of a full-blooded, born-again, bible believing, Holy
Spirit filled Christian?
Granted, Christians are blessed with different spiritual
gifts. Some have multiple, all have at least one, and at
any given time during one's journey with Jesus, some folk
may have used all of the biblically, based, spiritual gifts even
if they didn't fully realize it at the time.
Have you ever judged a person who doesn't speak
in tongues?
If you don't speak in tongues, have you heard people use
that gift?
What was your perspective towards that experience?
Having a gift of discernment myself, it was sad to realize
upon visiting a really solid charismatic church for 3 seasons
of my life, that some people pretend to speak in tongues.
They simply do their best to mock what they hear as to
fit in with everyone else who does.
When I suspected that was happening, the Holy Spirit confirmed and convicted in me of what I inantely knew already, so it does make me cautious being around people who do claim to speak in tongues.Yet, I am thankful for all the honest people who sincerely have that gift as it is a powerful and personal expression of prayer to use.
I call it my life line to God.It is a supernatural manifestion of the spirit of God that is in you(If you are born from above. ) often mistakenly called a gift.The gift is the spirit of God in you,wrapped up in that gift is nine manifestations or evidences of that spirit(ICorinthians 12:7)in verse 8 it says For to one,it shoud read For that one is given word of wisdom,word of knowledge,faith healings,working of miracles,prophecy,discerning of spirits,divers(many)kinds of tongues,interpretation of tongues,But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit dividing to every man severally as he will.Some say as God wills but that is incorrect its as the man himself desires or wills to operate these Manifestions.The only one that is a gift is healing.So every person that is born again(Romans10:9&10)can operate this manifestion of speaking in tongues by moving his lips,his throat,his tongue.What you speak is God's buisness,that you speak is your buisness.This speaking in tongues is not from your mind but from your straight from your spirit,but you have to form the words and God enegizes the spirit.Try it and once you start dont stop for it says in John7:38 Out of their bellys shall flow rivers of living water.Let it flow Bro,God Bless and let me know
First n foremost- God is Spirit and lives in the spiritual realm.
Speaking in tongue is a gift - Christ left behind through the holy Spirit......He abides in God,we abide in Christ, the H/sprit abides in us.It's the blibical ever flowing waters soooo each time we cry,intercede,pray and truly genuinely connect with our God the Holy ghost becomes an aids and groans on our behlf through mystery- God works in mysterious ways....however this spiritual groaning of our innerman is the ONLY code the devil CANNOT break - He gets confused...because it goes directly from us to God.
If you ever want your prayers heard when you talk n spend time with our ABBA .....i suggest you do it in tongues.
My church is a small congregation but we all speak in tongues because we are people of the WORD.
Also, since I intercede I could while sleeping wake up to cry,pray yet speak in tongues pressing forward on behalf of a Nation,people or whatever GOD has planned - saving someone's life...thorugh MIRACLES unexplaned to truly give HIM the GLORY. Please ask for this gift. His the Uplifted of our heads.(John 16:13,Matt 16:19,Rms 8:11,John14 12-13,John15:7)
There is a difference in Praying in tongues, praying in the Spirit, as the Bible directs, and giving a Message in tongues for interpretation. That is for the edification of the Church.
I pray in tongues, especially when I am asked to pray when I don't know the details of the need. The Holy Spirit interprets to the Father the need. The Lord has put people on my mind to pray, and when we pray in tongues, He knows the need. I may not and may not understand, but God does.
I pray more in tongues than I do in English. I always know I am speaking a language that my Father understands. I worship my Lord in tongues, privately and in my Church.
I was filled with the Holy Spirit in 1984. I happened to be in a meeting where people were being Healed and the Presence of the Lord was so strong. A lady sitting next to me was healed, and I reached to the Heavens to tell the Lord how much I loved Him for what He was doing there. I felt that I just couldn't come up with the right words or enough words to say I loved Him, and "out of my belly flowed rivers of rushing water," and I began speaking in tongues. The more I spoke, the more I cried, and the more I loved the Lord, and the more I loved the Lord, the more I spoke. I often call it my Love Language to the Lord.
It is a wonderful gift. It all came out of me because I was trying to love my Lord with all my heart.
I have several of the Gifts referenced in the Bible, and I use them as the Holy Spirit leads.
I read where some said they faked tongues. I was surprised by that because I have never heard of that. There was a man in our Church who was in his 60's and he was just sure that everybody made up sounds because all of them were different. And he said, each time they do it, it's different again. Each time I pray in the Spirit, it is different. I only loose my tongue and let the Holy Spirit pray through me, so it is different each time, because the need is different each time. That man went down for prayer one Sunday, and he was filled with the Holy Ghost evidenced by speaking in tongues. He was transformed as a man and a Christian. That man was my brother. He no longer had a problem with speaking in tongues.
