Charismatic Tongues question

[kirabira]

I would consider myself ‘charismatic’-- I recognize the gifts I have, but I dont feel that my faith is tied to any gifts or feelings that may wax and wane. so- tongues isnt a big issue to me. If people have it- great- I’m sure God is using it in a way to help those people or the people who need to see it. I’ve been a part of praise charismatic groups before and attended some masses that I always thought were normal enough and there wasnt any tongues or ‘slain in the spirit’ stuff.
I’d like to hear about tongues experiences specifically

1. what was literally said?
2. was it in a (a)‘real’ language (french or chinese or english?),(b) an angelic tongue, (c) or groans?
3. who is speaking in tongues?

I am wondering about others experiences because someone who is speaking in tongues here is saying “Yogi” and “cock-a-doodle-doo” repeatedly. I think hes said that the ‘language’ he speaks in is “Yogi”. I think what he means is that the Holy Spirit prompts him to say this and its like the Spirit is then really saying what needs to be said–maybe “under” those words?
I’d just like to hear what sort of tongues is being spoken in other circles.

–K

 

[Apologia100]

Here is a test to see if it is in fact the ancient sacred language of Yogi.

1. Does he repeatedly refer to other people as BooBoo?
2. Does he repeatedly make references to “pic-a-nic baskets”?

 

[kirabira]

hehe. Yes exactly…
But far be it from me to tell the Holy Spirit that in my opinion ‘yogi-yogi-yogi’ seems kind of silly…

-K

 

[threej_lc]

Hehe… Jellystone… I love it.

But on topic, could you be a bit more specific with your question? I don’t really understand what kind of answer you’re looking for.

Josh

 

[kirabira]

hehe I thought I was really specific!

(1) I want to know what you literally heard when someone spoke in tongues. In my case it was ‘yogi yogi yogi cock a doodle doo’.

(2) was the tongues spoken in another language? was it an angelic language? was it in moans/ groans?
(3) what person was speaking in tongues-- your priest, prayer group leader, you, a 20ish woman- etc etc

I just want to hear from people who have experienced tongues-- to see what the experience was like? I’m not sure how to be more direct than that… I see so many people talking about “tongues” in a vauge way- I just want more details as to what this was in your experiences…
—K

 

[threej_lc]

Okay, that clears things up a little more. I was confused if by experience you meant being the one with the gift of tongues or being the one to hear it.

Still, remember that the gift of speaking in tongues and the gift of praying in tongues are two separate gifts. I’m assuming you heard praying in tongues, because that is the more common gift.

Praying in tongues is a personal gift, because although it can be used to pray with others, its purpose is to establish a form of communication between God and the prayer. Simply put, it allows the prayer’s soul to speak to God what it is truly feeling without being filtered and limited by the brain and language. That is why it sound jibberishy. Although in very gifted cases the spirit causes someone to speak in an authentic foreign language, it is more simply done using syllables and sounds familiar to the person.

Speaking in tongues is a public gift very similar to prophesy. The lord speaks a word to a group in someone’s prayer language, and an interpretor is present to discern the message.

Onto your questions.

1. I’ve heard lots of prayer languages, so its hard to single out onto just one. But when I personally pray, it sounds similar to:

Cor um ney te um, par ten shi no vanti erum naught taren ni chan.

1. I’m no linguist, so I do not know if what I or others speak is in a earthly foreign language, although I have heard cases of this occuring. Similarly, I don’t know any angel languages to know if its an angelic tongue.

Concerning moans and groans:
This occurs in one of three cases:
A. Someone is faking it.
B. Someone is first developing their prayer language, and hasn’t developed any specific syllables yet, and this is all that comes out.
C. The person is not exhibiting the gift of tongues, but the gift of trevail, which is similar to the speaking in tongues in that it should not be done without interpretation.

Who:
I’ve heard the following range:
Me (20, male), Other prayer group leaders (ranging up to 70 year old female), 3 priests(2 Congregation of the Holy Cross, 1 Benedictine), One 40 year old married male undergoing admission to the deaconate… to name a few.

 

[threej_lc]

Almost forgot!

