How to Speak in Tongues

The gift of tongues is one of the most versatile and transformative gifts God gives His people. It is like a spiritual multi‑tool that leads to deeper prayers, greater revelations and breakthroughs, and much stronger personal edification. There’s a reason why it is the first gift given to the new believers in Acts Chapter 2 as they fasted, waited, and prayed in the upper room. Scripture paints a vivid picture of why this gift matters, how we receive it, and what it accomplishes in the life of someone who embraces it with faith.

“Earnestly Desire” the Gifts

Paul urges believers to “earnestly desire the most helpful gifts” (1 Corinthians 12:31). That longing is not selfish—it’s spiritual hunger. Wanting the gift of tongues is wanting more capacity to pray, more sensitivity to the Spirit, and more partnership with God’s power.

Tongues is not a fringe gift; Paul even says, “I wish you could all speak in tongues” (1 Corinthians 14:5). That’s a strong endorsement. He understood that this gift strengthens believers in ways nothing else does.

The Assurance: God Gives Good Gifts

Jesus gives a beautiful promise in Luke 11:11–13. He explains that earthly fathers don’t give harmful things when their children ask for something good. Then He adds that the Father will “give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.”

This is the believer’s confidence:

• When you ask for the Holy Spirit

• When you ask for spiritual gifts

• When you ask specifically for tongues

…God is not going to give you something counterfeit, empty, or dangerous. He is a good Father. You can trust His generosity. The devil would have you believe that there are “evil and counterfeit tongues” – but how could that be when speaking tongues takes a great amount of faith and God is always pleased by our faith and rewards us for it? Romans 8:32 reinforces this: if God didn’t withhold His own Son, He certainly won’t withhold anything else that helps you grow.

The Purpose: A Multi‑Tool for Prayer and Breakthrough

Once received, the gift of tongues becomes one of the most powerful tools in a believer’s spiritual life.

1. It empowers you to “pray in the Spirit” at all times

Ephesians 6:18 urges believers to “pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion.” Tongues makes this possible. When your mind is tired, when you don’t know what to pray, when the situation is beyond your understanding—your spirit can still pray with precision and power.

2. It builds you up from the inside out

Paul explains that praying in tongues strengthens and edifies the believer (1 Corinthians 14:4).

In the original Greek, the word used is oikodomeō. It literally means "to build a mansion" or "to construct a building."

Paul is using a construction metaphor: just as a builder lays bricks to make a house strong and tall, he argues that praying in tongues acts as a "spiritual battery charger" or a "builder" for the internal spirit of the believer.

Supporting Scripture: Jude 1:20

While not written by Paul, this verse is almost always paired with 1 Corinthians 14:4 because it uses the exact same concept of "building up" through the Spirit:

"But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit,"

Basically, it’s like spiritual weightlifting—quiet, unseen, but transformative. You grow stronger, clearer, more resilient.

3. It breaks through spiritual resistance

Matthew 11:12 is a difficult passage for many to understand. So let's look to a translation straight from the original Greek to see what it really means and how it applies to laying hold of ALL of God's amazing promises - including the gift of tongues.

Matthew 11:12 (translated directly from the original Greek)

“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the reign and rule of heaven is forcefully advancing with power, and forceful ones—those acting with intensity—are seizing, laying hold of, and taking possession of it.”

How about that?! PRAISE GOD!! That's how we're to lay hold of His promises!!!

This speaks of the kingdom advancing forcefully. So we can aggressively pursue God's gifts, which I believe requires a large amount of faith. The Bible says that our faith pleases Him, it's the only way to please Him and the only way to come to Him!

Additionally, praying in tongues aligns you with that forceful advance. It pushes back darkness, confusion, and spiritual stagnation. It’s prayer that cuts through what your natural mind can’t see or understand.

4. It intercedes beyond your understanding

Tongues allows your spirit to pray God’s will even when you don’t know what that will is. It bypasses mental limitations and taps into divine insight. It’s the Spirit praying through you with accuracy your mind could never achieve.

