Derek Prince - Practice the Gift of Interpretation
Now all we’re going to do is act on it. Are you all ready? This is how we’re going to do it. At a given signal from me, every one of you will turn to the Lord, shut yourself in and speak in a tongue. All right? You remember, your will is the switch. You switch it on, you switch it off. Don’t speak for about five minutes because your busy little mind will say, "How can I ever interpret all that?" See? Just start with a minute or two and don’t dribble off. That’s an awful mistake when speaking in tongues. Speak and stop. Okay? As a person who exercises the gift of interpretation, sometimes people speak in a tongue and you think, "I’m going to start interpreting" and then they go on another little dribble. And then another little dribble. Don’t dribble. Speak, stop and what do you do next?
You say, "Now, Lord, in the name of Jesus, please give me the interpretation." Okay? What’s the next thing you do? You interpret, that’s right. You believe you’ve received it. If you believe you’ve received it, what do you do with it? You use it. Don’t go on speaking in tongues. This is the reverse of the baptism. The problem with the baptism is people go on speaking their own language and so they can’t speak in tongues. Because you can’t speak in two languages simultaneously. Now it’s the other way around. You speak in a tongue, you’ve got that far, you speak whatever you feel God would have you to say but God is very gracious. I mean, He won’t take you beyond the measure of your faith. Then you stop, no more speaking in a tongue.
You say, "Lord, in the name of Jesus, please give me the interpretation." Then you take a deep breath and you interpret. Okay? I mean, I can tell you from experience I’ve seen this work for thousands of people. Because each one of us is an individual. The fact that there are a couple of hundred people maybe, that doesn’t make any difference to God. You are dealing direct with God. Okay? When you speak, don’t speak so loud that you disturb your neighbor but speak loud enough to hear yourself. You understand? Break the sound barrier. Okay? And when we’ve done that for a little while, we’ll stop and check and go back.
Let me tell you something interesting. Normally when you interpret, it will take one or other of two forms. It will either be praise and worship or it will be God taking your lips and speaking to you a message for you. When I first started this the percentage used to be about 60 percent praise and worship and about 40 percent God speaking to you. But, things are changing and now it’s the other way around. Which to me is indicative that God wants more and more to speak to His people and it’s usually 60 percent or more that gets something personal from God, 40 percent that get praise or worship. You don’t determine what you’re going to get. That’s what the Holy Spirit decides. Be grateful for whatever you get, it’s glorious. Okay? Are we all ready?
Now you speak in a tongue, stop, say, "In the name of Jesus, please give me the interpretation." All right? Now, you should by now have finished speaking in tongues, some of you have already received the interpretation. I’ll give you another minute or two but no more. Okay. We’re going to stop and check now. How many of you received interpretation? Just raise your hand. Now you in the front just turn. Keep your hands up a moment because this is a pretty good demonstration. I would say that’s 90 percent or near. Now, put your hands down and listen carefully. How many of you received praise or worship? Okay. How many of you found that God took your lips to speak to you? Look at that! It’s amazing. This is a real sign of what God is doing in the church. How many of you feel happy about it? I mean, let me say, how many of you got a word of encouragement from the Lord? Direction? Beautiful! Okay.
Now, those of you that didn’t receive, don’t feel left out. All you have to do is do what these people did, see? God has no favorites. We’re going to do once more, and this is the last run around with interpretation. So we just speak in a tongue, stop, ask God for the interpretation. Okay? I’m not going to give you a lot of time because the more time you get, the less likely you are to do it. Just plunge in with both feet. Okay, we’re going to check now. Now, I wanted to try and encourage people who may need it. How many of you this time received who didn’t receive the time before? Would you raise your hand. I cant see you. One hand there. Anybody else? Another hand. Praise God. Praise God. Good, the lady behind the camera received, that’s really good. She deserves a little extra encouragement! Amen.