Explaining speaking in tongues can be tough but it becomes pretty easy when you have the gift. I have the gift of speaking in tongues and I will do my best to explain it in this article.
Explaining the gift of speaking in tongues can take a spiritual angle or a scientific angle. I am more inclined to give a spiritual explanation but I’ll do a bit of the scientific side also just to keep things balanced.
Speaking in Tongues Explained Scientifically
The left side of the brain is responsible for speech and language. Since speaking in tongues is speech, it is expected to happen in this sphere of the brain.
So far, only one experiment has been done on how the brain works when someone is speaking in tongues.
From the experiment, the researcher found out that unlike normal speech, speaking in tongues didn’t involve the parts of the brain that are usually used in speech.
In the explanation given by the researcher, speaking in tongues was happening somewhere else but not within the expected part of the brain.
No further explanation was given as to where speaking in tongues could be happening in the brain. It was hinted that it was happening outside the brain but no one knows for sure.
Without any further studies on the same, it is hard to give any more information on the same.
The biggest takeaway from the experiment was that speaking in tongues defied the normal laws of speech according to science.
The experiment of speaking in tongues was compared to the same participants singing a worship song. Since singing a worship song is devotional just like speaking in tongues, it was thought to be a good way to control the experiment.
The result was that the frontal lobe of the brain was active when the participants sang a worship song but it became inactive when they began speaking in tongues.
You can get the original paper explaining speaking in tongues scientifically to learn more.
Speaking in Tongues Spiritually Explained
Speaking in tongues is primarily perceived as a spiritual activity. As it is with many spiritual activities, explaining them in detail is next to impossible.
But since I have a curious mind, I dug as much information as I could on speaking in tongues and this is what I found out…
What you hear when someone is speaking in tongues is the voice of the person speaking but the words are formulated by the Spirit of God. This makes sense considering that the scientific explanation stated that speaking in tongues happens ‘outside the brain’.
The Link between Spirit, Soul and Body
The Bible tells us that we are made in the image of God. As we know, God is triune; three in one. Likewise, humans are triune; the body, the soul and the spirit.
Speaking in tongues happens when someone gets words from the Holy Spirit and speaks them. The Holy Spirit can only communicate with someone’s spirit.
It makes sense, right? A spirit speaks to a spirit.
When the Holy Spirit speaks to the spirit of a man, the person’s spirit relays that information to the soul of the person which is sometimes referred to as the mind.
Note that the mind is not the brain. The mind is part of the soul or as people put it, intuition. The brain on the other hand is part of the body.
How can you describe intuition? People refer to it as ‘gut feeling’ and that is pretty much all we can say about it.
Once someone gets words in his mind, he speaks them. Since the words spoken are coming directly from a person’s intuition, the brain remains dormant.
When believers say speaking in tongues is the Holy Spirit praying through them, they actually mean they are speaking directly what they ‘hear’ from the Spirit of God.
The words that come from the Holy Spirit are not analyzed. That is how the brain remains dormant.
Explaining why some Believers can’t Speak in Tongues
Speaking in tongues is dependent on someone’s relationship with the Holy Spirit. Speaking in tongues is considered a gift of the Holy Spirit just to emphasize the point of having a relationship with the Spirit of God.
For some believers, the doubts they have about the Holy Spirit and His gift of speaking in tongues affect their relationship. It is the same with our relationships; if you doubt your partner, the relationship weakens.
With a weak relationship, the Holy Spirit does not give a person words to speak. Why give a person words to speak when the person will ignore them anyway?
For some people, the Holy Spirit speaks words to their spirit but since they have a poor connection between their soul and spirit (poor intuition), they don’t get the words.
Other people get words from the Holy Spirit relayed to their minds but they are afraid to speak them because they don’t make sense.
I have experienced these scenarios. There are times I get words to speak in tongues but I don’t speak them. Sometimes the words come when I am in public. Other times the words come but I feel too tired.
Since I worked to have a strong connection between my mind and spirit, whatever my spirit captures is quickly relayed to my mind.
What to Learn from this Speaking in Tongues Explanation
This speaking in tongues explanation should help you understand that speaking in tongues is not a complete mystery that cannot be understood.
There is an explanation to it only if you are humble enough to listen.
I have the gift of speaking in tongues and by practicing it, I have gotten answers to some of the questions I had.
I learned these explanations that I am giving from practicing the gift of speaking in tongues. It is hard to learn about speaking in tongues if you don’t practice it.
But the most beautiful thing is that speaking in tongues has great benefits; not only spiritual benefits but physical benefits too.
From the scientific research that was done, it was concluded that speaking in tongues is more therapeutic than meditation. I can confirm that it is true based on the peace I feel after a session of speaking in tongues.
The Bible also promises that praying yields peace that surpasses human understanding.
Regardless of your beliefs, I would highly recommend you get this gift of speaking in tongues. The only downside is that people will think you are crazy. But that is a small price to pay considering the benefits you get.
Peace!