Irish John, there is a great deal of argument about tongues. That it is, at the very least, badly abused, is not in question at all. The question is, does the gift of tongues exist today?
The Bible actually gives us several kinds of 'tongues' -- the tongues of men and of angels. It also refers to the Holy Spirit praying when we don't know how to pray.
The tongues of men are men's languages. There are DEFINITELY some people who have a 'gift' for languages and seem to learn them at lightning speed. I am not one of them! Five years of French and I remember couple of sentences and can stagger through simple text! When I was learning American Sign Language and was having such a horrible time reading finger spelling, I remember praying "Lord, if there is such a thing a a gift of tongues, I need it in my fingers!"
That some people have a gift for teaching is clear today. That some have a gift for healing in medicine is easy to see. Neither of these involve miracles, just gifts! And gifts are to be used and trained, whether they are musical or the ability to learn other languages quickly.
Angels' tongues are a different matter. They evidently communicate their own way, and I have to say that the babbling I have heard in some charismatic churches (my husband has been a guest lecturer in a number of churches around the world), is no way on the order of anything angelic!
Prayer language? I know that sometimes my heart has cried out to the Lord whether it be in pain or joy and no words are attached, except maybe "Help!" or "Thank you!"
But aside from all these (and I may be deficient in prayer language!), a gift of something does NOT imply constant miracles! Miracles are God's province. Has He occasionally given someone the ability to speak something in a foreign tongue for the benefit of someone else? I have heard of it happening. But I read nowhere in the Bible of a 'gift of miracles'! A miracle is simply that -- a miracle. A one-time occurrence where God circumvents the laws He established in nature in order to draw attention to Himself and cause others to either believe or be strengthened in their faith.
Gifts are different. Our common word for them may be 'talents.' They are to be trained and used on a consistent basis.
There is absolutely nothing in the Bible which indicates that babbling is a gift! It is nonsense. 'Non-sense' in the truest meaning of the word.
So when 1 Corinthians 13 speaks of prophecies ceasing and tongues being stilled and of knowledge passing away, look at those three things --
Prophecies are no longer needed when all is fulfilled. They were there to establish God's omniscience. Once that is established -- once EVERY knee bows and every tongue confesses Jesus as Lord -- they are no longer needed.
Tongues are the communication of men among men or angels among angels. Once this creation is wrapped up there will not be many different languages. No translators are needed in heaven!
And knowledge? The reference here is to human knowledge which, when we have found the truth of what we each may be searching for in our own fields of inquiry, will be shown to be so partial as to be little help at all! In John 17:3, Jesus says eternal life is knowing the Father and the Son. This type of knowing is not 'knowledge' but a relationship, as in "Adam knew his wife and she conceived...." That kind of knowing is an intimate and loving relationship, against which the mere facts we call knowing fade into insignificance.
Which is why, out of faith, hope and love, the greatest is love. Faith and hope both have to do with what we know or sense in part. Love is a relationship which continues and becomes fuller and deeper.