Advanced Prayer Language | Viny Costa

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Someone ran away.

Did you hear that door?

Good morning, church.

Good morning, you watching online.

Welcome to our second edition of our summer school series.

We're all very, very excited about this series, and we plan it to be more teachy than preachy.

So we want this to be a class with no test.

How does that sound?

Good.

Over the next four weeks, we will dive into um some topics from a more theological perspective, and we want you to walk away from here thinking, oh, I learned something new today, and I'm ready to put it into practice right now.

We got a lot of positive feedback from you from last year's edition, so we are pumped for our 2025 summer school series.

Yes?

Yes.

Okay.

If I had to define my purpose, I would say I was born to open the Bible and open my mouth.

Teaching the word of God is something that I truly love.

But doing it in English is a big challenge for me.

So I feel extremely, extremely insecure.

What gives me comfort is knowing that I'm speaking to my family, so that's that's good.

But I wanted to ask you something.

Bear with me if my English isn't perfect.

Deal?

Can I ask you one more thing?

Participate.

Say yeah, say I don't agree.

I'm fine with that too.

We're here to have a convert conversation.

This is class.

Cool?

Speaking of different languages, speaking of Portuguese and English, that actually connects with what we will learn today.

The title of today's class is Advanced Prayer Language.

Advanced Prayer Language.

We're going to read a lot of scripture today, but we'll get to that in just a moment.

Let's start by praying and then we'll dive into everything God has for us.

Sounds good?

Jesus, thank you for your presence here.

We're blessed.

We already give you our praise and our worship, and now we're so ready to receive everything you have for us.

So we open up our hearts and our minds, and we ask you to be our teacher, our professor this morning.

And we pray in Jesus' name.

And the church said, Amen.

Jesus was the most important man to ever walk this earth, and he had the most successful ministry of all time.

I like to say that Jesus came to earth to show humanity what it's like to be God, and he returned to heaven to tell God what it's like to be human.

Jesus healed the sick, Jesus raised the dead, Jesus preached incredible sermons.

What else?

You tell me, this is class.

What else Jesus did?

Healed the sick, what else?

I can't hear you, but yes, sure.

He walked on water, yes.

He multiplied food, yes.

He had a life full of purpose, but in John, chapters 14 and 15 recount the final days of Jesus before his death.

John 14 · chapter mention

These are two very important chapters because they contain Jesus' last teachings.

So if you want to know what Jesus is teaching right before his death, you're gonna read John 14, 15.

And we're gonna start right there.

John 14, verse 16.

John 14:16

This is what Jesus says.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper.

Can you repeat that after me?

Another helper.

I know it's cheesy, but come on, it's class today.

Comforter, advocate, intercessor, counselor, strengthener, standby to be with you forever.

He will give you another helper to be with you forever.

The spirit of truth of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it doesn't see him or know him, but you know him because he, the Holy Spirit, remains with you continually and will be in you.

What a powerful passage.

Jesus is making a promise here.

He's saying that one day He wouldn't, He would no longer be physically present on earth with His disciples, but they wouldn't be alone because He would send the Holy Spirit.

He says, I'm gonna send another helper, and even though I won't be physically with you, you will be covert.

In English, the word has been translated in several ways.

If you check your Bibles or even your app, you will see that this word, another help helper, can also be translated as comforter.

Yes or no?

Yes, advocate, intercessor, counselor, some versions friend, but in the original Greek, the word Jesus uses is fascinating.

What Jesus is saying in John 14, he's saying, I will give you alos parakletos.

Jesus is saying, I'm gonna give you another helper, alos parakletos in Greek.

The word alos is very interesting.

We have two different words for another in Greek.

The first one is alos, and alos means another of the same kind, which is very interesting.

The other word we have for another in Greek is the word eteros, that means another of a different kind, it implies something different in nature or quality.

But the word Jesus uses is alos.

I'm gonna send you another of the same kind.

Parakletos comes from two parts: para, which means alongside, and kale, meaning to call.

So parakletos means called to come alongside.

Paracletus.

