How do you know you are speaking in tongues?

[cceerpp]

I want to know how to identify the true gift of tongues in this generation?

 

[Farley4334]

If you are in a group it is fairly easy… If you start speaking in tongues to other people and no one can interpret what you are saying, you are not truly speaking in tongues.
If you are not speaking to others however, it is a bit more difficult. We then I think have to be honest with ourselves. If you feel it is flowing from the Holy Spirit through no direct assertion of your own, then you may be. If you are controlling it, you are not.

 

[Dauphin]

This sort of thing makes me very uneasy… it reminds me too much of Jesus Camp…

 

[Teflon93]

This sort of thing makes me very uneasy… it reminds me too much of Jesus Camp…

When I was first dating my wife, she was in the choir of a Pentecostal Church. I attended on New Year’s Eve, and when the sermon began, a women behind me fell out into the aisles shrieking at the top of her lungs.

Now, I was raised Episcopalian, so needless to say, THIS WAS JUST NOT DONE.

The pastor initially bantered with her—“I’m gonna feed you sister—I’m gonna feed you sister—just quiet down so I can feed you sister—quiet down—” then finally gave the nod and the ushers dragged her out.

My wife later remarked that her first thought was, “Well, I guess I can kiss him goodbye.”

I think the moral of the story is that it is pretty hard to distinguish between the holy and the wholly crazy, and thus has it ever been so.

 

[Jeanette_L]

I was raised in the AOG, which was an offspring of Pentecostalism, and I heard people speaking in tongues all my life, and I still would not be able to answer your question positively.

I remember when I came “of age” and it was time to receive the “baptism of the Holy Spirit”, which is supposed to usher in your gift of tongues, I was coached on how to speak in tongues. This was very confusing to me, because I knew that this was my own effort, not something supernatural. And of course, because I had heard it all for so long, I could absolutely imitate it and felt pressured to do so. And I realized, even at 12 years old, that if I could imitate this gift, so could everyone around me. I became skeptical at an early age, and it contributed somewhat to a crisis of faith for me as an adolescent and young adult.

And even when they did play by the rulebook, and had an interpreter around, the messages were always practically the same in content and tone. You could go from church to church and the messages that were given in tongues always sounded the same. Very little profoundness happening.

Needless to say, I don’t have a whole lot of confidence in what I see and hear when find myself in that kind of atmosphere.

My best guess is that if you find that you have this gift, and you have never been “coached” or felt pressured, but it just happened, you could have a little more confidence that you did not even subconsciously “manufacture” it.

I worked for a man once, who had the gift and didn’t even know it. He had never heard of it, was not particularly a man of faith, never attended church, but had at some point began speaking a strange language everyday while he was in the shower. And at the same time, the Holy Spirit was really working on him, as people (including myself) were earnestly praying for this man’s salvation. He was completely freaked later when he learned about this gift and realized he had been given it while the “Spirit” was wooing him.

That was a real one.

 

[m134e5]

I want to know how to identify the true gift of tongues in this generation?

When you speak in your own language and somebody who does not speak your language understands you.

 

[thistle]

**If you are in a group it is fairly easy… **If you start speaking in tongues to other people and no one can interpret what you are saying, you are not truly speaking in tongues.
If you are not speaking to others however, it is a bit more difficult. We then I think have to be honest with ourselves. If you feel it is flowing from the Holy Spirit through no direct assertion of your own, then you may be. If you are controlling it, you are not.

First, I believe that the gibberish tongues is fake. I believe the gift of tongues is the ability to speak and understand a real language you couldn’t before.
Second, lay people cannot and have no authority to determine if a person has such a gift. Only the Church can discern that.

 

[TantumErgo90]

I think that one must be very weary about the pentecostal groups and even the Charismatic Catholic Renewal because so many times people involved in these groups get engulfed by emotion, so they might start saying random sounds. I’m NOT saying that they are trying to fool people, I just believe that their emotions cause it to happen, not the Holy Ghost. I believe that it says in the Bible everyone would be able to understand what they’re saying. However, it is possible that there are people who possess this gift, but Church Authorities should discern whether it is authentic or not.

 

[Mark_Robert]

If you are in a group it is fairly easy… If you start speaking in tongues to other people and no one can interpret what you are saying, you are not truly speaking in tongues.
If you are not speaking to others however, it is a bit more difficult. We then I think have to be honest with ourselves. If you feel it is flowing from the Holy Spirit through no direct assertion of your own, then you may be. If you are controlling it, you are not.

True gift of tongues is being able to speak fluently in a foreign language. Of course only God can judge and this is just my opinion but a lot of tongues today are most likely gibberish that is more akin to a psychological phenomenon than a true gift of the spirit. I can reproduce the gift of tongues at will even making it feel like it’s automatically coming out of my mouth but it’s definitely not the real thing. I’m afraid the same is probably true for most modern day practitioners.

 

[water]

Some people say you can control when speaking in tongue; others say no. So, this gives me no solid answer.

From my own experience, when it happened to me, nearly 1 year ago, without practicing it, it just came to me one night when I was praying the rosary. Indeed, I had no control over it - my jaw and tongue would twist on their own.

Some says it is fake; others say it is real. Again, this gives me no answer. However, when it happened to me, not only it was the speaking tongue, but also some supernatural experiences.