I pray all readers get to experience the Holy Spirit evidenced by speaking in tongues. It is so wonderful to speak a language that the Lord understands when we don't. God bless you all.
As I read all your articles, I grieved for you. You really do not have any understanding of the Holy Ghost. John the Baptist even showed the difference between Water Baptism and the Holy Ghost Baptism.
In Church, when a message is given in tongues, and interpreted, there is complete order. The discerning Spirit within us, confirms in our Spirit, that we are hearing from God.
Only someone who has been filled knows the Truth in the matter. You don't, but I pray one day that you be filled and truly know the depth of the Lord.
Let's begin with a definition. The word "tongue" in the Bible simply means "a language."
God gives all the gifts of the Spirit to fill a practical need. What was the need for tongues?
Jesus told His followers, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19). This command posed a problem. How could the apostles go out preaching to all the world when they spoke only one or two languages? After all, Jesus' disciples were very bright, even though most of them were not formally educated. In order to fulfill the great commission, He promised to give them a unique gift from the Holy Spirit. It was a miraculous, supernatural ability to speak foreign languages they had not formerly studied or known for the purpose of spreading the Gospel.
"And these signs shall follow them that believe; ... they shall speak with new tongues" (Mark 16:17).
The fact that Jesus said these new tongues, or languages, would be a "sign" indicates that the ability to speak them would not come as the result of normal linguistic study. Rather, it would be an instantaneous gift to fluently preach in a previously unfamiliar language.
There are only three actual examples of speaking in tongues recorded in the Bible (Acts chapters 2, 10, and 19). If we look at these three cases, we should find a clearer picture of this controversial gift.
"When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven [divided] tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:1-4).
Fire is a symbol for power. God sent this gift in the form of tongues of fire so they would know that He would empower their feeble tongues in the same way He strengthened Moses to go before Pharaoh (Exodus 4:10-12) and touched Isaiah's lips with a coal from the heavenly altar (Isaiah 6:6, 7).
Why did the Lord wait until Pentecost to bestow this gift? Acts 2:5-11 sets the scene: "And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? ... We do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God."
The day of Pentecost was a Jewish holy day that fell 50 days after Passover. Devoted Israelites would come from all over the Roman empire to worship in Jerusalem. God chose this timely opportunity to bestow this gift of tongues upon the disciples so they could preach to the visiting Jews in their native languages. At least 15 different language groups were represented in the crowd that day (Acts 2:9-11)! As a result, thousands of these visitors were converted. Then, after Pentecost, they in turn carried their new faith home to their respective countries.
From this example it should be very clear that the gift of tongues was given to communicate the gospel in different existing languages of the world.
Some have mistakenly suggested that the miracle on Pentecost was a gift to hear and understand different languages. It was not a gift of hearing given to the listeners, but rather a gift of the Spirit given to enable the believers to speak (Acts 2:4). It is not called the gift of ears for the listeners, but the gift of tongues for the speakers. Furthermore, the sign was not ears of fire on the listeners, but tongues of fire on the ones preaching.
It is also sometimes suggested that the gift of tongues is a "heavenly language" understood only by God or those with the gift of interpretation. The Bible is clear in Acts chapter 2 that both the disciples and those listening understood what was being preached-"the wonderful works of God" (Verse 11).
Let's look now at the second example when Peter preached to Cornelius and his household: "While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God" (Acts 10:44-46).
Acts 10:1 tells us that Cornelius was Italian, while Peter was a Jew and spoke Aramaic. History also tells us that the servants in a Roman home could be from anywhere in the world. Because there were obvious language barriers at this meeting, Peter likely began to preach through an interpreter. But when the Holy Ghost fell upon Cornelius and his household, the Jews with Peter could understand the Gentiles speaking in languages other than their native tongues. The record is that the Jews heard them "magnify God" in these languages. When later reporting this experience to the church leaders, Peter said, "The Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning" (Acts 11:15, emphasis added).
Peter here plainly tells us that Cornelius and his family received the same gift of tongues in the same way the disciples did on the day of Pentecost. In other words, they spoke languages they had not formerly known in a way that could be understood.
The third and final example of speaking in tongues is when Paul preached to 12 Ephesian disciples. Acts 19:6 records, "And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied."
Paul was the most educated and widely traveled of the apostles, and he spoke many languages (1 Corinthians 14:18). When the Holy Spirit came upon these 12 Ephesian men, Paul recognized that they were prophesying, or preaching, in new languages. Most likely they spoke in languages common throughout the Roman Empire, since that would be practical for spreading the Gospel. Luke does not say that they received a form of tongues different from the first two examples, so we must assume that it was the same type of gift given at Pentecost.
You'll find that the only times the gift of tongues was associated with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is when people from more than one language group were gathered together, thus creating communication barriers.