So what Jesus is promising in John 14 is that he would send someone like himself who is called to come alongside you, to help you, to guide you, to support you.

What a great promise, right?

Let me ask you, would you wouldn't you want that?

Yes.

If Jesus is right here and he's saying, Hey, I'm gonna send someone exactly like me, and he will comfort you, support you, be your advocate, your counselor.

Wouldn't you want that?

Now that Jesus is no longer physically on earth, wouldn't you want someone just like him, not only by your side, but living within you?

Someone to support you, to guide you, to comfort you, to advocate for you, to counsel you?

That's exactly who the Holy Spirit is.

And this is what Jesus is promising here in John 14.

Wouldn't you want that?

Wouldn't you want more relationship with Paracletus?

I think if we make a survey here real quick, who wants more of Paracletus?

Who wants to receive this promise made by Jesus in John 14?

I think all of us would say, Yes, I want that.

I want the Holy Spirit walking right by my side, I want him to be with me and within me.

And then sometimes I wonder, if all of us want more of Paraclitus, why have we allowed the topic of the Holy Spirit to become a taboo in our churches?

Why is the word weird so often associated with the Holy Spirit?

Why did such a precious promise from Jesus become a point of division in church between those who believe and those who don't?

Why do we treat the Holy Spirit, Paraclitus, like a forgotten God?

As if he's not fully part of Trinity.

Let me tell you something, church.

If Jesus said he would send someone just like himself, then why we don't realize that to reject the Holy Spirit is in a way to reject Jesus too.

Right?

Come on, I want to live in this promise.

I want to live out all the promises of Jesus for my life, and the promise of the Holy Spirit is one of them.

I want more of Paraclitos in my life.

So right after this conversation in John 14, right after this powerful promise, Jesus is arrested, he's beaten, sentenced, crucified.

But praise God, that wasn't the end of the story, right?

We are here today because death could not hold him.

Jesus appeared to his disciples multiple times, and at least twice he showed up just to share a meal with them.

Now that's one area of my life where I am a lot like Jesus.

I love to show up just to share a meal, you know what I'm saying.

But eventually the moment came for him to return to Father, and before he ascended, he gave his disciples one final command, and the command, uh a command that is directly connected to the promise he had made back in John 14.

Right before ascending, he said, Hey disciples, let me tell you something.

Acts chapter 1, verses 8 and 9, Jesus says, But you will receive power when the paracletos, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

Acts 1:8

After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him.

Right before ascending, Jesus is saying, Hey, the moment has had come, the promise was about to be fulfilled, Parakatos is about to be sent.

So the disciples they did exactly what Jesus told them to do.

They stayed in Jerusalem and they gathered in an upper room, like a second or third floor of a house.

Vinny, how many of them?

How many disciples?

120.

120 stayed in Jerusalem, they waited there, they were praying together in expectation for 10 days.

Stay in Jerusalem in an upper room, 120 of them praying for 10 days.

Can you imagine that?

You cannot pray for 20 minutes.

Mercy on us, Jesus.

But they were praying for 10 days, they were full of expectation.

At the same time, Jerusalem was buzzing with people from all over the world.

Jews had traveled from many nations to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, one of the most important festivals of the Jewish calendar.

And then on the 10th day of prayer, around 9 a.m.

So we are a little bit late, on a Sunday morning, something happened, and that would change the world forever.

The promise Jesus made in John 14 was fulfilled.

The paraclitus, the helper, the advocate, the Holy Spirit was sent.

From that moment on, Pentecost would no longer be known only as a Jewish feast.

It would also be remembered as the day the Holy Spirit was poured out, the day the church was born, the day Jesus kept his promise.

Acts 2.

That's our turning point right here.

And just to make sure what I'm saying is correct, let's read together.

Acts chapter 2, verse 1 says, When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

Acts 2:1

Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem, God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.

When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment because each one heard their own language being spoken, utterly amazed, they asked, Aren't all these who are speaking Galileans?

Then how is it that each of us hears then in our native language?

Someone said wow, and it's exactly what read in here in my thank you.