Without discussing what I experienced that I had – because I don’t know who/what it was that I saw – what I saw has helped me turn my life around.

I haven’t prayed in tongue anymore because if it happens, I let it happen. I don’t like to practice or say “A B C” or hundreds of names of Jesus in order to be able to speak in tongue - I don’t believe in this way of asking God for gift. As it says in the Bible, the Holy Spirit would grant gift to whomever wishes and not everybody has the same gift.

I don’t believe praying in tongue is the only way though many seem to focus on this very much.

 

[JohnnyReb]

Repeat after me:

Sha da adada da sha ada ad da ada da da da da da sha da da da

There you spoke in tongues.

Or try saying this really fast over and over

see my tie
see my bow tie
see me tie my tie

or this

I bought a toyota but I shoulda bought a honda

 

[Ceil-1]

I thought it was explained in the Scriptures at the time of Pentecost when St. Peter spoke and everyone understood him in their own language. It is the gift of tongues, or languages, that allows the Holy Spirit to spread the Gospel to all in a miraculous way. Why else? And, the comment about having an interpreter would go along with that as well.

Sometimes, people can be infused with a language quickly, as in the case of the missionaries who came and spoke the Gospel to the Indians in their hundreds of different dialects.

I believe it is something along those lines. Angelic tongues and so forth? I doubt there is speaking per-say in the supernatural world as speaking is a physical manifestation, not of the spirit world. I think people are rather gullible sometimes.

 

[water]

Or try saying this really fast over and over

see my tie
see my bow tie
see me tie my tie

or this

I bought a toyota but I shoulda bought a honda

Even if you don’t believe what others believe, you should’ve shown some respect.

 

[Annunciata]

Repeat after me:

Sha da adada da sha ada ad da ada da da da da da sha da da da

There you spoke in tongues.

Or try saying this really fast over and over

see my tie
see my bow tie
see me tie my tie

or this

I bought a toyota but I shoulda bought a honda

Even if you don’t believe what others believe, you should’ve shown some respect.

You’re absolutely right, Water… BTW, I know of what you speak about tongues…:yup:

 

[Mapi]

When you speak in your own language and somebody who does not speak your language understands you.

I’m with you!!

 

[Mapi]

Repeat after me:

Sha da adada da sha ada ad da ada da da da da da sha da da da

There you spoke in tongues.

Or try saying this really fast over and over

see my tie
see my bow tie
see me tie my tie

or this

I bought a toyota but I shoulda bought a honda

Come on everyone, I little bit of humor doesn’t hurt anyone

 

[Jeanette_L]

Some people say you can control when speaking in tongue; others say no. So, this gives me no solid answer.

From my own experience, when it happened to me, nearly 1 year ago, without practicing it, it just came to me one night when I was praying the rosary. Indeed, I had no control over it - my jaw and tongue would twist on their own.

Some says it is fake; others say it is real. Again, this gives me no answer. However, when it happened to me, not only it was the speaking tongue, but also some supernatural experiences.

Without discussing what I experienced that I had – because I don’t know who/what it was that I saw – what I saw has helped me turn my life around.

I haven’t prayed in tongue anymore because if it happens, I let it happen. I don’t like to practice or say “A B C” or hundreds of names of Jesus in order to be able to speak in tongue - I don’t believe in this way of asking God for gift. As it says in the Bible, the Holy Spirit would grant gift to whomever wishes and not everybody has the same gift.

I don’t believe praying in tongue is the only way though many seem to focus on this very much.

To be fair, I know that there are two different types of “gifts of tongues” believed by most Pentecostals and most Charismatics, and what you are describing I’ve heard called a private “prayer language”. This is what is used in your private time with God, your devotion time, and it usually is given quite unexpectedly. I think I can believe this more than what I have heard in most of the church services I’ve been exposed to throughout my life.

And I agree, we should treat this topic with respect, because although we may know some who seem to not be practicing the “real thing” we cannot be sure about all of it. St. Paul talks about speaking with the tongues of men and of angels. It is a mystery, one to be dealt with cautiously and respectfully.

 

[Mordocai]

Repeat after me:

Sha da adada da sha ada ad da ada da da da da da sha da da da

There you spoke in tongues.

Or try saying this really fast over and over

see my tie
see my bow tie
see me tie my tie

or this

I bought a toyota but I shoulda bought a honda

Im sorry but…
LOL hahahahaha
this post made me laugh lol

 

[JohnnyReb]

Im sorry but…
LOL hahahahaha
this post made me laugh lol

Thanks, glad you could see the humor in it

I am converting to Catholicism from a Pentecostal background and probably can related to charismatic Catholics. The post is not intended to offend or mock anyone, only in good humor

 

[dan]

When someone goes to a baseball game, a concert, etc., think of how silly and incoherant and audience members can sound when they’re trying to show their approval and affection for the people they’re watching… “Ooouuh whoo!! [whistle!] Waah!” Or, as another example, think of how foolish people look when they’re holding a baby or a young child and talking to him or her… “Hello babeee… oh boo boo I love you!! mmmmha! (etc.)”

To me, that’s kinda how I think most people these days “pray in tounges.” It’s showing affection to God when words just aren’t enough.

As a charismatic, I have seen tounges used by some as a litmus test if one truly has the Holy Spirit, which is unfortunate.

• Dan
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