I went to a naming ceremony last weekend and at one point in the proceedings the residing pastor broke out praying in tongues:

"habbala babbala swhelly flaaba gunmba babala shabala"

All of a sudden 4 or 5 other people started up and it wasn't long before almost everyone was at it.

To be honest I was quite flabbergasted by it all as it seemed to be some kind of nonsense circus,

Have you ever spoken in tongues or interpreted it? It all seems a bit over the top to me!

These people must be stopped. They would do just about anything to spread their madness.

No, there is no such thing as "speaking in tongues". You would be suprised what people are willing to do to get attention.

Speaking in tongues,or spitting incantations of sorcery?

incantations of sorcery?

Jagunlabi, Drugs are bad.

LOL! Afeni! Thank you for being here, my friend.

There sure is something such as speaking in tongues. Read ur bible WELLA!!! It is an evidence that u've received d Holy Ghost!!!

dominababy: How exactly does it work? Be sincere with us, it is not as if a Spirit/spirit overpowers you, right?

Afeni, Ajisafe: In our responses to this thread, let's avoid being unecessary offensive. thanks.

Ajisafe my friend, i've missed you o! and don't get too close to Afeni, he will undo the good works of the past couple of days. You've been good since.

Afeni and Jagunlabi are either of you bible beliving Christians? are you a Christian at all?

Paul said something i love "that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men" 1 Cor 2:5. It doesn't matter whether men understand or not--cuz "howbeit when we speak we speak wisdom, the wisdom of God in a mystery (1 Cor 2:6-15). When you speak in tongues, you don't speak unto men (1 Cor 14:2). Speaking in tongues is an evidence of a believer (Mk 16:17). Acts 2:4

Speaking in tongues is a spiritual language. It's a language for the born again child to communicate with God. It's like speaking your native dialect, and that's the dialect of God's kingdom. Nothing holds you to start speaking it, you develop it and the more you speak the more your vocabulary expands. When you get born again and are filled with the Holy Spirit, you receive it. Don't ask me why everyone doesn't speak in tongues, that'll fall under the category of why doesn't everyone get healed.

Do i speak in tongues? YES, happily sef, i don't waste time! when i speak in tongues i enbolden myself (Jude 1:20). When alarm is trying to blow me (moments of panic) i speak in tongues and i take control of my world from my spirit. If you don't speak in tongues i'd advise that you desire it and pray thaat you receive it--it will help you grow in your Christian walk.

Speaking in tongues is easy once you realise what it's all about. Open your mouth (in "faith") and start speaking random syllables.

Seun, Nwoke? which one of you is this? is this the same person? God o! isn't this split personality?

Ofcox its easy Seun: Tariboo, taribooo, rashidiiii rashidii , yekini ni ni, yekeni! just say whatever twice and you're there! please!

speaking in tongue is very good  even demon will give you respect when you open your mouth to speak.

If you sin against Father and/or Son

You sins would be forgiven

But against the Holy Ghost

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

If they claim to speak

let em speak

I don;t speak when they speak

But I pray deeply

Guyz , let's not use our mouth to offend the holy spirit

Don't say things against God or his people

We are not sinning against the Holy Spirit in any way whatsoever. Just laying down some facts.

Bolex, why are you answering Seun or whoever? the last time i checked Nwoke/ Seun was an atheist. The things of the spirit WILL NEVER make sense to a carnal minded person. So, you leave them to stumble in the darkness of their wisdom. It was "know know" that led the Jews to kill the Messiah! so leave those who know "facts" alone. Faith is a personal thing, to each his own.

If u read thru the bible, u'll realise that Christianity (or the things of God) cannot be explained by human knowledge. remember what Jesus said about receiving the Kingdom as a child. One thing most christians learn eventually is that we can't always explain the things of God with human wisdom. If you look thru all the miracles in the bible, u'll understand what i mean. It is left for u to accept the bible as it is, or to give ur own interpretation, or to even dismiss it all as a fluke. It is God who would judge everyone of us in the end.


