Often times, especially at Catholic Charismatic prayer meetings and Life in the Spirit Seminars, people will try to ‘force’ the Gift of Tongues out of you if they sense that you are holding back.
They may suggest that you just start babbling (bad suggestion, by the way)…or they may suggest that you just say “Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia…” over and over again (better suggestion) in order to get your active participation in the bringing on of the gift.
Why people place so much emphasis on whether you receive the Gifts of the Holy Spirit or not – I don’t know. It’s not like you won’t go to Heaven if you don’t manifest them. I personally feel that people get too wrapped up in the gifts, and tend to neglect “the Giver” in the process sometimes.
And, as it all-too-often happens, those who are promoting “the gifts of the Holy Spirit” the most…are the ones with ego problems.
I say, “Let God be God. He’s much better at it than we are, and He has a lot more experience in that area.” All we have to do is be open to His gifts…no matter what they are, no matter when, or in what circumstance…and then let Him decide ‘if’ or ‘when’ He chooses to give them. We CAN NOT FORCE A PERSON to receive the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. It has to be God doing it…first, last, and always.