Wow.

That's crazy.

What happened here, friends, in Acts 2 was something supernatural.

And let me tell you something.

Supernatural things are often hard to explain.

That's why 2000 years later, so many people still have questions about it, and those questions can feel endless.

So I thought it would be fitting to use Pentecost Sunday 2025 today to answer some of the questions that were raised on Pentecost Sunday in Acts 2.

Are you with me?

Can we do this together?

So Vinny, what happened here?

What happened in Acts 2?

You said that Jesus promised the Holy Spirit.

You said that in Acts 2 they receive it, but what actually happened that so let me tell you this.

Some theologians, and here we go, some theologians believe the Holy Spirit gave the disciples a completely new spiritual language, and they began praying in tongues as a supernatural form of worship and communion and communication with God.

So some theologians will say they were just speaking a different language, some a language that nobody knows.

Others believe the spirit gave them the ability to speak in known human languages, so people from every nation could hear the wonders of God in their own native language.

So part of theologians will say, What are you talking about?

They were just speaking human languages that they didn't know before.

And the confusion is right here.

But I personally believe that both happened at the same time in Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

And I would love to explain to you why I believe that.

This comes from the original word in Greek, glosa.

Can you say that?

Glosah.

That's great.

You can get your Greek certificate as you walk out.

Glossa.

This word glosa used only on verse 4.

This word is commonly used in the New Testament to mean language, specifically a language not learned naturally.

It's the same exact word Paul later uses when teaching about the gift of tongues in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, 14, where he describes it as a form of spiritual communication inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Glossa highlights that what happened on Pentecost wasn't just emotional expression or noise.

It was the fulfillment of Jesus' promise when the beginning of something deeply spiritual, a divine language flowing from human mouths, connecting heaven and earth.

Language not learned naturally.

That's verse four.

But on verse five and verse six, the word used is dialectos.

Can you say that?

Dialectos.

Not glosa anymore.

The word now is dialectos.

And it's great because literally means a dialect, a known regional language.

So based on the original Greek, we can understand that in Acts chapter 2 the disciples were doing both.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

They were speaking in glosa in tongues and also in different dialects.

Human languages that people could understand.

This distinction is important, friends.

While glosa refers more broadly to tongues or languages, often in a supernatural or unknown sense, dialectos refers to clearly identifiable human language.

So based on the original Greek, we see something truly miraculous.

That's a hard word.

Miraculous unfolding.

The disciples were speaking in glosa, a supernatural outpouring of spirit-giving speech, but also speaking in dialectos, so those who were hearing it in their own language.

Everything is there.

So let's take a moment to summarize.

Are you guys here with me?

So far, we've seen that Jesus promised Parakletus, the Holy Spirit, and that promise was fulfilled in Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

We've also seen that the disciples began to speak in new dialects, language, languages that people could understand, and also in a spiritual language that no one could understand without interpretation.

So I would love to take the rest of our class today to explore three powerful truths about praying in tongues.

Because the more we understand it, the more we can walk in everything the Holy Spirit has for us.

Amen.

Are we ready for this?

Alright.

I want to start with a question.

What does it mean to pray in tongues?

Vinny, can you explain more what happened in Acts chapter 2?

Acts 2 · chapter mention

The gloser side of what happened.

What does it mean to pray in tongues?

The Bible reads.

Reveals three distinct types of speaking in tongues, but today we're going to focus on just two of them.

Sorry, we don't have time for the third one.

Pray in tongues.

Three distinct types of speaking in tongues.

The first one, it's the one we know very well, is when we speak to God.

Can you repeat that?

When we speak to God.

Yeah.

So praying in tongues is a prayer language, a unique and spirit-led way of communicating with God.

Paul talks a lot about this in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14.

So we're gonna read a lot of the 14th chapter, verse 2.

This is what Paul says.

For if you have the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking only to only to God, since people won't be able to understand you.

You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit, but it will all be mysterious.

So praying in tongues, it's a prayer language when we speak to God.

Spirit-led.

So if I'm talking with God, no interpretation is needed.