To answer the question: speaking in/ and interpreting tongues are gifts of the Holy Spirit (see 1 Cor. 12). Some schools of thought interprete 1 Cor. 13:1 to mean that those who speak with tongues may be using earthly and angelic languages. I've heard of people in other continents speaking in African languages while speaking in tongues. That's probably what happened to Peter in Acts 3. The gift of interpretation of tongues was given to give us an insight into the tongues. Speaking in tongues is a way the Holy Spirit strengthens believers and helps them pray to God. 1 Cor. 14 says that speaking in tongues is btw the christian and God and that it doesn't profit the onlooker in the church. Thus, Paul advised that they should rather prophesy in public gatherings that included unbelievers. Note though that it is alright to speak in tongues in a gathering of christians. I think this is why pentecostals speak in tongues. The bible says we do not know what to pray about, but that the Holy Spirit helps us. This is why speaking in tongues is encouraged among those who believe. Concerning the ease with which anyone can speak in tongues, see 1 Cor. 13:1-3. There Paul shows the possibility of exercising some of these gifts in a backslidden condition as Solomon did (Eccl. 2: 9). In his discussions about the spiritual gifts, Paul stressed that LOVE is more important to God than the possession of any or all of these gifts. This is why a pentecostal, a baptist and a catholic who all love God can can call themselves His children.

I speak in tongues and I must confess that there was a time in my life when I was confused about it. This wasn't because I thought it was fake, but because unlike many ppl I know, no one ever prayed for me b4 I started speaking in tongues. I'd heard ppl in church, my parents etc. speaking in tongues several times. I don't know when I started but I remember speaking in tongues during our family devotion when I was about 4 or 5. Some years ago, I began to think about it and wasn't sure it was from God. I thought it might be demonic or just my imagination, so I prayed about it. God brought to my remembrance several times He'd healed me and done other big things for me without me having any earth-shaking experience. It was then I realized that the Holy Spirit was actually involved in my speaking in tongues.

Due to my background, I've never had any doubts about speaking in tongues. As a child, I witnessed several 'abuses' (IMO) of the gifts of prophesy and interpretation of tongues that put me off. However, that doesn't invalidate the gifts.

There are some christians who don't believe in speaking in tongues e.g. baptists. But they agree that it was a gift of the Spirit, except that they believe that it has been withdrawn from believers along with the gift of healing. Pentecostals, however, believe that all the gifts of the Spirit are still here with us and functioning. These are just doctrinal differences, and I believe that as long as we all believe in God, and agree on fundamental christian beliefs e.g. Trinity, Virgin birth, authority of the Bible, we are one.

I got this from Dake's Study Notes

Sixteen Contrasts of Tongues and Prophecy

1.Tongues are spoken to God; prophecy is spoken to teach people (1 Cor. 14:2-3).

2.Mysteries or things not understood are spoken in tongues; all things spoken in prophecy are clear (1 Cor. 14:3-4).

3.Tongues edify the speaker; prophecy edifies the speaker and others (1 Cor. 14:3-4).

4.Tongues enable one to commune with God; prophecy speaks to people to edification, exhortation, and comfort (1 Cor. 14:2-4).

5.The prophet is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless the tongues are interpreted and understood (1 Cor. 14:5).

6.Tongues are no profit to the public unless interpreted; all prophecy is profitable to the public (1 Cor. 14:5-13,27-28).

7.The speaker in tongues must pray for the interpretation; the prophet need not, for his message is in his own tongue (1 Cor. 14:3-13).

8.Tongues make one a barbarian to others; prophecy does not (1 Cor. 14:3,11).

9.In all gifts the main purpose is to excel in edifying the church (1 Cor. 14:12). In this, prophecy is greater than tongues (1 Cor. 14:1-6,27-28).

10.The human spirit of the speaker is the thing edified by tongues; prophecy benefits all people (1 Cor. 14:1-5,14-15,24-25).

11.Tongues are a great personal blessing, but 5 words of prophecy are more important in public services than 10,000 words in tongues (1 Cor. 14:17-19).

12.Tongues are a sign to unbelievers; prophecy to believers (1 Cor. 14:21-22).

13.All speaking in tongues at once causes mockery by the unsaved whereas with prophesying the unsaved are convicted of sin (1 Cor. 14:23-25).

