For the pentecostals on here?

Question

I will be attending a pentecostal church on Sunday. My friend and I both feel this is the type of church we want to attend. Of course we are curious about the talking in tongues that goes on there.
For those on here who speak in tongues, how do you do that? Are you just filled with the holy spirit and it just happens? Do you feel different when youre doing it?
Will you be looked upon as possibly less devout if you cant or are unable to to do it?

Thank you all so much for your answers!

Answer 1

I personaly don't look down on anyone who does not speak in tongues.
That would be arogant.

~how do you do that? Are you just filled with the holy spirit and it just happens?~
let me tell you my story.
I had prayed a few times before it happened, some on my own, twice with my best friend.
Then, finally, after praying with my friend (and nothing happening) I let her go to sleep (it was 5 am her time) and stayed up to pray.
I prayed a many different things, I asked Him to ready me to receive His Spirit, I tried to think of any sin that I might need to confess (nothing came up) I chased away all doubt, rebuking Satan in the name of Jesus.
I felt a word trying to escape from my stomach almost.
but I realized the next day, I wasn't letting it come.
it's the weirdest thing and you can hardly explain it.
I just started speaking in a tongue.
It was surreal.
Now, whenever I need to pray in a tongue, I open my mouth and pray in faith.
It's something you can't explain until it happens.

~Do you feel different when youre doing it?~
Not reeaaalllly.. I guess maybe..
I do stop and think, "I can't believe I'm doing this!" It is an amazing feeling for sure, but I still feel myself- myself that's speaking in a language that I'm not familiar with and have never spoken in before (it's not like a big giant out-of-body experiance). If there's any difference, it's a good difference.
I guess, at first, it is a little weird. I remember when I was praying in tongues that night I was kind of.. like "wooah..." it was deffinately a new experiance- but a good one at that :)

~Will you be looked upon as possibly less devout if you cant or are unable to to do it?~
I hope they don't look down on you..
But any person is able to speak in tongues.
It is the sign of receiving the Holy Spirit.
A Christian can pray and sometimes he will not receive it. (such is many cases, like mine)
but when he does receive it, he will speak in tongues.
Do not be discouraged :)

If you have any questions you can email me at [e-mail]

Answer 2

It is a gift. I have been in a Pentacostal church on and off since I was a kid and I still dont think I am ready for tongues yet.

One of my friends in church wanted the Holy Spirit(her tongues) , and she prayed for God to give her the gift. It was kinda funny because her teenage daughter got her tongues before she did .lol

Each person will have their own"language" It's unexplainable when you are listening to them and you are actually getting a message. I am told that when the Holy Spirit comes across like that - that it is a message for someone and there is always someone that understands and will be able to interpret them.

Remember to jus take your time and learn as much as you can and no matter what kind of church you go to - there probably will be something that you dont totally agree with.

The people are who make a church......
I am sure you will have a great time this weekend!
Get ready to sing your heart out,clap your hands and dance a bit too!!=)lol

Answer 3

There is a lot on tongues in thessolians and corinthians.. Acts ch 2 is where it all began, It comes with the Gift of the Holy Spirit indwelling, but not all folks do it. Sometimes people will try to push you into speaking in tongues, but that doesn't help, it hinders.. You know the real thing when you meet Him.. There are other gifts of the spirit that people recieve-- some even before they are saved-- that are a lot more important..
when i first got it, It overwhelmed me and i fell, but it didn't hurt .. and I've seen the Holy Ghost do some amazing things since then.. You are about to enter into an exciting and firey phaze of your Christian walk-- be open to anything..

Answer 4

Speaking in tongues is an odd facet to the religion, and pentecostals won't let you forget it's there, that's for sure. Speaking in tongues isn't (or at least shouldn't be) about who's the most christian, and that if you can't jump through that hoop you're not allowed in church. If people do look upon you as being less devout, they need to turn around and start assessing themselves and where they stand spiritually.

I'm not sure about other people's experiences with speaking tongues, but for me during the one time that I did speak in tongues, it was through intense prayer of not only myself but of a small group consisting of friends and other church goers around me. It began through me saying 'hallelujah' over and over again as I started to pray. Eventually, it dawned on me not to simply say the word but to feel the word and send it through prayer to God by that feeling, not by the sound coming out of my mouth.

Moments after I made that transition between just saying the word to feeling it as well, I began speaking in tongues. It felt almost as if someone had opened a door and wind had swept in, pushing against me and almost drawing me upwards like a kite. There was a slight tingling on my face and my body felt a little stiff, and for the most part my mind stopped paying attention to what was going on around me and that bit of focus went inward to the vibrations in my throat as I spoke and the way my mouth was moving with such certainty to form words I had never spoken before. The words flowed from my mouth with a persistent rush like that of water in a fast-moving river; they just flowed with no hesitation or after-thought. The only way to describe it was as you had put it that I was filled with the Holy Spirit and it just happened.

Good luck with church Sunday, pentecostals can be a very active bunch but I think you might like us. Come with an open heart and don't be too shy to enjoy the service. God bless!

Answer 5

1)Tongues cannot be used at a person's will, but as the Spirit gives them utterance. It is totally the Holy Spirit within that allows someone to speak in Tongues.

2)Yes, you do feel different.

3)No one will look down their noses at you if you don't speak in Tongues

Answer 6

If you are looked upon as less devout then this is not the church you should join. If you cannot be yourself and be truthful, then your faith will be a lie. Go where you feel welcome and genuinely respected.

Answer 7

John 1
The Word Became Flesh
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.

3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood[a] it.

6There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.[b]

10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent,[c] nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,[d] who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Answer 8

The Pentecostals are a minority Protestant group and for good reasons.