Tongues as a Spiritual Multi‑Tool

Think of what a multi‑tool does:

• It adapts to the need

• It works in any situation

• It provides solutions you didn’t know you needed

Tongues functions the same way spiritually:

• When you need strength → it builds you up

• When you need clarity → it aligns you with God’s will

• When you need breakthrough → it pushes through resistance

• When you need intercession → it prays beyond your understanding

• When you need endurance → it keeps you praying when words fail

It is simple enough for daily use and powerful enough for spiritual warfare, AND you can even pray in tongues silently in your head if you’re around others and you can’t pray out loud.

Desire → Ask → Use + Receive → Continue to Use

Your journey looks like this:

1. You desire the gift

You “earnestly desire” what God offers (1 Corinthians 12:31).

2. You ask with confidence

You trust your Father to give the Holy Spirit generously (Luke 11:13).

3. As you reach out in faith and speak some words you will begin to receive it.

God rarely just “blasts” people with this gift. Just like the gift of prophecy, it can be controlled. This is probably the most misunderstood thing about it. God wants you to use it but He will not force it on people. You must willingly speak it out, even if it feels awkward!

God rewards our faith, and our faith greatly pleases Him. Developing this gift takes great faith and He will certainly reward your efforts. All you have to do is not listen to the devil’s discouraging lies that “nothing is happening” and that “you sound ridiculous.” These lies and attempts to discourage you are guaranteed to come your way because THE DEVIL GREATLY FEARS you using this gift. You must push through that resistance to obtain this gift. I promise you, it is worth it!

Just keep working on developing this gift (every day if you can) and it will flow more and more naturally. You will also most likely FEEL the effects of it encouraging and building up your soul as you keep doing it. When I first started working on it every day I would set a timer for 10 minutes and as the minutes ticked by I could literally feel the wounds in my soul healing and the lies breaking off of me.

Remember, you must believe that God wants to give you ALL His good gifts and that He is faithful to equip you fully, holding nothing back (see Romans 8:32).

4. Use it continually as much as you can

Try to “pray in the Spirit at all times” - which for me means every day throughout the day (see Ephesians 6:18). The more you do it the more God will bring revelation and breakthrough in your life, among countless other GOOD things.

ONE LAST TIP THAT MAKES DEVELOPING TONGUES VERY SIMPLE AND EASY TO DO

This is a direct revelation from God to me a few years ago. He told me very clearly, "if you want increase in (spiritual) revelation, you need to pray in tongues at least 2 hours per day." My first thought was of my flesh, and it was, "That's impossible." I thought that because up until that time I had only been speaking in tongues most days for up to 10 minutes and even going just for that long was hard to do at times. It would typically feel very repetetive when getting towards the end of 10 minutes, so I thought 2 hours would be way too hard and at the same time I did not see how I could free up 2 hours from my everyday life to pray that much!

But THANK GOD, He immediately corrected me and the thought came to me, "If He said it then it is possible". So I asked Him how it could be possible and as soon as I asked He immediately gave me the answer. He said that I do chores and various mindless tasks often around the home, such as mowing the lawn, dishes, laundry, cleaning, etc. These tasks take hours of my time and I could easily put music on my headphones and sing to it (out loud or in my head) in tongues.

I figured I had nothing to lose by trying it so I did and as soon as I started doing that nearly every day my life began to rapidly change for the better. NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD.

Side note: I later found out that even the apostle Paul, who used this great gift more than any of the other apostles, sang in tongues! (1 Corinthians 14:15) Additionally, I don't make a hard rule of singing this way for 2 hours every day, in fact I am busier now and so I aim for 4+ hours total per week. The point is not to make a hard rule of it but to make a regular effort to do it.

Here is a simple audio clip of how the Lord taught me to sing in tonges. It is very simple -- just sing one or two syllable made up gibberish words to the pulse of the song. I find instrumental songs work best but I can do it with any song that I know whether it has words or not. You can even develop playlists of songs you like to sing in tongues to and keep it on through the day as you do your mindless chores/tasks. Anyone can learn it this way, and I pray that you do too!

Click to Hear Simple Singing in Tongues to the tune of the song, "Waymaker" by Leeland.