Speaking in tongues scares some people. I do speak in tongues and I have been to fellowships where people were speaking in tongues and I saw some people get scared.
I remember one day I invited a friend of mine for fellowship prayers and when he entered the room and found everyone praying in tongues, he walked out immediately.
Getting scared of people speaking in tongues is common. I have the gift but there have been times I also got scared.
Why Speaking in Tongues Scares People
1. The Power of the Holy Spirit is Scary
Speaking in tongues is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Whenever a believer prays in tongues, he taps into the power reservoir of the Spirit of God.
Moderate speaking in tongues comes with moderate power of the Spirit of God. Because the power is moderate, the person praying easily controls it.
With moderate speaking in tongues, you won’t see dramatic acts. It is like a calm conversation.
But then at times praying in tongues comes with great power. When a believer engages in spiritual warfare, he needs a lot of power to overcome the power of the evil one.
This is where speaking in tongues scares people. In real sense, it is the power behind the tongues being spoken that scares.
The person speaking knows the Spirit of God is in control but those around him may not have the same faith. They become afraid that the power of the Spirit of God may harm them.
One day I exploded speaking in tongues in the middle of a fellowship. People got so scared. A few days later, they asked me if I had control of what was going on.
That day, I was also scared even though I was the one speaking in tongues. The power of the Holy Spirit was overwhelming.
The Spirit of God impressed in me prior to the explosive session of speaking in tongues that He was going to take over. I knew it was going to be explosive and I got scared.
After a few minutes of taking deep breaths, I allowed the Holy Spirit to take control.
If you find speaking in tongues to be scary, it is partly because you are unsure if the power of the Holy Spirit is safe. But I assure you, it is ALWAYS safe.
2. The Unknown Aspect of Speaking in Tongues Scares People
Naturally, we get scared of things we don’t know. Our minds react negatively to unknown phenomena.
Speaking in tongues is largely unknown to people. The words spoken are unknown, what someone speaking in tongues will do next is unknown, whether the person is in control of his tongue or not is unknown.
With so many unknowns, our minds push us away from speaking in tongues. In fact, one of the hardest hurdles to overcome when it comes to speaking in tongues is the tendency of your mind to take control.
With speaking in tongues, you have to give up control to the Spirit of God. But not being in control of your tongue is scary.
The more you commune with the Holy Spirit, the more you trust Him. It gets to a point where speaking in tongues doesn’t scare you.
The closer you get to the Spirit of God, the less scary speaking in tongues becomes.
The unknown aspect of speaking in tongues disappears the more you commune with the Spirit of God. Though you may get scared once in a while, you know that the fear is unfounded.
You understand that no matter how scary praying in tongues may appear, it is for your good. You know deep within that God cannot do any harm to you because of the overwhelming love he has for you.
With such assurances, speaking in tongues becomes normal.
3. The Presence of God is Scary
Speaking in tongues is a form of prayer. Praying in tongues takes you directly to the presence of God. A room where people are praying in tongues will be full of the presence of God.
From the Bible, we know that the presence of God is scary. Remember the Mount Sinai incident. When God showed up on the mountain with thunder and an earthquake, the Israelites got scared and fled.
When John, who wrote the book of Revelations, saw Jesus in His glory, he fell down as if he was dead. I have had a few encounters and the presence of God is ALWAYS scary. Even when you know God won’t do you any harm, you can’t help but get scared.
The fear of the Lord is what keeps us from sinning. When we speak in tongues we draw the presence of God which increases the fear of the Lord in us.
The fear of the Lord scares us.
When you go in the presence of God, His holiness is judgment to your sinful nature. Since we know that the wages of sin is death, in the presence of God we are afraid that God may judge us. That is scary.
Adam who used to commune with God got scared when he heard God walking in the garden.
Adam had eaten the forbidden fruit and was unsure what God would do to him.
I have spoken in tongues on my own and gotten to a level where I began shaking out of fear. I couldn’t stop speaking in tongues even when I tried to. It was scary!
I knew I was getting closer to God but I couldn’t stop myself. It felt as if the Spirit of God was dragging me to God’s presence in my sinful nature.
Why does Speaking in Tongues Scare Me? Conclusion
I hope you now know why speaking in tongues scares you. However, the fear of speaking in tongues should not stop you from exercising the gift. Rather, you need to grow and overcome the fear.
It is common to get scared when people speak in tongues or when you experience a new level of speaking in tongues. Trusting the Holy Spirit will help you overcome the fear.
The more intimate you get with the Spirit of God, the more you will understand His gift. And the more you understand His gift, the less it will scare you.
Peace!