This is another phenomena that is under major attack by other Christians and Christian groups. A number of us have had this particular manifestation occur, so we all know, without any shadow of a doubt, that this is truly a real manifestation from the Lord.
In my opinion, this is one of the neatest manifestations that you can receive from the Lord. I never cease to marvel and awe at this manifestation when I get the chance to hear it come into manifestation through someone else.
For those of you who have never had this manifestation occur – it is simply either God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit laughing through your spirit. It is God literally laughing through the Holy Spirit, who is already living on the inside of your human spirit.
It is God’s laughter when it occurs, it is not your laughter. When it manifests, it will bubble and erupt right out of your belly area.
How do you know when it is God laughing through your spirit rather than your own natural laughter manifesting? When it comes from God through the Holy Spirit, it is much more intense and powerful than your own natural laughter. When it is coming direct from the Lord, you will literally be laughing as hard as you can for as long as it lasts. It can last anywhere from 30 seconds to 10 or 15 minutes.
If it lasts up to 10-15 minutes, there is a good chance that your stomach muscles will be sore for a day or two following it due to the maximum intensity of the actual laughter itself. There is also an extreme amount of joy that will come with it when it does manifest.
One of my personal friends has had this manifestation occur about 4 or 5 times right over the phone while we have been talking.
The way that I know it is coming from the Holy Spirit rather than it being her own natural laughter is that when it starts to erupt in her, it is much more stronger and intense than her own belly laugh is. It also feels much more fuller than her own laughter.
Another clue I have when it is the Holy Spirit rather than her own natural laughter is the tone of it.
When it is the Holy Spirit, the laughter has a higher pitch to it than her own natural laughter does. Her own normal laughter surprisingly has a lower pitch or tone to it as versus when the laughter is coming in from the Holy Spirit.
With her, since I know what her normal laughter sounds like, I can always easily discern when the laughter is coming in from God, or when it is coming from her own natural self.
And the times that I have heard it erupt right in the middle of one of our phone conversations is really a true blessing because I know it is coming direct from God Himself, and I always feel honored and blessed that He would show Himself this way right in the middle of one our phone conversations.
When it does manifest right in the middle of one our phone conversations, I have noticed that it can occur for absolutely no reason at all.
In this case, I have always felt that God is simply releasing His joy and laughter into the situation as if He is simply enjoying our company.
The other times it will manifest is when one of us says something that seems to hit God’s funny bone. When His laughter then manifests off a particular statement, I always feel like I get a little bit of insight as to what may make God laugh.
Now here are some of the attacks that are coming from other Christians who simply do not understand this manifestation.
Arguments Against This Manifestation
Their arguments against this manifestation as being from the Lord are the following:
- Laughter is not the same thing as joy.
- Laughter is not one of the 9 gifts of the Spirit.
- Laughter is not listed as one of the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit. Joy is, but not laughter or laughing.
- God’s laughter is in no way imparted to the believer by the Holy Spirit.
- “Holy laughter” or “laughing in the Spirit” is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible as an actual verifiable manifestation.
Now to the argument that I feel will give us the correct angle in which to look at this manifestation from.
Arguments For This Manifestation
1. All of what they say is true per all of the above arguments. However, where they are missing the boat on in their arguments is the angle they are looking at this manifestation from. They are keying off the wrong Scripture verses.
The Bible says that God has made man in His image and likeness. We all know that many of our emotions are the same range of emotions that God has. We all have emotions such as love, joy, and sadness. And within our emotional structure is the ability to laugh.
If God has many of the same emotions we do since He has made all of us in the image and likeness of Himself, then it is only logical to conclude that God can and does laugh Himself. The Bible is full of stories showing the wide range of God’s emotions being expressed, with everything from extreme love, mercy, and kindness to furious anger and wrath.
There are also verses showing that God does have extreme joy and the ability to laugh within His personality.
So if God does have the actual ability to laugh Himself just like we all do – the 50 million dollar question is – can God manifest His laughter through the Holy Spirit on the inside of us where He is literally laughing through us?
Can He literally transmit His laughter through us as an actual manifestation?
I believe the answer is yes, and here is the verse that proves in my opinion that this laughing manifestation from the Lord can occur in us through the Holy Spirit.
“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and MANIFEST MYSELF to him … and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” (John 14:21-23)
I believe the two words “manifest Myself” are literal interpretation. I believe this verse is telling us that manifestations from God are possible to receive in this life.
We all have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us. It is through the Holy Spirit that these manifestations from God are being transmitted to us.
2. So if God can manifest some of His emotions on the inside of us where we can actually feel it, then it is only logical to conclude that God can also manifest His laughter on the inside of us. And we already know that God has plenty of joy and happiness within His own personality.
The above Scripture verse thus gives us the appropriate grounds in which to accept these emotional manifestations from the Lord on the inside of us through the Holy Spirit.
The Christians who are arguing against this manifestation are keying off the wrong Scripture verses. Just because laughter is not listed as one of the 9 fruits of the Spirit does not mean that it is not possible to receive it from the Lord.
For instance, the quality of boldness is not listed as one of the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit. However, the Bible is full of stories of God’s boldness being manifested through the Holy Spirit onto His people.
Just look of the story of Pentecost itself. The apostles were a timid bunch until they received the Holy Spirit in the upper room on Pentecost. When they came out of that room, they came out with God’s boldness and courage operating through them because they were all now Spirit-filled and Spirit-empowered.
The boldness of the Holy Spirit was now operating through them because they were going to need His boldness in order to start preaching the Gospel and get the ball rolling.
However, boldness is not listed as one of the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit. But there is no question that God can manifest His boldness through anyone should He choose to do so. And when He does decide to manifest His boldness through one of His own, it is an actual manifestation.
It is God’s boldness manifesting through you, it is not your own boldness.
So if God can manifest His emotion of boldness through you even though it is not listed as one of the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit, then again, it is only logical to conclude that God can also manifest His other emotions through you such as laughter, even though some of these other emotions such as laughter are not listed as one of the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
If any of you are ever faced with other Christians who will try and argue that this manifestation is not from the Lord, try giving them the above argument off the above Scripture verse.
