Author and pastor Max Lucado recently shared his journey to understand more about the person of the Holy Spirit. Along the way, he not only grew in his relationship with God, but he also received a gift from the Holy Spirit—his prayer language.

“A significant gift came my way,” Lucado said. “When I was 64 on a July morning, as I was praying, I began praying in tongues.”

In an interview with Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast, Lucado explained how he had earnestly been seeking God for a few weeks, asking if there was anything He wanted to give him.

“I had not done anything different except I came across the passage where the apostle Paul said ‘eagerly desire the spiritual gifts’…I guess I thought ‘Oh, I had all the gifts that I was supposed to have given to me when I became a Christian. Well, maybe so, maybe.’ But he says eagerly desire the spiritual gifts. I said, ‘Lord, is there any other gift you desire for me?’ And I prayed that every morning for two or three weeks, and then one morning early in the morning I began praying in a heavenly language.”

This was a new experience for Lucado who had been under the teaching that praying in tongues had ceased. However, it is now something he cherishes as he spends time praying in his prayer language on a daily basis.

Lucado shares this new information about his personal walk with God following the release of his book, “Help is Here,” which focuses on the person of the Holy Spirit.

In a question-and-answer session on the Holy Spirit, Lucado used Scripture to explain the difference between speaking in tongues to spread the gospel and using it for prayer. He also encouraged believers to seek all that God has for them through personally encountering the Holy Spirit.

“The church is the supernatural expression of God on the planet,” Lucado said. “So, I encourage us, let’s welcome this mysterious work of heaven in the church. I’ve been a pastor in one form or the other since 1979. That’s a long time. In all these decades of ministry have left me convinced that we do not have what it takes to heal this hurting world. We don’t have it. We might create programs, we might train staff, we might build beautiful sanctuaries, but I tell you what, I’d gladly exchange them all for one raindrop of supernatural help from the Spirit of heaven.”

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