Health Benefits of Speaking in Tongues

Mark Virkler's picture

“He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself” (1 Corinthians 14:4). Dr. Carl Peterson, M.D. conducted a study at ORU in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Being a brain specialist, he was doing research on the relationship between the brain and praying or speaking in tongues. He found that as we pray in the Spirit or worship in the Spirit (our heavenly language), the brain releases 2 chemical secretions that are directed into our immune systems giving a 35 to 40 percent boost to the immune system. This promotes healing within our bodies. Amazingly, this secretion is triggered from a part of the brain that has no other apparent activity in humans and is only activated by our Spirit-led prayer and worship!


Glossolalia influences on stress response among Apostolic Pentecostals: The data in this study suggest that glossolalia (speaking in tongues) is associated with a reduction in stress in response to normal stressors and significantly associated with positive mood and calmness. Obviously the reduction of stress is extremely helpful to one’s immune system and entire health. Stress damages the body. Peace heals it.

One study involved nearly 1,000 clergy members of a British evangelical group. The researchers found that the 80 percent who practiced glossolalia had greater emotional stability and less neuroticism. (Study by: L. Francis and M. Robbins. 2003. Personality and glossolalia: A study among male evangelical clergy. Pastoral Psychology 51:5.)


Speaking in Tongues Medical Study Proves Holy Spirit Praying: Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania took brain images of five women while they spoke in tongues and found that their frontal lobes — the thinking, willful part of the brain through which people control what they do — were relatively quiet, as were the language centers. 

When speaking in tongues, there was a decrease of activity in the frontal lobes and an increased activity in the thalamus (ie, the "third brain", where it is believed by some that we have spiritual experiences). Language areas are in the frontal lobes. The language that emerged during the state of glossolalia was highly structured, filled with clearly articulated phrases. This is a very unusual finding, for it suggests that the language was being generated in a different way, or possibly from someplace other than the normal processing centers of speech. For believers, this experience could be taken as proof that another “entity” had actually spoken through them. (These ideas were condensed from pages 200 and 201 of Born to Believe by Andrew Newberg, MD).

The regions involved in maintaining self-consciousness were active. “The amazing thing was how the images supported people’s interpretation of what was happening,” said Dr. Andrew B. Newberg, leader of the study team, which included Donna Morgan, Nancy Wintering and Mark Waldman. “The way they describe it, and what they believe, is that God is talking through them,” he said.


Click here to watch a free video interview with Dr. Newburg concerning his research on speaking in tongues.
6+ million people have viewed this as of Dec. 2020.

Click here to discover How to Receive The Baptism in the Holy Spirit & The Gift of Speaking In Tongues


I Want to Speak in Tongues Fluently - blog with some pointers

Check out the classic book They Speak with Other Tongues Kindle Edition by John Serrill. It provides fun, enjoyable, story-formatted reading. Highly recommended!

Books by Dr. Andrew Newberg, University of Pennsylvania

  1. How Enlightenment Changes Your Brain
  2. How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist
  3. Why We Believe What We Believe: Uncovering Our Biological Need for Meaning, Spirituality, and Truth
  4. Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief
  5. Born to Believe: God, Science, and the Origin of Ordinary and Extraordinary Beliefs
  6. Words Can Change Your Brain: 12 Conversation Strategies to Build Trust, Resolve Conflict, and Increase Intimacy
  7. Principles of Neurotheology (Ashgate Science and Religion Series)
  8. The Metaphysical Mind: Probing the Biology of Philosophical Thought

Go Deeper - Get Healthy!

Check out this entire blog series on Vibrant Health! - Miracles PLUS Gifts of Healings. Working through this series on health is ideal for both individuals and groups. The more we take responsibility for ourselves - spirit, soul and body - the healthier we become! Won't you join me in living to at least 100 in vibrant health?


The Treasure Chest – Spirit-Led Prayer Organizer: Devotionals to Meet Your Specific Needs


 

Related Blogs: 

Gifts of Healings   
Add new comment

Comments

Anonymous's picture

Quick comment: I speak in tongues. I am also an economist and a NT/practical theology professor. My wife is a biology professor.
Language correction - science can never "prove" or "disprove" anything. Scientific findings can support conclusions, they can draw conclusions, they can be described as making something more or less probable. But "science proves" is always a false statement.