As for myself, I really believe that the above verse from John is the appropriate verse in which to base not only this particular manifestation on, but also any other emotional manifestations that God would like to manifest to us through the Holy Spirit from time to time.
I am going to go ahead and do another article on this topic. The next article will be titled “Groaning in the Spirit” and will also be in the Miscellaneous Section of our site.
This is where God will manifest His pain and sadness through you on a particular situation that you may be dealing with. There are some real interesting things that will occur when this particular manifestation comes in on you.
I have had about two or three experiences with laughing and being slain in the spirit. My first experience was when I was at a youth type rival called “the fire conference” just in the middle of the message, when the pastor was speaking.. two girls started laughing uncontrollably, and came up to the front, and feel backwards. It looked like something hit them.. and it looked way too real for them just to put on the act. I was like “wow, did that really just happen?” then I started shaking uncontrollably I didn’t know what was happening then, I went up and it literately felt like a big, huge wind of Gods spirit hit my and I fell backwards, then was still shaking uncontrollably. This went on for about 10-15 minutes. Before this happened, I didn’t believe in this kind of stuff,and when I would hear about it, I was like “those people are crazy!” And “They just want attention” But when it happened to me, there’s no way that, that wasn’t God’s power. Because I experienced it myself. There are many biblical verses about people falling or not being able to stand in God’s presence. When God decides to reveal His holy spirit to us so much, it’s too much for our human bodies to handle, because God’s spirit is just that powerful. Just thought I might share this
I have experienced this once so far, only 2 nights ago!
I have been under a lot of stress lately because of a crisis situation in my life the last 4 months. So I went to a new (for me) Pentecostal church that is known for its manifestations of healing through the Holy Spirit.
Earlier that day I had been so very anguished and prayed to God that I could find rest in Him.
So I went to the service and within a few minutes I was crying. An elderly woman came on my left side and put her hand on my shoulder while she sang and spoke in tongues. She had the voice of an angel! Divine. And her language didn’t sound like the gibberish some people I have heard speak in tongues.
It was very emotional for me and before long I was sobbing, then I dropped to my knees. Deep, deep cries, sobs, from all the pain and anguish of the last months of dealing with my situation.
Then singing, beautiful singing came. I soon found myself, singing also, praising Him in a voice I didn’t know I had! It was so beautiful and I felt so free to heap Praise and thanks on Him through singing.
After about 30 minutes of singing and worshiping Jesus Christ I began laughing as if the Holy Spirit was making me laugh. I’d never experienced this before and I felt like I hadn’t had a proper laugh in at least 6 months. Yet here I was having big belly laughs!
It was as if God was laughing at the whole silly situation I am in, giving me the sense I have nothing to worry about. For Him my problem is nothing, like flicking a piece of dust away.
However, the thing I felt most profoundly was the sense of finding rest in HIm. I thank Him for this experience. Later, I walked out of the service wondering, “What just happened in there?”
I have also had the experience of shaking uncontrollably in the Holy Spirit in 2006. It was about 4 months after first accepting Jesus (as a last resort as I’d tried everything else) after being ill for 2 years with chronic fatigue and other health problems.
After being prayed for and anointed with oil, I shook on the ground for at least 20 minutes. After it was over I was walking back to my car and felt an incredible sense of energy and power in my solar plexus region. I also realised I was walking faster than usual! (I had previously struggled with fatigue and lack of energy). After this experience my energy remained high as it still does.
All praise, thanks and glory to Jesus Christ.
@Paul, God wasn’t laughing at your situation, He was filling you with His JOY, which is where your strength will come from. Nehemiah 8:10.
Anyone who has a sincere belief in the infallability of God’s Word could never endorse this manifestation as being from God. Just because the experience was real or positive does not make it from God. There have been documented manifestations which are exactly the same in the New Age movement. One has to be very careful accepting something that is not in the Bible. Very simple discernment suggests that one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is self-control. Any manifestation resulting in a person losing his or her self-control is not from the Holy Spirit. Even those who fell prostrate before the Lord in the Bible, did so in total awe of God. They were worshipping Him from the heart and were not knocked backwards. How could God force someone to laugh or shake or fall backwards against their will and exhibit manifestations which are clearly not from the fruit of self-control. This may well be part of the last days deception which will almost deceive His elect. I had a similar experience years ago of being pushed over at a meeting by a force. I have since discerned that it was not from God. The fact that the attention is drawn away from Jesus and onto the manifestation should sound an alarm since it is very clear that the Holy Spirit will always give glory to Jesus and remind us of His teaching.
Brother, do you speak in tongues? If not then you may be speaking from inexperience. When I pray in the Spirit, the Spirit laughs eventually. I’m not sure what is going on but I’m at peace over a situation; quite happy actually. If you are filled with the Holy Spirit and praying IN the spirit, how can a demonic force laugh from within you? Remember, one breath from Jesus kills the devil. Demonic spirits can not live within a body of a true believer.
There are demonic tongues, so speaking g in tongues is not evidence that it’s the Holy Spirit’s manifestation but simply that it’s a spiritual manifestation. I see “believers” delivered from demonic stuff all the time, so being a “true believer” is a somewhat subjective statement that must be tested.
Amen, The Bible says, not to add or take away from the Bible.
Holy laughter is not biblical, laughter is an emotion
Laughter is not in the fruits of the spirit but self-control is.
God is not an author of confusion
I agree with the above. Unfortunately, your only arguments in support of this being a manifestation of the joy of the Lord comes from your own inference of the scripture- we are not God, and the Bible is the written word of God. We do not create or add the bits in that we experience and think are from God. I would be so wary of claiming that this is from the Holy Spirit when there is NO biblical foundation to that claim. Just because you experience something, does not make it a Holy Spirit manifestation. I also find it a little naive how you describe the distinction between normal laughter and Holy Spirit laughter; just because there is a difference, does not mean this is Holy laughter. We are living in a world in which the Holy Spirit and Satan are constantly in battle, and many of the so-called “manifestations of the Holy Spirit” are in fact a manifestation of the demonic forces, so I would be SO CAREFUL of not making ANY assumptions if you ever have this experience. Ultimately, YOU do not define what is and what isn’t a gift of the Holy Spirit, God has defined that in His word, and that is that. There’s no grey area when it comes to His word. And I believe in the gifts of the Spirit, so am not coming from a belief that the canon is closed and God has given His final revelation; I believe He continues to speak to us.