No interpretation is needed because you are praying to God, you are not praying to be heard by others, you are speaking directly to God from your spirit to his.

Strengthened personally, it's a spirit-to-spirit connection, it's a direct line to God, bypassing human understanding.

Paul also called it call calls this praying in spirit.

Let me tell you something.

When I'm praying in tongues, I don't understand what I'm speaking.

It's not processed through my brain, it's processed through my spirit.

It's my spirit that's praying to God.

So I don't understand.

It's not here, it's here.

Well, Paul, this is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14, 14.

When I pray in tongue, my spirit pray, but my mind is unfruitful.

Because it has nothing to do with brain, it's all about spirit.

So I can cook, I can have a conversation, I can play video game, I can work on a spreadsheet while I'm praying in tongues.

It doesn't require brain capacity.

It's a spirit, it's available anytime, anywhere.

It's a gift for us to use every day.

It's for us.

Isn't it fascinating when Paul says, pray without ceasing?

This verse is fascinating to me.

I'm gonna ask him this question when we get there.

I'm gonna ask, hey, we're very busy, we have lots of things to do every day.

So what you're asking us to do, pray without ceasing, it's it's impossible unless he's talking about a prayer that doesn't require require brain capacity.

It's it's my spirit praying.

If it's that if that's the case, my friends, I can exercise praying in tongues every day, every hour, every minute of my day.

Do you know what's fascinating about praying in spirit, praying in tongues?

It's because a lot lots of times we don't know how to pray.

Isn't it true?

Have you faced a situation that you thought, I don't even know how to pray?

Yes or no?

So when you're praying in tongues, your spirit knows exactly how to pray and what to pray.

That's why we pray in tongues, because sometimes we don't have words in English, in Portuguese, or any other language.

So the spirit is connecting with God.

The second type of speaking in tongues is when God speaks to us, and this is incredible because here, when we speak to God, praying in tongues is a prayer language.

When God speaks to us, the Bible calls this prophecy.

Have you ever been in a situation that out of nowhere somebody stands up and start praying in tongues and then somebody else stands up and interpret?

That's what we're talking about here.

So when someone speaks in tongues in church setting to start to share a message from God, in this case, my friends, interpretation is needed, otherwise, we're gonna look like crazy people.

Interpretation is necessary because the goal is for everyone to understand and be built up.

This one, God speaking to us, is one of the gifts that Paul lists in 1 Corinthians 12 when he says uh different kinds of tongues and interpretation of tongues.

The purpose of this kind of expression is clear to bring edification for everybody.

This is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14, 3 to 5.

But one who prophesies strengthens other others, encourages them and comforts them.

A person who is speaking tongues is strengthened personally, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church.

I wish you could all speak in tongues.

That's what Paul is saying.

But even more, I wish you could all prophesy, for prophecy is greater than speaking in tongues, unless someone interprets what you are saying, so that the whole church will be strengthened.

Isn't it clear?

I don't even know why we've been fighting about this.

This manifestation happens in a public setting, the message is spoken in tongues, and then somebody else interprets.

So you can pray in tongues when you are speaking to God, and you can receive from God through interpretation.

My second point, now that we cover everything about praying in tongues, or at least a little bit, I would love to cover what speaking in tongues is not.

Speaking in tongues is not a demonstration of spirituality, it's not a demonstration of spirituality.

Speaking in tongues doesn't make you more spiritual than anyone else.

It's not something you learn through formula or repetition.

I've seen crazy stuff.

I've seen people saying, Oh, take these words, repeat it after like 200 times and make it very fast, and then you will be speaking in tongues.

This is a mockery, this is a lie, it's not about repetition.

Speaking in tongues is not a technique.

This one is very important.

Speaking in tongues, it's not something that can be given by men or transferred by the laying on of hands.

You will receive it when you seek and ask for it.

It's a gift.

Praying in tongues is not meant to be public.

This is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14, verse 18.

1 Corinthians 14:18

I thank God that I speak in tongues more than any of you.

No competition here.

