Are you wondering what speaking in tongues feels like? I do speak in tongues and I will do my best to explain to you how it feels.
It is always hard to describe feelings. I could simply say it feels good to speak in tongues but what exactly is good?
I will describe the feeling of speaking in tongues from different perspectives so that you get a clear picture. But then the best way to know how speaking in tongues feels like is to receive the gift and experience it yourself.
What Speaking in Tongues Feels Like: Physical Perspective
Physically, speaking in tongues feels puzzling. You open your mouth and start speaking but then you barely feel you are speaking.
With normal speaking, your mind thinks about what you are saying and you know when your mouth is actually speaking. With speaking in tongues, there is a disconnect between your mind and your mouth.
Many are the times my mind is occupied with other thoughts yet I am speaking in tongues. I have to constantly remind myself that I am actually praying.
When you pray in tongues, your mind feels idle. As a result, it thinks about random things yet your mouth is speaking.
Also, when you speak in tongues, you don’t remember what syllables you have spoken. The words move so fast you can’t catch syllables.
If you try to catch one syllable, others come and you forget the previous one. Because there are barely any punctuation marks when speaking in tongues, it is hard to know when one sentence ends and another begins. In fact, it is hard to know if sentences exist at all.
At first, speaking in tongues may feel weird. Your mouth speaking without you directing it is scary. But because you know that it is the Spirit of God guiding you, there is nothing to worry about.
Once you have practiced the gift for a while, everything becomes second nature. You no longer notice the weird feeling.
The weird feeling often keeps many people away from speaking in tongues. It takes courage to persist in praying in tongues until the awkward feeling disappears.
What Speaking in Tongues Feels Like: Spiritual Perspective
Spiritually, speaking in tongues comes with a feeling of peace. When you are new to speaking in tongues, you may not notice the peace; you will be consumed in the physical weirdness of the gift.
But for someone who has overcome the physical weirdness, you always feel peaceful when you speak in tongues.
The feeling of peace often begins with your ears becoming dull. It is as if a protective cover is put on your ears. You still hear people but then it feels as if there is a filter on your ears that blocks noise.
Then the feeling of peace goes into your heart. Your heartbeats become almost flat. You barely feel them. At the same time, your heart feels very open and vulnerable.
After long sessions of speaking in tongues, I usually never want anyone to talk to me because I feel their words going direct to my heart. If the words are defiling, I feel my heart becoming dirty.
Speaking in tongues makes you feel very peaceful and pure. It cleans you spiritually. You know how you never want to touch dirt after taking a shower? That is how you feel spiritually after speaking in tongues.
It is a good feeling but it also makes you vulnerable.
Other Feelings you get when you speak in Tongues
1. Dry Lips
Surprisingly, even if you speak in tongues for hours, you never feel fatigue in your jaws. You know how you feel your jaw muscles are tired after a long speech? That doesn’t happen when you speak in tongues.
You can literally speak in tongues for hours and still feel no fatigue at all. But be assured your lips will be very dry when you are done.
The dry lips are a result of saliva droplets that fall on them as you speak and dry over time. Also your facial muscles feel dry. You know how you feel as if your face will crack if you smile? Yes, you get the same feeling when you speak in tongues for long.
2. Weak Knees
Anytime I have spoken in tongues for over an hour, I have ended up with weak knees. In the first hour of speaking in tongues, I feel a surge of power that makes me bold. But as I persist, I start feeling weak in my joints.
The feeling of weakness when you speak in tongues can be scary. I have had to stop speaking in tongues several times because I became too weak to even move my arms!
When I stop and wait for a while, my energy usually returns.
The weakness usually comes because of the constant physical movements you engage in when speaking in tongues. Because you can barely feel them, you only realize when you are already weak.
If you are making a long speech, you start feeling fatigue because you are doing things consciously. When you speak in tongues, you don’t realize you are tired unless you stop. The power you feel keeps you going.
3. Itchy Forehead and Navel
This has happened to me many times. When I persist in speaking in tongues, I start feeling itchiness on my forehead and navel.
The itchiness is not like the normal one but you feel good when you massage your forehead and navel. The deeper you launch into speaking in tongues, the stronger the urge you get to massage your forehead and navel.
I know the cause is spiritual; the forehead is where the anointing dwells and the navel is where the babblings originate from.
Remember when Jesus said out of their belly shall come rivers of living water (John 7:38)? I hope you also remember that when the Holy Spirit landed on the day of Pentecost tongues of fire were seen on the Apostles.
The tongues of fire cause itchiness on your forehead and the rivers of living water flowing from your belly cause itchiness in your navel.
What Speaking in Tongues Feels Like: Conclusion
I hope the description I have given of how speaking in tongues feels like has helped you understand. Some of the feelings may be unique to me but I know they are common.
Also remember that there are usually different reasons for speaking in tongues. Speaking in tongues to commune with God will have different feelings than speaking in tongues to cast out a demon.
Either way, the general feeling of speaking in tongues is peace. If you were speaking in tongues to cast out a demon, after the demon has left, you will feel peace. If you were speaking in tongues to edify yourself, you will feel more peaceful at the end than when you began.
The intensity of these feelings depends on how deep you launch into praying in tongues. Beginners may not experience them as much as those who are used to speaking in tongues.
Praying in tongues is a sweet gift. It gives you very sweet feelings. Desire it!