@Free, sign of breakthrough chains have been lifted and broken your joy was restored I don’t know what he’s talking about
@Elisha, yes self control is a fruit of the spirit, but losing control can happen while being spirit filled. Look at jesus, he was a man filled with gods spirit, yet he lost control and got angry with the money changers and turned over all the tables at the temple did he not? If our lord jesus christ can lose control and experience anger while being filled with the spirit, is it too far fetched to think we can lose control in laughter when filled with the spirit?
@Bron,
Not true brother… When you seek His face…. You receive from Him. If you ask for a pear fruit would the Holy Spirit then give you a serpent ? This, does not line up with God’s promises.
Just because it may not seem scriptural to others & not understood does not mean it is not of God !!
I have been before the alter pouring my cup out in groanings & at times just about screaming my pain to the Lord & when I’ve fully emptied out, the Lord hits me with the Joy, which is laid manifest through Laughter & laughter comes from God. We are made in His image & likeness so if we can laugh, just imagine how much more intense His laugh is.. God Bless !!
@Rose, wow. You believe in demons being able to control/manifest a Christian while in worship to God, denying that the Holy Spirit is able to produce joy in our spirits with laughter? Are you giving the devil more credit and power than the Holy Spirit? How do you explain the Bible verses about the Holy Spirit ascending on Christians during Pentecost, causing them to speak in tongues? I pray God gives you His spirit of laughter so you can experience His presence. There’s nothing demonic about it.
@Stephen,
Please brother, Jesus did not lose control. If you read the scripture, it states, “And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise — John 2:15–16”.
He took time to make the scourge to be able to drive them out. That is not the act if someone who lost control but of someone who acted with purpose to drive the wrong things out.
Some how I find this manifestation being from God is strange, and I doubt it to be true, since it seems silly where an Awesome God would like us to behave like mad people. Nevertheless, put everything to test. Well, being filled with joy n happiness and exhibiting that type of emotions and laughing what sounds normal to any person is fine, only difference being may be lauhging even during great problems or trials in life. like laughing away with the problem and saying that it has no control over us since Jesus has overcome everthing for us.
Well, in brief, as the Bible tells us put to test every inspiration whethr from God or not. likewise put any manifestation too to test the fruits of it. If it’s against God’s words and your life style, attitude, character is not based on how the Spirit of God would lead one, then be sure those manifestations are not from God, rather from the deceiver the enemy for all children of God.
Beware my friends and seal yourself with the Precious Blood of Jesus and invoke the power of the Holy Spirit daily in your lives. God bless
i would just like to say that i believe this is from God! its a really overwhelming feeling! i have gotten this laughter numerous times and i strongly believe that what Galatians 5:22 about the fruits of the Spirit, and one of them being joy is true! During worship usually when i sing like no one else is in the room, joy fills my belly and i get so full of joy that it spurts out in laughter!
i also think that God gives people joy who are going through depression or something, and that’s what i have been experiencing lately!!
Nice article. Here are some comments that may add additional light to this occurrence.
Genesis 21:6 Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”
If Sarah had cause to rejoice and laugh because of her son, how much more cause do we have for the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord into our hearts! Let us be like Sarah and say, :” God has brought me laughter (because HE has given Himself to be with me, in me and around me always) and all who hear me will laugh with me.
Job 8:21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with shouts of joy.
Ecclesiastes 3:4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
The days of mourning have passed. Before Jesus we wept, mourned and were hopeles but now, we have a hope, a future a destiny and the days of mourning have passed. Before Jesus we wept, with Jesus we laugh for He has filled our life with Joy. With Jesus mourning and weeping end, Laughter and dancing begin! Rejoice!
Matthew 25:21
His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
Truly, we have entered into the Joy of our Father and indeed we must also share in his happiness. When he laughs, we laugh.
I also came across these scriptures, but don’t take away what’s pleasing to the ear… I truly believed that holy laughter was from God, but it’s nowhere in the Bible and those certain scripture that you used read the entire passage. Especially Job, you took that out of context.
Please don’t write this off. I have witnessed this holy laughter at a conference about God’s Manifest Presence. At the same conference people were healed and set free! And, just because It was new to me, I did not automatically decide it was wrong or not from God.
In Acts chapter 2: the apostles received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the onlookers thought they were drunk (verse 13). Indeed, when people laugh in the spirit they do appear a littlle drunk but it is much more intense than that and the difference is the sheer Joy! God is pouring out his Spirit.
Peter quotes the book of Joel in Acts 2:17-21. Signs and wonders are not always from the dark side! Verse 19 says “God will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below”. Who are we to question God’s ways? We are living in the last days NOW. I believe we will see a lot more signs and wonders than just holy laughter! Please, lighten up and be joyful and don’t be quick to condemn the things you don’t understand. God has a wonderful sense of humour and humour includes laughing! Don’t assign God to a small box. Dig deep and search for the things of God. When you seek Him you’ll find Him. There is SO much more to God than what you give Him credit for. God Bless You.
Seeker, don’t just “cheery pick” a verse but instead read the whole chapter, before verse 13, chapter 2 of acts, in verse 4 says “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” and verse 11 says “both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
The key words there are this “…began to speak in OTHER TONGUES (not laughing) as the Spirit enabled them.”, and “…”…we hear them telling in our OWN TONGUES…” and then verse 13 says that people looked at them as if they were drunk.
They were not laughing (in the spirit) but they were speaking in TONGUES as the Spirit enabled them that is why people thinks that they were drunk.
Now would anyone comment in this section, please give me scriptures as proofs that “laughing in the spirit” is recorded in the Bible? You call it a manifestation of the Holy Spirit? Well Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit, in fact there was no one in the Bible more filled with the Holy Spirit than Him and not once does the Bible ever record Him laughing.
If “laughing in the spirit” is actually a manifestation of the Holy Spirit, then how come it isn’t recorded in the Bible? The only manifestation of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Bible is speaking in other tongues.
