If I catch the Holy Sprite do I have to speak in tongues?

Question

Or can I wish for something else?

Answer 1

Some speak in tongues but Paul made it clear that God dispenses spiritual gifgts as he sees fit, which may not be tongues but something else. I do not recall a scriptual reference sighting that one can "wish" for a certain gift. God is not Santa Claus.

Answer 2

Do you mean "Holy Spirit"?

I believe that when you become a Christian that God gives you the Holy Spirit. Others might believe that you receive the Holy Spirit sometime after you become a Christian. I believe that you cannot become a Christian without the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But with the Holy Spirit comes what are known as "spiritual gifts". You can read about them in I Corinthians 12. The gift of tongues is one of the gifts. Not everyone has the gift of tongues. There are many other gifts. But I don't know if you get to "wish for" or "chose" the one you want. They are gifts, given by the Lord as He pleases for the purpose of giving you a part in His family and kingdom and living through you to do good to fellow believers and everyone else around you. Your mission if you should chose to accept it :o) is to find out what that gift/ability is and use it in serving the Lord and others.

The gift of tongues is a confusing subject and is greatly abused today. Not much has changed because it was greatly abused back then as well. You can read some guidelines that Paul laid down for the use of tongues in the Church in I Corinthians 14. Please note that between those 2 chapters is a very important chapter on love. This agape love is to be the motive and manner in which every gift is used.

Often, receiving the gift of tongues is confused with the filling of the Holy Spirit as well. The 1 Corinthians 12-14 passage shows that you can have the gift of tongues and still not be operating in love (I Corinthians 13:1-3). It is possible then to have the gift of tongues and still not be "filled with the Holy Spirit". Passages that describe what the "Spirit-filled life" should look like are better found in Ephesians 5:18-20, Galatians 5:22 and Romans 8:5-17).

Best wishes for love, joy and peace.

Hesed

Answer 3

Actually, speaking in tongues is only a representation that you have been filled with the Holy Spirit. This means that you have allowed the Holy Spirit access to your conscious being.
Paul said that speaking in tongues was a sign to the unbelievers that Christ followers are different. But he also said that he would prefer that all believers would prophecy more than speak in tongues, and that they should seek the spiritual gifts.
Speaking in tongues is not a spiritual gift. It is a representation of the Holy Spirit at work in you.
Speaking in tongues also edifies the believer. This "tongue" language is a special way of communication between your spirit and the Holy Spirit (God, Jesus). When a believer "speaks in tongues", he is communicating with God on a spirit level. This allows God to minister to and through the believer in a specific and concise manner.
It is important to realize that we, humans, are spiritual beings in a physical world. We are not physical beings attempting to become spiritual.

By the way: You don't "catch him". The Holy Spirit is with you from the moment you accept Jesus as Lord.

Answer 4

tongues is a gift that is given but not expected to have. I have a christian for 35+ years and have never been given that gift.

In thoughts 35 years though I have had two people tell me that it was not a gift but just something that all Christians could do, and to basically fake it. I have had one person tell me that it was an expectation to speak tongues to become a mature christian. I have had someone else tell me that God does not love me if I have never been given the gift of tougues. I think that those ideas are false. And I tell you this because I want you to know that there are many Ideas about the topic and some are not true.

Speaking in tongues is like being a good teacher. Some have it and some do not. God deals with us all as individuals, and as individuals we all have our strengths and weaknesses. I think that for tongues that environment has something to do with it as well. If you attend a Pentecostal church you will be more likely to be given that gift then in other Churches. I say this because I have heard of it in the Methodist church only a few times. In the pentecostal church it is a weekly event.

Speaking in tongues though is not an essential to being saved. It is not even important to being saved. It is just a tool that the Spirit (God) uses among his people to enhance worship and communicate with his people. Most importantly dont ever let anyone tell you that you are not a christian or even saved with out ever speaking in tongues because that it is not true and (more importantly) is not biblical.

Answer 5

:) You cannot "catch" the Holy Spirit. Though if you become filled with the Holy Spirit, not Sprite by the way, speaking in Tongues is only one gift of many. For further investigation, read 1 Corinthians 12. Plus, if you want a gift, pray for it, dont wish for it. Its God who gives, not by our wishing.

Answer 6

Wow!!! There's a Holy Sprite? Unfortunately I hate lemon lime sodas.... I'd wish for something else... The Sonkist. LoL.

Answer 7

When the gathering in the Upper Room was blessed with the gift of tongues, it was a fulfillment of prophecy that stated that they would be filled with the Holy Ghost. The gift of tongues was edification of that fact. There is nothing else for you to "wish" for, because to the best of my knowledge, this was the only thing mandated by God that allowed the individual to know that the Holy Ghost had become part of his/her spiritual relationship with God.

Answer 8

You don't "catch" the Holy Spirit. He is in your heart when you get saved, but when you recognize His special gift for you, it may or may not be tongues.

Tongues are a tool of prayer and praise. Nothing more. Because our language is not adequate to express the things of God, or we don't know how to pray in a certain situation, we use our heavenly language. To use it takes faith and trust, because we don't know what we are asking God to do, and we must believe that we are asking Him to do best. On the other hand, the devil doesn't know what we are saying either.

There are many kinds of gifts, and they show up when we are filled with the Spirit.

Answer 9

Nope, you absolutely do not have to speak in tongues...The Bible is full of accounts of people reacting in different ways when the Holy Spirit fills them. Sure, lots of people speak in a new prayer language, or tongues, but there are many other spiritual gifts as well. Also, you can have more than one. Prophecy, tongues, discernment...there are lots! And it's ok to ask God to give them to you.

Answer 10

I didn't know Sprite was holy!

No wonder my hubby freaks out every time I ask for an Amerretto Sour! We don't like the holy rollers. Does that mean I have to give up my Amerretto Sour??!!