14.Every gift must be used to edify the church (1 Cor. 14:26). Prophecies do this better (1 Cor. 14:1-5,23-25).

15.Only one message is allowed in a church service if not interpreted; three messages in prophecy are allowed (1 Cor. 14:3,27-31).

16.Three messages in tongues are allowed in any church service if they are interpreted. This many messages in prophecy are always allowed (1 Cor. 14:27-32).

@GL

I remember when i started speaking in tongues, it was at an outreach program. No one laid hands on me, or prayed for me to receive anything. I actually thought i was mimicking my older brother beside me. When i got home the next day i called my mum to come and hear me imitating my brother's tongues, and she was like "are you sure you're not speaking it?" and for a long time i was stuck with the same words, and as i grew so did my spiritual vocab.

I speak in tongues, and i'm not embarrassed about it. It helps me especially when i need to pray and put my world in order--when the tongues of men fail me, the spirit kicks in.

I actually thought i was mimicking my older brother beside me.

I am proud of your boldness to confess the truth. Your exceptional honesty deserves commendation.

The things of the spirit WILL NEVER make sense to a carnal minded person.

That is very offensive to my atheism. I am outraged! Apologize, or else I will rain down fire and limestone!

i hardly see seun replying post like this, i hope someone is not impersonating seun? anyway in the process of finding the truth i think its best for us not to speak blasphemy. if you dont understand dont abuse or critize the manifestation of the holy spirit (which u have told us already that u dont understand). i'am sure if must of u guys that have read your bibles or the Bible e.g the starter of this post would have not even started it in the first place because they would have been an understanding of the mystery of speaking in other tongues. which type of tongues do u want them to speak in? if you feel u can do it better then do it, its u and God. it will not be wise to continue advicing on this post cause GL has said it, if u have a specific question sha dont fail to ask we christians, am forever available to educate on the word of the Lord.

Spaeking in tongues is all about speaking in tongues. That is the holy spirit is speaking through you.

I mean this is something that's in the bible, and those that truely speak in tongue are blessed. But about 90% of tongues speakers today, are fake.

I remember when i was little, in sunday school. My sunday school teacher would say, we should speak in tongue, just talk (watever u say at that moment, is not u talking, it's the holy spirit). he'd say SPEAK SPEAK. And then start singing "holy ghost fire, fire fall on me, just like the day of penticost, fire fall on me". Speak children, speak!

Well, duhhh, majority of us cursed each other out. Personaly, i used cursed words "olirubukuuuuuu, omo aleee,,, yeee ori mi oo, babababababababa,, shomo shomo, yeeee, rabababababababa, suyaaaaaaaa, rice ati ewaa, dodo dodo dodo, ebin pa mi oooo, haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, shabhahahahahaha".

See, i knew i was talking trash, but my sunday school pastor said, watever i said at that moment was from the holy ghost.

Most people nowadays, just say rubbish. Those that don't want to use curse words or normal words would go the "bababababa, sharabababa, moso rabababa, skinbobo" way.

I mean, do u really have to speak in tongues before u show that you're a prayer warrior? Let's just use normal english/french/yourba/hausa or watever it is that u speak. Don't speak in tongues, it's not by force.

That preacher at the naming ceremony (including all the others that joined him) were prolly raining curses on that poor new born baby.

Some people speak in tongues, just to show that, they can pray so good. Well yeah, no one knows which language is the language of the spirit, but these days everyone just talk rubbish and calls it the language of the holy spirit.

I wouldn't let anyone lay their hands on me, and say they want to speak in tongues on my head. Dont shrabababa me. Thank you, just say "it shall be well with me". Thank u very much.

I speak in tongues, but it happens just once in a while, there was a day, Boy, i was into it, i could just feel it, i mean i still pray for that day to come again, i felt soo happy that day, i spoke in real tongues, i mean, i could just tell that i wans't the one talking. I'm still praying for a day like that to come again. When i speak in tongues, i say random stuffs (but somewhere in my mind, im speaking english, saying FATHER BLESS ME, protect me and so on), I'm just using random english.