“ACTS 10:43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them SPEAKING IN TONGUES[b](not laughing in the spirit) and praising God.”
In John 15:11 Jesus talks about the apostles having His joy. If He was not a generally happy person, why would He say this? There would logically need to be joy in Him that someone would want. It is only logical that He can and does laugh. Why couldn’t contact with Him make you laugh, just as if you are around any other happy person? He is closer to us than anyone else; He lives inside us. So, His emotions should rub off on us more, not less, than other people’s, unless we are just ignoring Him.
Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.John 21:25
The problem with manifestations of this type is that they are subjective. It is all very well to say that you have experienced laughter which is not your own, and it must be from God because it felt good, or it felt right etc. If scripture doesn’t confirm that these types of manifestations are from the Spirit of God, then we need to test the spirits. Manifestations are fine, but do they bring edificaction? Even Paul warned of speaking in tongues in the wrong way, and making sure there was an interpretation otherwise things were not being done in order.
The verses about people falling under God’s power always relate to judgement, not blessing.
The verses quoted above about laughter do not mention the type of laughter discussed in these comments. That kind of laughter is the laughter of the joy of the Lord where we laugh out of the blessing which comes from God, and it is more like a shout of joy, rather than this kind of laughing which is, as many have attested, overwhelming. God does not overwhelm people or cause them to fall over, or lose consciousness, or be ‘slain’ in the spirit. Nowhere in the book of Acts or the day of Pentecost were these sorts of things in evidence. If you are seeing these sorts of things, always remember that Satan can manifest as an angel of light. He can make these sorts of experiences so exciting or peaceful or joyful, yet it is still not from God but another Spirit. I know people who have experienced this don’t want to accept that it might not be from God, and people who question the experience are always seen as ‘fuddy-duddys’, but better to be cautious and sober-minded in order to avoid deception, knowing how the enemy works, than just accept anything which comes our way simply because others are telling you it ‘must be from God’.
Now knowing Jesus now dwells in us through the Holy Spirit which gives us the same power as Jesus himself. As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground John 18:6. No judgement here just power. So if Jesus had that power when he spoke and now when he speaks through us His power can manifest. I have tried to lay hands on people and couldn’t because as soon as I started praying in the spirit and put my hands up to pray on folks they went down from the power.
During a revival a couple of weeks back there was an altar call for any to be prayed for. As I waited…the pastor approached me and it hit me…it began deep in the belly and was uncontrollable…while everyone else was sobbing…there I stood doing a miserable job of suppressing this incredible laughter. I assure to everyone reading this that there was a spiritual healing for me that night! It lingered on with me after I left church and anyone witnessing my behavior could classify me as drunk…as in the book of a Acts! The most amazing part is that there was an uninhibited desire to tell anyone and everyone about Jesus! I have a hard time with the critics that would say this was from the devil. One must be very careful. The religious group credited the healings of Jesus to be of the Devil because they had never witnessed anything like that before either. God Bless!
Thanks for sharing, Gary. I also had similar instances in the past. The desire to share Jesus is extremely strong. That is a great point.
I’m not impressed by this article…! Our christian emphasis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit should be on the basis of the scripture. Noting the down the scripture passages from here and there shows how selfish we are to hold our own made experimental theology (laughing in the spirit). We believe in the cannon of the Bible., so, we should not try promote this kind of unbiblical phenomenon to be practiced in the churches…!
I’ve only ever experienced this kind of thing once in my life as a Christian in 2011 as I wrote about below when I first started attending that particular church. It’s never happened to me again since that time, and it doesn’t need to. I believe it was a manifestation and example of the Lord’s wonderful, bountiful Grace bestowed upon me in my time of deep crisis. Prior to that he has done even more wonderful things for me in my life (for example healing me fully and completely from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in 2006) but that is a story that belongs in my testimony.
As Scripture says: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him.”
I still believe up until this day that it was from the Lord Jesus, a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Some people here are suspicious of it and I understand that for there are many deceptions in this world.
But I say: ‘What has been the fruit in my life since that experience 2.5 years ago?’ Have I grown to know the Lord Jesus Christ in a deeper way since then ? YES. Do I still attend the same church? YES. Am i still praying, reading the Word, pursuing and hungry for the presence of the Lord Jesus? YES.
Hi
I am a Pentecostal Christian for 31 yrs. I started experiencing this gift in 2009 when I came back from work and my spirit was getting a great desire to just worship God. I put my bag down and just lifted my hands and started praising God. As I started speaking in tongues I started laughing while speaking in tongues. It was coming from the belly. I could not stop laughing and sat down as my stomach started aching from the laughter. I shared it with a pastor and found that it was the Gift of Joy from the Holy Spirit. A miracle always followed whenever I laughed in worship speaking in tongues. on 8 March I attended a crusade and a Pastor gave a prophecy and as the fire of the Holy Spirit fell over me I burst out laughing . I lay on the floor laughing and laughing in spirit and just praising God. I could not get up until it stopped. It is awesome and one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that I truly and blessed to have.
God Bless
Hello
I am sorry to hear that your brother has passed away due to illness.
I looked at your biblical reference for ‘laughing uncontrollably’ as a manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
In my thinking there should be more than one scripture reference to the experience of the type of manifestations that you are endorsing here as coming from God and the Holy Spirit.
I think that we have to look at this as a manifestation coming from our spirit toward God, rather than God or the Holy Spirit manifesting ‘laughter’ in us, so to speak. The Holy Spirit ‘groans on our behalf’ when he sees our heart. He does this in order to express to God. What would our ‘uncontrolled laughter’ be saying to God? I have laughed in a church in service but not uncontrollably.
When we have the manifestation of ‘speaking in tongues’ it is not God manifesting himself to us, it is us speaking and communing with God. . Or it is us prophesying in tongues and having this ‘tongues’ interpreted in a service for the edification and encouragement, admonition, of the body.
Linda
Hi Linda
I read your post and wanted to share something from my own experience as I experience a few different manifestions during worship including laughing in Tongues uncontrollably.
I went through a lot of persecutions in life bcos of my faith and the anointing grew as I spent a lot of time in Prayer, fasting and worship. There came a time where I started experiencing this gifting. My life went in tears everyday for over 3 yrs and more than 6 yrs for it to come to a stage where it started to slowly go away.
