Some say that if tongue-speaking does not come from God, the source must be Satan. It is possible that some tongue-speaking may originate from Satan. Jesus referred to him as the father of lies:

He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it (Jhn 8:44).

However, there can be tongue-speaking that originates from the speakers human nature. Someone, with the best of intentions, can speak out believing that he is speaking in tongues. If his utterance is not a gift from God, we do not need to attribute it to the devil, but rather to his own exuberance.

When speaking in tongues is exercised in a congregation there are basically four possibilities to its origin:

1. The tongue is an unknown language to the speaker but known to someone in the congregation.

2. The tongue is a known language in heaven but unknown to anyone on earth. In this case someone must give an interpretation.

3. The tongue is a non-rational ecstatic utterance that originates from the mind of the speaker.

4. The tongue-speaking is demonic and comes from a counterfeit spirit.

Whenever tongue-speaking is exercised, the believers are encouraged to test the spirits:

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world (1Jo 4:1).