But in a church meeting, I would rather speak five understandable words to help others than 10,000 words in an unknown language.

Isn't it clear, folks?

Do you know what's not?

It's not uncontrollable, it's not chaotic.

You have control over when to start and when to stop.

Now, listen to this.

We're almost wrapping up.

Some churches refer to the ability of praying in tongues as the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

And while I do believe that praying in tongues is one of the evidences of being filled with the Spirit, I don't believe it's the main one.

Because let's be honest, what's the point of speaking in tongues on Sunday if you are cheating on your wife on Monday and lying on Tuesday?

The true evidence of the Holy Spirit's presence or baptism in your life is transformation, a change at heart, a new way of living.

Praying in tongues is powerful, yes, but it's just one sign among many.

The most important sign is a life that looks more and more like Jesus.

Third and final point.

If it is available, I want it.

If it's available, I want it.

Let me ask you a question.

Do you believe the Great Commission is for you?

Yes or no?

Do you believe God has sent and empowered you to preach about Jesus?

Yes or no?

That's awesome.

I'm so glad you said that.

Because let's check the passage.

The same passage you just told me that you believe it's for you.

Mark 16.

He said to them, Jesus said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

Is this for us?

Great.

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

And this science will accompany those who believe.

Do you believe?

Okay, in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak in the new tongues.

Those who believe can speak in tongues.

Jesus promised it.

He said it, not me.

Not only him.

What about Paul?

The most influential voice in the New Testament after Jesus.

This is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14, verse 5.

1 Corinthians 14:5

I would like every one of you to speak in tongues.

Everyone.

All of us.

So speaking in tongues isn't reserved for the spiritual elite or chosen field.

It's a gift available to every believer who desires it and opens their heart for it.

Praying in tongues will strengthen me spiritually.

So I want it.

Praying in tongues will allow my spirit to pray correctly beyond human understanding.

So I want it.

It will enable intimate communication with God.

So I want it.

It will refresh and renew me.

So I want it.

Do you still want Paraclitus?

Do you still believe in a promise?

Let's not make it weird.

Let's just receive what God has for us and align our lives and experience with the Bible.

I want to finish saying this.

I am Pentecostal.

Over time, that word has lost some of its meaning.

But here's what I mean by that.

Being Pentecostal simply means I still believe the Paraclitus, the Holy Spirit, is still moving today.

Do you believe that?

Being Pentecostal means that you believe that there isn't a single verse in the Bible that tells me and you that the Holy Spirit has stopped working.

To be Pentecostal is to believe there is no expiration date on the move of God.

I am Pentecostal because I believe in the gifts of the Spirit.

So if praying in tongues is available, I want it.

What does glosa mean?

Can you imagine that?

But since this was more like a class, I don't want to make uh an altar call.

But I want to give you a moment for you to reflect on everything you just heard.

Theology when it stays here is nothing.

It's precious when it moves move from here to here.

So I want to give you a time for you to think about everything we just talked about.

And maybe you need to pray this morning.

And maybe your prayer is more like this father, if it's available.

Give it to me.

I want it.

Maybe your prayer is.

Uh God, I am still unsure.

This is a little strange.

I know Vinnie unpacked with our 14 verses, but I think I need 15 more.

Can you help me understand?

Maybe that's your prayer.

Maybe your prayer is Father, I need a fresh touch from your spirit right now.

I want to be closer.

Maybe your prayer this morning is God, I used to pray in tongues, but I stopped doing that.

But I want to start exercising it again right now because it's inside of me.

So instead of calling you here, we're gonna ask you to stay exactly where you are and just have a conversation with God.

He's the most important one here, by the way.

And he can listen to you.

Paraclitus is right here right now.

So after hearing everything you heard, just have a moment with God.

I'm gonna ask you to close your eyes, to open up your mouth, and pray.

May God speak with you.

Thank you for joining us to learn more about Celebration Orlando, a church devoted to reaching the lost, equipping the found, and helping the hurting.

Follow us on social media using the handle at celebrationorl or visit our website, celebrationorl.org.