Notice that in Acts chapter 4 you have a repeat of the experience described in chapter 2. The place was shaken and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, but because there were no foreigners present, the gift of tongues was absent. Acts 4:31 says, "And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness."
The purpose for the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not to mutter or babble unintelligible sounds, but rather to have power for preaching. This is why Jesus said, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).
Heavenly Prayer Language?
Many of my charismatic friends would agree that the tongues spoken in the book of Acts were normal languages of the world. But they quickly add that there is a second gift-a heavenly prayer language. This gift, they say, is to express the Spirit's "groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans 8:26). The purpose, they say, is so the devil cannot understand our prayers. But nowhere are we taught to hide our prayers from the devil. He trembles when he hears Christians pray!
This doctrine of a prayer language is based mainly upon 1 Corinthians 14:14 where Paul says, "For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful."
They interpret this to mean that when Paul prayed in the Spirit, he used a "heavenly tongue" and did not himself know what he was praying. This theory raises an important question. How would the supplicant ever know if his prayer was answered?
So what is Paul really saying in 1 Corinthians 14:14? The problem in understanding this verse comes largely from the cumbersome translation. Please allow me to rephrase the verse in modern English: "If I pray in a language those around me do not know, I might be praying with the Spirit, but my thoughts would be unfruitful for those listening." Paul is adamant that if we pray out loud, we should either pray so others around us can understand or else keep quiet! Notice the next few verses: "What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest" (1 Corinthians 14:15,16)? According to this text, who has the problem with understanding? It is the listener and not the speaker as is commonly taught. If you have ever prayed with someone who is offering a prayer in a language unknown to you, then you know what Paul meant when he said it is difficult for you to say "Amen" (meaning "so be it") at the end of the prayer. Without an interpreter, you have no idea to what you are assenting. You may have just asked a blessing on the devil as far as you can tell!
It is obvious from the context of 1 Corinthians 14 that the purpose of speaking in tongues, or foreign languages, is to communicate the gospel and thereby edify the church. If the listeners do not understand the spoken language they cannot be edified. Consequently, if there is no interpreter, the speaker is simply speaking into the air and the only ones present who know what is being said are God and himself. This is the clear meaning of the often-misquoted verse 2. "For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries."
Paul emphasizes again that the languages spoken need to be understood by the hearers or else the one who wants to share the mysteries of the gospel needs to sit quietly in meditation between himself and God. "So likewise ye; except ye utter by tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air." "But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God" (verses 9, 28). Clearly, the entire purpose of tongues is to cross language barriers and communicate the gospel!
Some have asked, "Didn't Paul say he spoke with the tongues of angels?"
No. Paul said, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels ..." (1 Corinthians 13:1, emphasis added). If you read this verse in its context, you will see that the word "though" means "even if." For example, Paul also said in verse 2, "Though I have all faith ..." He did not have all faith. And verse 3 adds, "Though I give my body to be burned ..." Paul was beheaded, not burned. So we can see that Paul here used the word "though" to mean "even if."
Right Priorities
I believe that all the gifts of the Spirit, including the true gift of tongues, are needed and available to the church today. But the Scriptures teach that some of the gifts are more important than others and that we should focus on the most important ones. "But covet earnestly the best gifts" (1 Corinthians 12:31).
In fact, when the Bible lists spiritual gifts, tongues is usually found at the bottom of the list. "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues" (1 Corinthians 12:28). "Greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues" (1 Corinthians 14:5).
Yet some charismatic preachers have turned the list upside down and made the gift of tongues the primary emphasis of their preaching. They would have us think that a Christian who does not speak in tongues is a second-class citizen. But Paul makes it clear that different gifts are given to different people, and no one is expected to have all the gifts. He asks in 1 Corinthians 12:29, 30: "Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?" The answer is obviously NO!
The Bible says, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Galatians 5:22, 23). But these same preachers would have us believe that the fruit of the Spirit is tongues or that every person who is filled with the Holy Spirit will speak in tongues. Yet out of more than 50 examples in the Bible where God filled His people with the Spirit, only three times is tongues connected with the experience.
Furthermore, Jesus is our example. He was filled with the Holy Spirit, yet He never spoke in tongues. John the Baptist was "filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb" (Luke 1:15), but there is no record that he spoke in tongues, either.
Of the 27 books in the New Testament, only three make any reference at all to the gift of tongues. There are about 39 Bible authors. Of the 39, only three-Luke, Paul, and Mark-mention the subject of tongues. In other words, we should put the emphasis where God puts the emphasis.
when I was about 11 years old I spoke in Tounges. It was an amazing feeling. I remember having so much peace. It was the same year I returned after my sister and I was missing for 4 and half years. I never experienced it again.
