It might be useful to concentrate on a mantra, such as “Jesus Christ is the way, the Truth and the life,” to make it easier to focus your mind. Choose your favorite Bible verse and repeat it in your mind over and over.
Some other passages to read include Acts 10: 46a, Acts 2: 4a, and 1 Corinthians 14:4. If other members of your church practice speaking in tongues, it may be helpful for you to talk about this prayer method with them to learn more about it.
One way to do this is to repeat a positive mantra to yourself, such as “I am a child of God; God wants me to pray and be joyful, and so I will speak in tongues to do this. ” Focus your mind on all the reasons why you want to speak in tongues and let that desire grow in your heart. Doing this will keep you motivated and may also make it easier for you to speak in tongues on the first go!
You may also want to avoid being around other people, if this would cause you any embarrassment.
This may seem a bit awkward at first and will sound like a baby babbling, but this is the point! You have to start producing random speech before God will help you to speak in tongues. These sounds will probably be choppy and repetitive at first. Don’t worry; this is perfectly normal, so try not to feel discouraged.
Note any sounds that you make that seem to take you by surprise, such as a syllable or pair of letters you don’t normally pronounce. These may reflect God communicating with you, so repeat these phrases to add them to your prayer language.
God will not cause your lips to move, which is why the babbling is so important. However, God may cause certain words or sounds to pop into your head; repeating these sounds is the basis for speaking in tongues.
You don’t necessarily have to make this request out loud; simply thinking it to yourself will also work.
This misconception may be one reason why some people look askance at speaking in tongues. It’s wrong to think that people who speak in tongues aren’t in control of their own faculties.
In between sessions, it might be helpful to pray to God in a more “ordinary” way and ask for help and guidance in learning how to speak in tongues.
This doesn’t mean you should avoid people who don’t believe in speaking in tongues; simply refrain from talking about this particular prayer method with them.
