I believe it is necessary to discuss this as there are many wrong beliefs on this subject (or subtopic) too. First, let me say that you don’t learn how to speak with tongues and neither should you copy anyone who is speaking in tongues. I don’t believe any tongue is weak and some are more powerful except someone could prove that with relevant scriptures. All tongues are given by the Holy Spirit and are as powerful as when they are in the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit Himself. However, all who speak in tongues have a royal mandate – they should all speak in tongues by faith!

No man speaking in tongues actually knows what he or she is saying, except the Holy Spirit gives them its interpretation through the manifestation of the gift of interpretation of tongues. Let’s see Brother Paul assert this through the Holy Spirit in 2 Corinthians 14:2, 14, 13 (verse rearrangement and emphasis mine):

“²For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries… ¹⁴For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. ¹⁵What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding…¹³Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret…”

So don’t let the devil trick you into quitting speaking in tongues on the ground that you don’t understand what you’re saying. Keep on firing in tongues, because as you do, your spirit which is connected directly to the Spirit of God is praying but even though you may not understand what you’re saying. Herein comes the effect of these two powerful scriptures:

Jude 1:20 – “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 8:26 – “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

Note that the devil will normally speak to you after receiving the genuine baptism of the Holy Spirit. Remember, after Jesus Our Lord had been endued with power from on high in Luke 3 and Matthew 3, the devil the tempter came to him to tempt or cajole him with ephemeral and baseless things out of the eternal will, promises and plans of God for His life, but thanks be to God, Jesus triumphed and overcame all his temptations. Do you know that in the same vein, it is the adversary the devil that often whispers to you to quit speaking in tongues – telling you the following lies:

1. That your prayers are not effective, or,
2. That you have not yet received the genuine baptism of the Holy Spirit like others,
3. That you’re just faking it, and that it’s not genuine
4. That when the genuine one comes you’ll know but it’s definitely not this, or
5. That you are only summoning evil spirits or demons into your vicinity by not praying in the “appropriate” or “original” speaking in tongues, and/or,
6. That you too can never truly receive the genuine baptism of the Holy Spirit, probably because of the “bad” things you’ve done in the past before you now totally surrender your all to Jesus Christ.

Well, if the devil has ever told or been telling you of any of the lies above, the implication of believing any of his lies is that:

1. By believing, you’ll have compromised the standard of God – God’s immutable standard of “walking by faith and not by sight”;
2. You’ll have contradicted the scriptures that says Jesus gives the Holy Spirit to everyone who asks Him (Luke 11:9-14), thus calling God a liar,

iii.                You’ll have been deceived into believing that God is partial and shows favoritism, contrary to scriptures (Galatians 2:6; Colossians 3:25; Romans 2:11) when he makes you think that God answered some people by giving them the Holy Spirit but did not answer you – when He as a matter of fact He gives you immediately you ask Him.

1. You’ll further have been deceived into believing that God isn’t standing true or faithful to His Word
2. Finally, and I think one most prominent is that the devil would have succeeded in making you see God as unfaithful and a source of evil spirit possession if He gave you demons (a serpent) instead of the Holy Spirit (Fish); and this Jesus will NEVER do. Let’s read Luke 11:9-13 more solemnly again:

Luke 11:9-13:

⁹“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. ¹¹If a son asks for bread[a] from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? ¹²Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? ¹³If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

Here, we see the scripture isn’t double-tongued – everyone that asks receives the genuine baptism of the Holy Spirit directly from God Almighty. Hence, never fear, ask and receive Him into your heart with faith, speak in tongues in faith and praise and worship God the Father in the Spirit in faith.

The Devil Tried to Stop Me From Speaking in Tongues

Most of the things I am opportune to share with you here are things God taught me through my personal days of encounter with the Lord. So I say them that you also can find them relevant to your situation. I would never forget those periods in which after my salvation experience and I had already asked God for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I suffered a severe attack from the devil in my mind trying to frustrate and scare me out of speaking in tongues. May be he has told you the same too. In those days, the devil would cunningly speak or drop negative words into my mind and these would loo; as though I was the one doing the thinking. You see, whenever some strange word contrary to the Word of God drops into your mind and it seems as though you’re the one doing the thinking, be careful there, because it may not actually be you, as it is most times, it is the devil speaking through your mind, having a conversation with your innocent mind… you must cast him down with the Word of God immediately you realize this, say as simple but powerful as, I cast you down in the Name of Jesus” … 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says:

“³For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. ⁴For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, ⁵casting down argumentsand every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

Notice that it says “arguments” “thoughts”, etc. These are thoughts that come into your mind to argue the reality and reliability of the Word of God with you. They are from the devil. Cast them down! Pull them down! Bring them in obedience to the Word of God.

In my personal experience, the devil would tell me that I was faking my speaking in tongues and that demons would come and deal with me should I continue because according to him, the tongues weren’t from God and  would only attract demons into my life. The truth of the matter is that these were lies, blatant lies from the devil. Since I had asked God for the Holy Ghost baptism, I needed not worry about a thing because God wouldn’t give me demons when I had asked Him for the Holy Spirit. He is the good FATHER and better than the best of our earthly fathers. The truth of the eternal Word of God set me free from these blessing depriving thoughts and I grew stronger in grace and in the power of the Holy Spirit. All glory to God.

May be the devil has succeeded in stopping you too. Most times, he tells believers a lot of lies and simply, they believe him. Can you imagine the devil telling a bona fide child of God who has once received the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, that he or she has lost the baptism, because of their infrequent use of the tongues, lack of spiritually exercising in tongues, or because they had stopped speaking in tongues altogether? The truth is that God doesn’t take the Holy Spirit away from anyone, except for living in known sin (Psalm 51:11), but not because we didn’t use it often, which are most times still resulting from the devil’s trick. But what happens to the tongues if I had stopped using it for a long time. Well, our gifts and tongues only lie dormant within us and it is time to stir them up again… Notice how fear can make you desist from using your spiritual gift and how stirring it up can help you become active again – 2 Timothy 1:6-7:

“⁶Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ⁷For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

When you stir up this gift, by confessing your lack of using them to the Lord and asking for His mercy and fresh grace, you’ll immediately begin to speak in tongue.  for the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29), and He has given us the Holy Spirit, even the Spirit of truth to abide with us forever. And forever means forever!

Jesus said in John 14:16-18:

“¹⁶And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— ¹⁷the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. ¹⁸I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”

The Holy Spirit still dwells in you if you’ve ever received His baptism before with the evidence of speaking in tongues and you no more do so now only because you got discouraged or stopped, you need to stir Him up again. If you had sinned, you need to repent and seek redress, ask and receive afresh again –

“³⁸Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins;and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

Hence, Brothers and Sisters, let nothing stop you from receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and exercise in Him by faith. May God bless you more and more richly in Jesus Name.