I was moved by the Lord this morning to post a little bit of information on speaking in tongues and how to tell if someone else who might be praying with you or near you in tongues, is really speaking in a true tongue and not in something manufactured or even worse, from Satan. I am very sorry to say that I have rarely heard a true tongue spoken. I didn’t say never, just rarely.
What I have heard is a very common practice of muttering done by believers who are being disobedient. It’s very easy to spot. All we have to do is look at the scriptures to see if someone is first obeying the instructions given to us about when and how and where to speak in tongues. If someone is disobeying the very, very specific instructions of God concerning tongues then surely they are not speaking in a true tongue. The Holy Spirit would stop them.
True “tongues of men and of angels” mentioned in the Bible are just that…either a known language that mankind speaks or an unknown language that angels speak. We as believers can do both: “Though I speak with tongues of men and of angels and have not love…”(1 Corinthians 13:1).
Each of these is a language and not a long gapless string of babbling. A language has inflection, cadence, flow, variation, pauses and emotion. I have never heard this from those who “speak in tongues” in public without knowing there is an interpreter there. God forbids the speaking in tongues in public unless there is an interpreter there. He is not the author of confusion.
What I have heard is jibber jabber, muttering of weird sounds with no pause or emotion or inflection. I have heard same sounds repeated over and again like a jackhammer might sound, (lalalalalalalalalala), or something that sounds as if they are saying an imaginary 3 words over and over again. This is false. Listen: Isaiah spoke of “wizards who peep and mutter…” (Isaiah 8:-9). Wizards peep and mutter.
True tongues of men and of angels is a distinct language with terrific variety and it sounds exactly like someone is speaking in a foreign language and not babbling in a monotone string of repetitive sounds. It is very beautiful and in my opinion musical, at least to my ear.
When we are instructed to pray in tongues when we are in a church gathering by doing it under our breath, if there is not an interpreter there that we know of, it is just that…UNDER our breath. Breath is basically silent unless we are tired or sick or running. So tongues should be even quieter than that. In other words…SILENT.
Wow, does the church need to know this so desperately. I have been praying with many believers who do the fast muttering using the same few sounds over and over and over again and my spirit is so offended as they do it because I can discern that it is false. There is an increasing lack of Bible knowledge in the church and therefore disobedience and immaturity are rampant. What a heart breaker for God, I am sure.
Let’s grow up therefore into “the measure of the stature of the fullness in Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). Ask God for the true gift and He will gladly give it if He knows you won’t abuse the privilege. Obey Him. This disobedience really can cause someone on-looking or listening to run away from God… it is offensive to even the unbeliever.