Speaking in tongues isn't suppose to make sense to anybody. Only God and the holy spirit understands it.

On speaking in tongues, I feel if someone speaks in tongues, then there must be someone there to interpret. I mean, when you listen to most 'speakers' it's a babel of babbles.

When my Dad was doing his youth service [about 20-something years ago], he had a roommate who'd get up in the night and start stamping his feet, raising such a din that my Dad called him aside one day:

'What do you think you're doing?' he asked.

'I'm earning how to speak in tongues.'

'Well, you're disturbing my sleep!' my Dad said.

In my family, we believe everyone is entitled to his own way of worship without disturbing others. My mom told me she's witnessed only one case of true speaking in tongues. A lady beside her was praying, then she suddenly started speaking in different languages [Ukwuani, Urhobo, Yoruba and Isoko were the ones my mom understood].

After the service, my mom approached her and greeted her in each of the languages. The lady was puzzled and said she was Efik [most people would say 'Calabar'].

Seun,

sry i couldn't come online to reply you yesterday and my phone's battery was down.

Dearzi has made enough explanation to the whole stuff. It's real. only if you believe the bible. Since i'm being told that you are an atheist, then it might not mean a lot to you.

Daft brains say tongues is trash

@Seun
YOU want to reign down fire and limestone abi brimestone on a child of God? have you heard of "touch not babies?" i'm one of them!! did you hear of what God did to the prophets of baal?? don't worry--meet me on the mountain, and we will see who will bring down the fire!

Like i said, the things of the Spirit WILL never make sense to a carnal minded person, so if you're one, well!

actually seun

I never knew you was an atheist

Anywayz, who you gonna thank for all these good work you done ?

I guess you gonna thank yourself

Anywayz, God will touch your heart some day

I aint contributing to this thread cos I don't wanna use ma mouth to offend God

For alll I know , Don;t say things against powerful men of God

this is the funniest discussion i have ever read. i was rollling around on the floor in tears.
I did not think a discussion about speaking in tongues could be SO funny.

But seriously, speaking in tongues is a gift from God as everyone has said. some people do fake it, but as my mother says,'God know who serves Him'. If you are faking it to impress others, you are not helpling yourself.
You do not have to speak in tongues to be filled with the holy spirit. Speaking in tongues is one of the evidences of the presence of the holy spirit but not necessarily the only evidence.

so don't be fooled by everyone who speaks in tongues. Ask God to give you an insight into the whole thing and He will explain things to you.

It seems to me like it is just one of those cool trendy things to do in certain circles to make yourself LOOK more spiritual and of course to ensure you are not outdone by those around you that are doing it!

Why is that in Anglican churches it hardly ever happens but in Evangelical churches it happens all the time? Is it not just the peer pressure of it all!

What's the point in praying when 99% of the time neither you nor anyone around you understands! And when someone does come up with a translation they're probably just making it up? What's the point??

If someone rabbles in what appears to be a bout of madness, he or she would be labeled mad. However, if someone rambles in what appears to be a bout of madness under the influence of the holy spirit, he or she is considered righteous. Excellent. It is nice to see who the true hypocrites are.

I agree I have never ROTFLMAO so much over a topic on Nairaland before.
I believe in God (you the man) however I don't go to church.
The majority of churchgoers that I know are pentecostals and I know that most of the are talking s*hit about praying in tongues.
I believe that it can be done but if it is-aren't you in some spiritual state where it takes over your being THEREFORE not able to recollect it?

Some people do use it as a way to show off their so-called spiritual superiority but as Ossie Davis said in Do the Right Thing "Those who know don't tell and those who tell don't know."

From personal experience my relationship with God is something that I understand and no-one else will-therefore I ndont't need to sporadically fake tongue speak for the approval of others.

If u have expienced it genuinely good for you. If not- just chill Gond doesn't love the tongue speaking children anymore than us.

If you're an atheist-live your life as a secular humanist.

Peace to all Shalom Israel

I’m very sorry that afeni doesn’t read his Bible and doesn’t go to church too because faith cometh by hearing and hearing the word of God Dominobaby said exactly what I wanted to say it’s simply the evidence that you have the Holy Ghost in you