Near the end of the video, people are gathered together and praying for each other to be healed in Jesus’ name. They start to tell Art that people are being healed and he praises the Lord and says a few phrases in tongues.

Then this energy showed up on the tip of my tongue.

It is hard to describe other than to say the last 1/3 of my tongue came alive in a way I had not known before. An incomplete way to describe it was if there was some electricity in the tip of my tongue.

It felt like an invitation to begin speaking in tongues.

But… how does one do that? There was not an immediate compulsion, nor was it clear what words I was supposed to say. I continued to play back the video and repeated what Art had been saying in tongues as I wasn’t sure what else to do. I did this for a while and at some point the energy in my tongue faded away.

I talked to a friend of mine who’s well versed in the gifts and asked, what do I do now?

She recommended I read through Acts 2 and lay down in bed and just attempt to say what the Holy Spirit is trying to communicate through me. I went and laid down and tried to utter phrases and sounds, without really understanding what I was saying at first.

Then the following phrase started pounding in my head:

Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?

Matthew 27:46

Which (as best I can tell) is either Hebrew, Aramaic, or some transliteration of the two. But why this verse? It is one of the few bible verses that are kept within the original language and not translated into English. My interpretation is that the Lord was giving me a verse that I knew and which was in a language (or tongue) that was not native to me. It was a phrase I could speak in a tongue and through that allow myself to be comfortable being uncomfortable speaking in tongues.

I never expected to start speaking in tongues, let alone from watching a YouTube video. But every day can be an exciting adventure when you walk with Jesus!

I continued to practice praying in tongues, and still do so today. I am still growing in speaking in tongues. My experience has definitely reshaped how I read scripture about tongues in the book of Acts and 1 Corinthians, and I certainly still have questions.

I want to share that speaking on tongues then, just repeating phrases someone else was saying or reciting a Bible verse, was extremely uncomfortable for me. And even when I do it today I am still uncomfortable. That feeling of being uncomfortable may or may not go away. And that is okay, and it’s okay if you also feel uncomfortable doing so.