When I started laughing in tongues a miracle would always follow for the person I was being led to pray for. People in Church also doubted it and said it was demonic spirit which had hurt me so I stopped worshipping in church. Since this gift was given by God, God spoke to me through His Holy Spirit and said ” Focus on the Cross and Run your Race”. After that Pastors came and started prophecing over my life which confirmed this being a gift from God. Then I saw not only myself but others manifesting the same gift in evangelical meetings. The answer to this gift is Acts when the “Fire” of the Holy Spirit was poured out on people. Even at that time people didn’t understand what was happening but it was the fire of the Holy Spirit being poured out on them. My experience of it is I love that presence. I enjoy worshipping God and His presence as I worship laughing in tongues. Recently I was prayed by an evangelist and he prophecised and then I started praising God jumping and fell down laughing unbearably worshipping God while I was lying on the floor …. It is the presence of God’s anointing. At that place of worship I found my self seeing visions and receiving revelations from God.
It is from God.
Hi All,
I never understood this manifestation until it happened to me. I was being prayed for by a man of God under unction of the Holy Spirit (He called me out of the croud in a fellowship). During the prayer I felt the anointing and whilst I’ve cried under the anointing before, I was expecting to cry but instead came these peals of laughter it was such a strong laughter and I was crying, tears streaming down my face onto the floor but I was laughing powerfully under the Holy Spirit. I already knew what it meant because I had received a prophecy about it from another believer also through laughter, it was God expressing victory and confirming that my season of victory had come and the season of tears was over it was like God is laughing the way you will laugh when He has done all the good things He has planned for you or when God is laughing at His enemies who have been against a believer (as recorded in the Old Testament Psalms). Be blessed. Just a caution if you’re not sure about something please neither curse nor bless but just focus on the Lord and your walk with Him and you will grow into whatever He wants for you.
Respected in Christ
your topics are very very helpful for us as we are in ministry in a totally backward and unreached area of (Punjab )India.The topic on laughing once I heard before 15 years but i have never seen any manifestation.But three months before an old man above 60 came to our church and after three Sundays he started laughing in worship and kept shouting in a high tone we did not understand what is going inside him as he had no teeth so it was difficult.after that day whenever we meet him he says he has peace and joy in him that he can not explain ,even I also fill with joy when I look at his face
is this how to holy spirit works under biblical terms? this type of activity does not induce self control which is one of the fruits of the spirit. this is not a work of the holy spirit because their is no self control. Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. we are also suppose to test the spirits. 1 john 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. the bible also warns us against false prophets who shall perform miraculous signs and wonders. Matthew 24:24 False Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. we have to to watch and be careful because many people will be deceived by these signs. also the bible tells us what will happen to these false prophets who glorify themselves more than following god and his word. Matthew 7:21-23 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
I personally have never had this experience. However, if I interpret your response as accurate, that means if I break out laughing at a funny joke, I don’t have self-control. That means no Christian who laughs in life has self-control. There re times in life that I laughed so hard at something that it brought tears to my eyes. Does that mean I didn’t have self-control? I find that very hard to align with the God I know.
Dear beloved
I was asked the same question : holy spirit is gentle. I had no answer for this so I only replied, as long as my mouth is saying Jesus is my Lord and my savior and my hands are being lifted to worship God, I am safe in my saviours hands.
I asked God to explain it to me. His answer to me was : what happened on the day of Pentecost. The “Fire” of the Holy Spirit fell on believers. Its not normal speaking in tongues. Its the “FIRE” of the Holy Spirit. When a beliver receives fire it burns and it is not gentle. It is gentle on the soul of the believer but violent in destroying the work of the darkness. I received confirmation on what the Holy Spirit revealed through another evangelist Daniel Kolanda who preached same. When a person is on Fire , that person will run , jump and be on fire..
This yr God showed me “davids sling during worship. 3 days later I laughed in tongues during an evangelistic meeting during worship, with a prophetic word being released. The evangelist didn’t stop me during the worship.
after the service when he prayed for me I went under anointing and fell and saw Jesus in my vision , and started laughing uncontrollably …… as if I was making fun of someone.. eventually the translation of the prophetic word came ” The devil is defeated”. and I continued laughing uncontrollably rolling on the ground and was making a mockery of the devil that he was defeated. The evangelist had put his hand on my throat and my stomach to stop it. It went off as soon as he prayed “Enough God”. it was like someone pulled a plug off all of a sudden.
over 12 yrs the devil tried to kill me and God gave me this victory. same week I received a miracle. the witchcraft that was done on me was sent back to those who sent it to destroy me. the vision I received for davids sling and laughing in tongues and the prophetic word all lined up and all this happened in just one week one by one.
I noticed that a Miracle will always follow when ever I laugh in tongues. it is real and it is from God.
This happened to me one day I was worshipping at home. It was a laughter that I could literally feel flowing out of my body and the joy imparted to me i reflect on when I’m walking through hard times in life. I am thankful for that moment!
Hello,
I never experienced laughter in the spirit but I do worship in the spirit on a daily basis. I would like to know what does this exactly mean? It’s like my own personal radio of gospel music in my heart. It feels great. just wondering what i should do with it?
I love this website. Im learning so much. cant wait to hear a response
I know that this is real because as i was praying in the spirit i started laughing hard and uncontrollable to the point that i started coughing. I had an sensation of feeling so light. Then i heard the lord say he was delivering me and restoring my joy. I also heard in the spirit laughter is medicine to your bones. First time i ever experienced that. God awesome
I experienced this for the first time this morning and it was AMAZING! During this experience I felt like I saw life in a different light and because of that view point it made me laugh more and more and I just couldn’t stop laughing.
I come from a mixed spiritual environment, some community groups I link up with are very Charismatic where others aren’t. Therefore when mystical experiences happen to me I sometimes get mixed reviews. I can’t deny the mystical experiences that continue to happen so I know it is from God.
Praise God Jared
I just wanted to encourage you that no matter what anyone says about this gifting never turn back or doubt it.
