Has anyone received the gift of tongues unexpectedly / without any prior knowledge of the gift?

[TruthSeek3r]

I know that many people are taught about the gifts of the Spirit in their congregations before they receive them, and therefore some might object that there is some psychological "pre-conditioning" going on, because people are being taught what to expect. Like a learned behavior. Some churches even "teach" how to speak in tongues, and I've even seen preachers lay hands on people and say "let it flow, let it flow, repeat after me, dadabasara ...".

But what about genuine, spontaneous, unexpected manifestations of the gift of tongues? Like Cornelius and his household in Acts 10, who suddenly, without anybody telling them anything, out of nowhere received the baptism of the Holy Spirit by surprise and began to speak in other tongues spontaneously. Nobody taught them about the Holy Spirit, nobody told them about the gift of tongues, nobody said to them "repeat after me", "let it flow", etc. Nobody even laid hands on them. It was 100% unexpected. In fact, Peter and the other Jewish believers that were with him were all in shock, they didn't see it coming.

Has anyone ever had a similar unexpected, spontaneous manifestation of the Holy Spirit and the gift of tongues as the Gentiles in Acts 10, without any prior teaching, having no prior knowledge about the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, etc. (thus ruling out any possibility of psychological "pre-conditioning")?

 

[Crwth]

Nope

 

[Isilwen]

Nope and have never spoken/prayed in tongues at all.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

I know that many people are taught about the gifts of the Spirit in their congregations before they receive them, and therefore some might object that there is some psychological "pre-conditioning" going on, because people are being taught what to expect. Like a learned behavior. Some churches even "teach" how to speak in tongues, and I've even seen preachers lay hands on people and say "let it flow, let it flow, repeat after me, dadabasara ...".

But what about genuine, spontaneous, unexpected manifestations of the gift of tongues? Like Cornelius and his household in Acts 10, who suddenly, without anybody telling them anything, out of nowhere received the baptism of the Holy Spirit by surprise and began to speak in other tongues spontaneously. Nobody taught them about the Holy Spirit, nobody told them about the gift of tongues, nobody said to them "repeat after me", "let it flow", etc. Nobody even laid hands on them. It was 100% unexpected. In fact, Peter and the other Jewish believers that were with him were all in shock, they didn't see it coming.

Has anyone ever had a similar unexpected, spontaneous manifestation of the Holy Spirit and the gift of tongues as the Gentiles in Acts 10, without any prior teaching, having no prior knowledge about the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, etc. (thus ruling out any possibility of psychological "pre-conditioning")?

I did.

 

[Albion]

Has anyone ever had a similar unexpected, spontaneous manifestation of the Holy Spirit and the gift of tongues as the Gentiles in Acts 10, without any prior teaching, having no prior knowledge about the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, etc. (thus ruling out any possibility of psychological "pre-conditioning")?

I'm assuming that you meant to refer to actual languages, not repetitions of sounds such as in the example used in your post ("dadabasara").

(?)

 

[Norbert L]

But what about genuine, spontaneous, unexpected manifestations of the gift of tongues?

Yes. I heard my friend and his mother who I met for the first time, speaking plain as day in English and when I commented about what they were talking about. His mom said, "I didn't know you spoke Italian?" Which I don't.

It wasn't at church, him and I dropped by his parents house prior to going to a Christian book store.

 

[TruthSeek3r]

I did.

Interesting. Would you kindly share your experience? Was it totally unexpected? Did nobody tell you about the gift? Did you ever hear someone else speak in tongues prior to your own experience?

 

[TruthSeek3r]

I'm assuming that you meant to refer to actual languages, not repetitions of sounds such as in the example used in your post ("dadabasara").
(?)

Right. Although nowhere we are told what language the Gentiles spoke in Acts 10.

 

[TruthSeek3r]

Yes. I heard my friend and his mother who I met for the first time, speaking plain as day in English and when I commented about what they were talking about. His mom said, "I didn't know you spoke Italian?" Which I don't.

It wasn't at church, him and I dropped by his parents house prior to going to a Christian book store.

Wait. You spoke in English and they thought you were speaking in Italian, and they spoke in Italian and you thought they were speaking in English ????!!! What was the context of all this? What were you guys talking about? Did this experience have any impact/transcendence on your faith and walk with Christ?

 

[Albion]

Right. Although nowhere we are told what language the Gentiles spoke in Acts 10.

True enough, but they were understood by at least some of the people who heard them, because the passage describes what the words spoken by these Gentiles were all about and what these others did as a result of hearing it.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

Interesting. Would you kindly share your experience? Was it totally unexpected? Did nobody tell you about the gift? Did you ever hear someone else speak in tongues prior to your own experience?