Mark Virkler's picture

I totally agree with your comment so I have changed the word proves to "affirms."
It is also noteworthy that it is estimated that 95% of all scientific studies are flawed. So our confidence does not rest on scientific studies, but on the Bible and Holy Spirit revelation. Thank you.

Add new comment

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Results

Results 331 - 340 of 484

Pages

4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice Pre-Teen Edition eBook

4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice Pre-Teen Edition eBook

39 Pages

This ebook will ensure that your children learn to hear the voice of God. Generally young people can hear God’s voice easier than adults can! And by teaching them the four keys early on they will clearly recognize His voice as they grow up, positioning them to readily experience His maximum grace and goodness every day of their lives.

Price: $7.95

4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice: Teen Edition eBook

by Kay Velker and Mark Virkler | 164 Pages

Get your teens excited about hearing God's voice, two-way journaling and receiving divine vision! Keep them from going through teenage rebellion by teaching them how to hear from the Lord personally every single day of their lives. Give them a foundation that will let them accomplish more than they ever dreamed possible! 

Price: $9.95

49 Lies eBook – 49 Religious Lies Jesus Told Me to Stop Believing

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 112 Pages

If you have ever believed any of the following lies, then this book is for you: "Emotions are soulish;" "Money is evil or secular;" "It is wrong to seek vision;" "Don’t trust experiences;" "God gave me a mind and expects me to use it;" "Politics are evil;" God is always beating on me;" or one of 43 more such detestable lies...

Price: $11.95
Am I Being Deceived? eBook

Am I Being Deceived? eBook

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 110 Pages
Do you know where the boundaries are? Do you know the distinguishing traits of true Christianity, phariseeism, and the New Age Movement? You will after you have read this book. Set your borders straight, your vision high, and your passion at full steam ahead. Come explore true Christianity, phariseeism, and the New Age Movement.
Price: $12.99
Apprenticed to Leadership eBook

Apprenticed to Leadership eBook

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 74 Pages

Apprenticeship: "Soaking up the spirit and anointing of another."

Apprenticeship is the most time-honored approach to learning. It has proven itself through all of history, was used by Jesus of Nazareth to disciple the Twelve, and is being restored in America today by progressive educators.

Price: $10.95
Corporate Communion with God eBook

Corporate Communion with God eBook

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 35 Pages

Bring the principles of how to hear God's voice to your prayer meetings with the ideas recommended in this guide. As your prayer group encounters the spirit world, there are no limits to where God may wish to take you.

Price: $3.96
Eden's Health Plan - Go Natural! eBook

Eden's Health Plan - Go Natural! eBook

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 289 Pages

Discover how you can take charge of your own health — keeping yourself young, energetic, attractive, and free of degenerative diseases! Discover the biblical injunctions on diet and health, and the amazing correlations between them and modern scientific research.

Price: $19.95
EFT for Christians PDF eBook

Emotional Freedom Techniques - EFT for Christians: Tapping Into God's Peace and Joy ebook

by Charity Virkler Kayembe and Sherrie Rice Smith | 208 Pages | Published 2016

Scripture tells us that we comfort others with the comfort we ourselves have received (2 Corinthians 1:3–5). To the degree that we are healed and comforted, we can offer those same gifts much more freely to others.

Price: $15.99
Experiencing God Together eBook

Experiencing God Together eBook

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 105 Pages

This book teaches how to turn small group meetings into times of dynamic sharing of revelation concerning the real life issues we face daily. It addresses how to get everyone involved, how to limit the naturally talkative, and how to keep things on track.

Price: $12.95
Fulfill Your Financial Destiny PDF ebook

Fulfill Your Financial Destiny eBook

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 66 Pages

Though the economic system (mammon) of this world is under a curse, we have received instructions for how to move out from that dominion and into the blessing of the Kingdom of God. God’s promises to His children have not changed with the whims of government or Wall Street, nor have His directions for how to walk in those promises. We can “choose not to participate” in the economic recession that is around us if we instead choose to obey the logos and rhema of the Lord and enjoy the blessings that result.

Price: $9.95

Pages