I had been questioned by leaders as they never experienced it or saw it and it is normal. I came to this site only in search of the answer for I was also confused when it started happening to me. I have been laughing in tongues many times in worship and it is not experienced by everyone but you can witness these manifestations mostly in evangelical meetings… I first saw it in evangelist Reign Hard Bonnkes meeting .
Just want to encourage and advice you that never doubt it and keep moving forward…God will open up more if you continue….never listen to people
God Bless…
Thank you for this message on laughter and joy. Over a year ago after I decided to support someone in prayer, I would laugh! Eventually every time I prayed in the Spirit I would laugh too. I often laugh during worship and in my personal prayer times.
When the regular laughter started I was going through some very difficult things, and since I had to drive alot, sometimes I prayed in the Spirit for 2 hours straight. After working ridiculous hours day after day and struggling on with my work , as well as other issues, I’d get back to my hotel room and lift my hands to the Lord and start to pray. Instead of words, out would come laugher! I had not one reason to laugh, but the Lord blessed me with a supernatural joy. This joy and laughter pretty much comes all the time that I pray now.
About three years ago, after initially confessing my struggles and difficulties, I would regularly break down in tears during meetings and in intimate times with the Lord. Mid way during a ten evening outpouring conference meeting, I was a broken man with so much pain coming out from deep within. Later that night I couldn’t get off the floor due to laughter and joy! On numerous occasions since, I’ve cried and laughed. The tears have become less and less and the joy more and more. Now I just seem to have have incredible joy and laughter at most meetings!
I was Spitually backslidden, and I often lacked self control and seemed to always fall back into sinful ways. The Lord has delivered my of all this! It’s Him that has done it, not me! It has come by spending time in His presence and in seeking Him. The joy of the Lord is my strength! … He is the best! Sin doesn’t hold on me like it did and I have so much more self control. I also have a passion for the Lord!
Grace and peace to you all! I remember in the morning I was praying in the Spirit in the shower and I (out of nowhere) just said “The yokes of oppression are broken” three times, as I did I saw what looked like a Goliath falling in an open vision. Once I got myself together, I went on to work. The remaining time on my lunch break I spent praying in the Spirit in the locker-room when I remembered hearing about singing in tongues, so I did. I was worshipping and enjoying it, when I just started laughing! For the first few minutes I was kinda not sure what was happening but I just yielded and let it happen. It started around 1:16-1:26 pm and kinda started settling around 3 ish. But even afterward that day and a couple days afterward, I noticed a boldness I never had, full of joy and peace, it was amazing. God had to have done it cause the devil’s kingdom ain’t divided or else how could it stand? I can go for another round lol I had a flashback of when I would get tipsy and it reminded me of those times; I was on the floor and couldn’t stop laughing lol. I would that everyone have that experience often!
Hi Bro, I am surprised to read your vision as I saw ” David’s sling” in a vision during worship on 28th Feb this yr 2016. God gave me a victory from oppression from the devil.
I laughed in the tongues in the evangelical mtg in that same week and ” a prophetic word was released ” the devil is defeated” and I laughed uncontrollably in tongues.
I learnt over few months that the witchcraft that was done to oppress and destroy me was sent back to the pple who had done it on the same day I was released.
your Vision just gave me a confirmation.
God Bless you
I too have had the spirit of god baptise me this way, i was filled with this uncontrollable laughter, i felt warm from head to toe and full of joy! This IS god at work and god works in mysterious ways people, dont forget that.
And some people take the bible completely to littoraly. The bible is full of contradictions and mistakes, not forgetting the book was put together by the roman church, who chose only a few books to put in the new testament while burning hundreds if not thousands of other gospels by people filled in the spirit. God gave me the wisdom to see this for what it is. Man is fallible and the bible is written by fallible man so yes their will be contradictions and mistakes, thats acceptable even to god, it doesn’t take away the fact these men were or wasnt filled with the spirit of god.
In the book of john even jesus said you will see greater things than this. You know nothing is impossible to god so why doubt what god can manifest in who he chooses to manifest. Dont be a person that lives on scripture alone, test the spirits as has been written, ask and pray to god that if what you are reading is true and weather he would manifest his laughter into you.
I promise you will not refret it 🙂
Oh my, this is why the church has needs. They need something more, not the “old Bible”. Can and does God speak in our hearts, of course, but those words have to be tested, judged by an unchangeable standard. That is His preserved word. Jesus said “if you continue in my word, you are my disciples”
“The Words I speak to you are Spirit and life”. David said, thy Word have I put in my heart that I won’t sin against you! Most don’t know the eternal truths in His Word and when they don’t, error. I was sucked into a cult because they said they had the truth. It looked like light, but was darkness. Just study to show thyself approved, rightly dividing the Word of truth.
I just experienced this beautiful phenomenon with my friend and there is no way anyone can tell me this was not of God. It came right after I spoke an encouraging statement. The bible records in more than one verse that God laughs in the heavens. If God can laugh, He can laugh through the Holy Spirit who is in us? Makes sense?? Also, there are times when the Holy Spirit prays through me and I can’t control it! Why can’t laughter manifest in this way?
Psalms 37:13
Psalms 2:4
I am happy to read about this topic, because l have experience it often time, mostly after praying in the spirit or doing worship. l want you to know that God work in a mysterious way, His way are not our way and you cannot comprehend Him. If He choose to manifest Himself in us who can question Him. John 14:23
23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. “
All delusions manifested by evil to keep the real joy and peace of the Lord at bay… run and flee from this demonic practice… thus saith the Lord. they are not speaking from Me, and I did not call them. the devil masquerades as a angel of light and most today are ignorant of his schemes. He will always appeal to the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eye, hasn’t changed his modus operandi since the garden of Eden, why should he when so many are naive and gullible.
From quite a bit of experience within the last year, to me, deep belly laughs are a sign of FREEDOM, from the chains, bonds & yokes that I had been carrying for years and years. Once I laid them at the foot of the cross and REALLY surrendered it all to Jesus, once and for all, I started to feel that peace that passes ALL understanding. Then it hits me that I really am forgiven. “What sin, what past, Jesus asks?” Then I’m overjoyed. I can’t control it, He’s laughing through me, and WITH me. There’s true freedom behind that laughter.