Sure. This was in the early 80's. I moved back from Florida to California where I was heavily involved in Transcendental Meditation TM. My mother, who was in the AOG invited me to a service. I always loved Christ so I did not reject her invitation. As a matter of fact I kept questioning the higher ups in the TM movement where Christ fit in to all this Eastern stuff. Never got a satisfactory answer. Anyway, when I went to the service I was moved by the message and ended up answering an alter call for prayer. The youth Pastor laid his hand on me. I began to speak in other tongues with no prior knowledge. Hope this helps. Be blessed.

 

[TruthSeek3r]

Sure. This was in the early 80's. I moved back from Florida to California where I was heavily involved in Transcendental Meditation TM. My mother, who was in the AOG invited me to a service. I always loved Christ so I did not reject her invitation. As a matter of fact I kept questioning the higher ups in the TM movement where Christ fit in to all this Eastern stuff. Never got a satisfactory answer. Anyway, when I went to the service I was moved by the message and ended up answering an alter call for prayer. The youth Pastor laid his hand on me. I began to speak in other tongues with no prior knowledge. Hope this helps. Be blessed.

Impressive. I take from this that your mother didn't speak in tongues prior to this, or if she did, you weren't aware of it. You had no idea that speaking in tongues was a thing, that it even existed, correct?

 

[ss51]

My experience was similar, as well as a friend who received the divine prayer language as she was praying in her native language

 

[TruthSeek3r]

My experience was similar, as well as a friend who received the divine prayer language as she was praying in her native language

Can you share a little more about your experiences? Was it totally unexpected? Did you understand what you were saying? Did it sound like a real language?

 

[DavidPT]

Can you share a little more about your experiences? Was it totally unexpected? Did you understand what you were saying? Did it sound like a real language?

Let's assume tongues are supposed to sound like a real language.

1 Corinthians 14:2 For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.


The text says---for no man understandeth him. If tongues resemble human languages it would not be true that no man understands them. If the person speaking in tongues was Chinese and that this person was speaking in English at the time, it might be true that some Chinese might not be able to understand this person, but it would not be true that someone who's native language is English would not be understanding this person as well.

The text also says---For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God---howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. Why would someone need to do all of that in another person's native language that is unlearned to them at the time? How does that make sense? Per this example, why would a Chinese person need to be speaking in an unlearned language, English in this case, in order to not be speaking unto men, but to be speaking unto God?

 

[ARBITER01]

"This is a safe house forum for those members who believe that the sign gifts are still active today. Criticizing or mocking members who hold that view is not allowed. If you wish to debate whether or not the sign gifts are still active today, please start a thread in the General Theology forum."

 

[ss51]

Can you share a little more about your experiences? Was it totally unexpected? Did you understand what you were saying? Did it sound like a real language?

I would like to however the mention in the OP of "some kind of preconditioning going on" gives me pause.
What God gives and when He gives He confirms, it is very clear to the recipient it's divine origin.
I experience His constant presence and confirmation every day, every hour of every day, and and night as I "pray without ceasing" and "keep my mind stayed on Him".
The adversary has so many who hold to an outward form and deny His power I will not put His work out to be trampled like pearls.
If you seek Him and His gifts you will find Him as we all do, with all our heart.
blessings

 

[ForHimbyHim]

I'm assuming that you meant to refer to actual languages, not repetitions of sounds such as in the example used in your post ("dadabasara").

(?)

When you say that, I assume you mean a language that you do not know? What might sound like gibberish to you may actually be a language to someone else. I remember one guy telling a story where he was praying for someone else, broke in some tongues, later the guy said he understood exactly what the guy was saying, because he was speaking in perfect Swahili. There are 6500 languages world wide, just because it doesn't make sense to you, it doesn't mean it won't make sense to someone else.

 

[Albion]

Yes, but we are also informed that there ought to be a translator, so why would that be necessary if the words spoken are meant only for God?

It's more likely that the key word here is "understandeth." Men could comprehend what was being said if it were a regular human language but the message still not be comprehended or appreciated by those listeners.

 

[GirdYourLoins]

I went to a Pentecostal church where people spoke in tongues and when visiting a local church one day someone there appraoched me to ask about speaking in tongues. This church was a cessationist teaching curch that believes no one sonce New Testament times wsa given the gift of tongues. The reason he approached me was to say a few days/weeks before (cant remember the exact time now) he was in his bathroom at home and suddenly just burst out speaking in tongues. He said he knew straight away it was from God and he felt the presence and power of the Holy Spirit more powerfully than any other time before.