Concerning yogi yogi cocadoodle do…

My initial response is the person was gone wacko. But I’d have to hear it and pray with the person to discern for “sure”.

(discernment is never fully sure… but can get darn close.)

But that would only be my initial response. Should God choose to speak through a person using those as the syllables they know, that’s his choice, not mine.

I’ve also heard that there are specific prayer languages that can bestow the gift of laughter and things like that. Again, I’ve never seen it to discern if that is true or nuts. But if that is true, then this could likewise be one of those languages. shrugs

In the end, its not that important. You praise God in whatever way he created you to, be it through frequent mass, adoration, service to others, charismatic prayer, dancing, whatever. As long as someone is not contrary to church teaching or liturgy, God created us to worship the way he created us. And that’s darn cool.

Josh

 

[kirabira]

right- I am looking to see what is is other people are saying in tongues and looking for other people who have had ‘yogi’ experiences. I have heard other languages where someone was interpretting but the moans and groans (which is mentioned in the NT) and ‘yogi’ stuff is something that is new to me. How do you discern whether something is or is not the holy spirit. This is the problem I am seeing with speaking in tongues in this way where its not a concrete known language / with an interpreter. I dont think its really possible to know with certainty whether someone is actually speaking with the Spirit-- though being in a concrete language and having interpreters would seem to help me!

 

[threej_lc]

kirabira:

How do you discern whether something is or is not the holy spirit.

Ironically, discernment is another spiritual gift. But one freely given by God through prayer and holy desire, and experience. Ask for the gift of discernment, and ask God whether something was authentic or not, and then maintain an open mind. Eventually you either feel funny about something, or feel at piece. At least that’s how it is for me. And like I said earlier, its not absolute. We can always mess up.

kirabira:

I dont think its really possible to know with certainty whether someone is actually speaking with the Spirit-- though being in a concrete language and having interpreters would seem to help me!

You’re right, its not. That’s why praying in tongues is something that’s between the person and God. If that’s how they personally pray and choose to grow closer to God, that’s between them and God and doesn’t affect us. If someone prays over you in tongues, and you question its authenticity, trust that God hears all prayers made in earnest, whether or not the language used was divinely inspired or just jibberish.

I’ve heard the story of a anti-catholic protestant minister who was praying in tongues at cross-faith-ethnicity prayer meeting thing. There was a catholic there who didn’t believe in praying in tongues. They sat next to eachother, and both were surprised as the catholic informed the protestant that he had just prayed the “Hail Mary” in his native language. As a result, both were converted.

Josh

 

[Makerteacher]

Great questions.

What syllables are spoken varies a lot, both from person to person and from instance to instance.

Sometimes the leader of our community prays and it sounds like "Shan da le ka **van ** da lee shan da lee ", more or less a rhythmic rhyming kind of a sound. But then the next week, it’ll be more like “Row bi shah keh neg bwahn chi”. No rhythm, no rhyme. I have heard tongues that sounded a LOT like Hebrew, and tongues that sounded like one syllable repeated over and over “Ba ba ba ba ba ro ro ro ba ba ba ba”. I have heard all sorts of variations on these syllables, from all ages, races, and economic standings of persons. I have heard many people from other countries speak in tongues, and there does not appear to be a defining characteristic, especially when the tongues are being used for praise and not for prophecy.

In prophetic tongues, there is a cadence that I hear in the words spoken that tells me, “This is a sentence, not a string of words for adoration.” I have heard real languages; I speak a bit of French and has heard that, and also a bit of Latin, and have heard that from people who do not know either tongue. My husband speaks Greek and Italian, and has heard that spoken VERY clearly several times.

Usually I hear tongues spoken in two places: at a prayer meeting, when we are praising the Lord and “singing” in tongues, or else when we are united in prayer for someone specific, and are praying “over” them, usually with our hands touching each other in a sort of linked group. I have occasionally heard it after the elevation at Mass, as a sort of worshipful murmur, very quiet.

Not everyone in our community has this gift of tongues: I can pray or praise in tongues, but I have never spoken (prophecied) in tongues. It is one of the lesser gifts and not as helpful to the building up of the life of the Body of Christ as the gift of good teaching, discernment, healing, etc.