There is more scriptural evidence telling us to test the spirits against scripture than there is to “god manifesting his laughter” through us. I’d like one scriptural reference to Jesus laughing.
One of the fruits of the spirit is self control”. Point blank, how can it be from god if it contradicts his spirit?
Satan is an expert at mimicking joy. Where you go looking for an “other worldly” experience, Satan will be waiting right there to give you one.
Just because you feel it’s from god, doesn’t mean it is. Dive a little deeper into scripture.
I found this page because I had to see if someone else had just experienced what I just did. It was better than all the Christmases and birthdays and fun times I’ve ever had.
I have always been an optimist. I try to find the joy, the silver lining, the good — whatever positive thing there is to be found — in each situation. But that all changed years ago. The man I married tends to be very negative and untrusting. He was attracted to my joy when we met. However over the years of our marriage I became more like him. Angry all the time, depressed and sad. I developed a very short temper, and became sarcastic and untrusting. Instead of sharing my joy with him, in my heart I accused him of stealing it. Lately, I’ve been desperate for my joy to return. Desperate for that bright-eyed approach to life, I turned on him and begged him to stop stealing my joy. It wasn’t getting through. I would cry and become angry, telling him that it’s his fault I’m like this.
Recently, I began to dig back into God’s Word. Spending time each day studying Scripture and praying. I think I expected instant joy to return, but it seemed that the anger would bubble up in me again no sooner than I was done. But I believe that I was seeking God for my own selfish reasons and not for His glory. Today, something changed. I was so angry at my husband this morning. I wouldn’t speak to him, I could only cry a little and tell him I didn’t want to talk about it. I dropped him off at work, came home and got into my daily devotional, begging God to help me. I didn’t know what to do anymore. I felt like the only way I would have a better life is to divorce my husband. But I also knew in my heart that was not God’s answer, that was my way of finding a way out. Ultimately, I don’t want to be separated from my husband. I want him to experience the life-changing joy of the Lord.
So, after my devotion and prayer, I jumped in the shower to get ready for my day. Normally, I play some music while I’m in there, I love to sing. But this time, I forgot to set it up so I was left to myself. I began to sing one of the older worship songs (There’s Something About That Name). That’s my go to. Singing the name of Jesus comes to me in times of desperation. Then the song The Joy of the Lord is My Strength popped in my head and I began to sing it. I got to the second verse that says “He give me living water and I thirst no more” and something came over me. I felt choked up like I was about to burst into tears but it became laughter. Loud, long laughter. I couldn’t stop laughing! And like you mention in your article, it wasn’t my normal laughter. It sounded almost foreign to me but it was SO DELIGHTFUL! It was truly a belly laugh, a bubbling over of joy that could not be contained. My stomach muscles began to tighten from not being used in this way for so many years. I can honestly say I have NEVER laughed like this. It wasn’t maniacal, it was delightful. As I laughed words filled my head and I began to speak them out loud: “This is the Glory of the Lord, this is the Glory of the Lord”. God was revealing Himself to me in that moment. The strength I was seeking came from His joy this morning. I knew in that moment the joy I was seeking had not been STOLEN by my husband or anyone else for that matter. I had given it away, bit by bit, over the years, and had allowed a self-indulgent, self-centered way of thinking to replace it, which opened the door to anger and depression.
Once the laughter died down, I didn’t feel exhausted or drained like one would think. I felt EMBOLDENED and STRONG. I began to pray out loud for my husband, my marriage, standing in the gap and rebuking Satan and his attempts to steal and destroy. My husband isn’t a strong Christian, but he’s seeking. I felt bold and filled with righteous anger, rebuking Satan repeatedly and telling him “YOU WILL NOT PASS!”
This is not my normal, daily life experience. And I’ll admit, had I seen it happen to someone else, I would have been skeptical. But it was — and is — real and genuine. To the person who commented about “self-control” and how this isn’t Biblical, I fiercely disagree. We are to exhibit self-control when it comes to sin — but when it comes to the Glory of the Lord, take me away. God wasn’t angry with me for laughing, He was filling me up with joy overflowing. I believe it’s because I stopped looking to my husband to refill it by changing his attitude. I looked to my Father, the AUTHOR of my joy, this time.
“Take me past the outer courts, take me into the Holy Place, Lord I want to see your face.”
This was, and is, the Glory of the Lord. I’ve received it, I will not discard it or give it away. I will spend time each day renewing it.
Thank you Lord for such a gift. I was at my end this morning and You filled me with Your joy and Your glory surrounded me.
LOVE YOUR TESTIMONY. I totally agree with your assessment of your life and how the Lord brought you out. Don’t listen to the stiff neck people who can’t laugh. I guess the CHILDREN OF GOD were totally out of line when they realized what God had done for them? I guess scripture is showing you what not to do when you realize how GOOD GOD has been to you?
Psa 126:1 A Song of degrees. When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.
Psa 126:2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.
Psa 126:3 The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.
Or maybe God himself is out of line as scripture records these examples
Psa_37:13 The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.
Psa_52:6 The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him:
Psa_59:8 But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision.
Dig deep in scriptures???? How about this basic Test, If it goes against the Character of God then reject it. In other words, if God wouldn’t do it then you shouldn’t either. So let’s see if that holds up with Laughter? Does God Laugh? Does He approve of Laughter? THEN LAUGH. To the one who thinks LAUGHING isn’t of God must not believe that God wants you healed as Scientist has discovered that Laughter supports what the bible says. ” Laughter does good like a medicine”. If you ( the person who was so negative against Christine ) really think that we serve a God who doesn’t look at the enemies plans and LAUGHS then I have to question if you checked your brain at the door when you got saved (providing that you did, Romans 10:9-10) or you just have a hard heart.
Christine, Keep Laughing, and from time to time have God tickle you with his Joy!!!!
I am indeed happy for you and pray His grace will continue upon you to fill you up with His love, peace and joy ever lasting in Jesus name.
