospel, teach others the word, do our daily work, sing praises to God, etc.
So when the Bible says to pray in the Spirit at all times, it means continuously and frequently coming back to it. On a daily, moment-by-moment basis, we should be praying in tongues and communing with God.
[Related article: Spending Time with God Every Day: How to Do it].
I hope you enjoyed this article and that it assisted you in your walk with God.
God bless all of you!
P.S. I have an entire article that does an in-depth study on Speaking in Tongues if you are interested in learning more about this topic. You can read it by clicking the title here: Bible Study/Teaching/Lesson/Commentary on Speaking in Tongues. Enjoy!