Today there is alot of the world in the church. new age occult word of faith prosperity message. Satan can do anything that looks like God did this for me. That is why we need to check and line up everything with scripture. There is alot of witch craft gone on in churches today and say this is from God. I know cause a lot that happen to me over the past 20 plus years in the church was not from God . It was satan and my flesh. I was led down a road that left me in spiritual bondage and strong holds. I had to leave the church I was in when They started to put curses on me. I am no longer able to work. I went through a lot of demonic occult evil works manifest out of me. I to was slain in the spirit aleast I throught it was at the time. I would even roll up and down the row in the church I was in during a week of prayer meeting. At the time I thought this was of God. When it was nothing but witch craft. I was speaking in tonughes for awhile I thought it was of God to . Was never of God. Satan turns himself into an angel of light. The head is sick meaning the pastors. and the body is dieing meaning the church. church know your bible. I went back to KJSV. only. all other bibles leave out words like the NIV I found out that Bible was written by an unbeliever new age.. All these new bibles are written by Man Not the holy spirit. The Lord said no one is to add or take away from this book the bible. no wonder people are confused and deceive . Because they go by man and man also goes by experience . Never was man to rewrite the bible and leave out words change the real meaning of the word of God. So who’s bible you read you belive that is the man you follow. Wake up church. the world is in the church . we sre to come out of the world when we become born again. WhenI would let people know this is not of God. The answer I got a lot of times is I am not trusting God. Those same people believe the lie and are deceive. Christians are into deception cause they are falling for any thing today. we are to humble our self and take up the cross and follow him Daily. There are false pastors and teachers in the world more and more today who just want money as their God . So They peach a feel good message and say all the right things when in fact it comes from the pit of hell. People fall this false doctrine. Wake up church. if it’s not in the bible then its not true. read the KJSV only. Jesus Is coming very soon.
I am now 71 y.o . Experienced the baptism in the spirit year 1977 in the catholic church Ormoc Leyte Philippines. The gift of the word of knowledge I ask from God because I want to preach his word thinking the word will just come out of my mouth to minister to others. I was a registered nurse already at that time married and with 2 small kids. If not for them I would have been in the mission field. Came to America when my visa was available. Had a lot of struggle as a nurse in a new modern place but God was faithful he help me passed the board exam for nurses with his gift he had given. “I can do all things through Christ”. In one of my difficult days when my 4th child was 12 yrs old then he does not want to go back in the chidren’s afternoon session, I was asking God to give me a birthday gift to touch my son instead. I was falling in line for the last hour to be prayed over by the visiting pastor. All I know I was knock down hard in the floor and was laughing so hard for a few minutes uninterrupted. Since then my worries regarding my children was removed. My concern for them I gave to him. Through the years when my faith is weak those are one of the STONES OF REMEMBRANCE I recall and it helps me to rise up and keep on serving him by preaching his word and doing bible studies. God knows how to touch us enough not to melt us with joy, just enough to encourage us and let us know we are loved. I love Him very much! Everything is easier with his anointing.
“If God has many of the same emotions we do since He has made all of us in the image and likeness of Himself, then it is only logical to conclude that God can and does laugh Himself.”
This is poor theology. God’s attributes were give to us, with in our capacity as human. And due to our fallen nature, that has been tainted. We wrestle with the flesh daily, so you can’t assume all of our attributes are from God. This idea is reverse-engineering God’s image, and starting with us, rather than him. To say “I feel xyz, therefore God also feels xyz” is actually failing into self-idolatry.
Please be careful people. Be prayerful and make sure you don’t just know the Word, but also understand it.
Where does the Word teach us to go into the world and teach the Spirit will make you have uncontrollable laughter? This is a deceptive trick from Satan to get ones focus off of the gospel! The only thing we are supposed to teach and preach is the coming of the Kingdom of God. The lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are all sensual things of this world and has nothing to do with ones freedom and salvation in Christ. 1 John 2:16.
i have laughed with that holy laughter unexpectedly and afterwards felt that depression began to lift from my soul.
i have never had a happy heart but not have such a joy in my heart.
i recently had a dream shereby i was laughing in the holy spirit.
I’ve had that deep belly joyous laugh that can only come from the Holy Spirit. The problem I had was that it was in church and I don’t think some welcomed it while others did. What do you do in situations like that when you’re just overcome by the Holy Spirit, but it’s not welcomed?
Be yourself and ignore what anybody else thinks.If it becomes a distraction to the service and they want you out, go outside somewhere until the Holy Spirit finishes with you.These are rare glorious moments you don`t want to miss.It might be a time of great breakthrough for you.
Laughing in the Spirit is something ine will never understand until it happens to him/her. I neved paid attention to someone laughing in tge Spirit and I said I’m really not sure if it was genuine. But my son was diagnosed with a disorder and I was in such deep..as in deepest pain I’ve ever had. I sought the Lord for healing. That is the time I discovered that laughing in the Spirit is from God. As I prayed and poured my heart to the Lord tears streaming diwn my face, in the midst of it..I laughed so hard. It happened to me twice now.
From then on, my sons symptoms improved..I could go on about that but for me, it was a laughter of victory from the Lord. Unless you experience it..you will probably never know it is real. So I urge you brothers and sisters..be in the relationship with Him so, so deeply and truly abide in Him and Christ..you will expeerience it and just know it came from Him.
About 20 years ago I was in a group of women, a couple of hundred aglow women the laughter started from the platform and spread through the crowd. And I am not one to do any of these “silly things” but at that point I could not help it. it came from the bottom of my stomach and as you have said my muscles ache it truly was laughter from the Holy Spirit
this manifestation is so true and it cleanses is spirit I was in church and they believed in this manifestation of the spirit it cleanse your spirit it cleanses your soul and I thought I’d never hear about it or know about it again but this is so true if it never happens to you you’re missing out speaking in tongue is amazing but having this laughing spirit is wonderful.
I just prayed and all I could do is say Jesus, then all of a sudden a laughter from inside of my belly came forth and I couldn’t even catch my breath! God is God and he will do as he sees fit to His children. We need Him in this hour of time! We need His laughter ! I need it! Seek first the kingdom of Heaven! I don’t understand it, but, it sure does feel good!!!!
First I want to thank you for sharing your insight on this topic. Laughing in the Spirit has happened a handful of times in my saved life of over 20 years. It also just happened yesturday on the 13th day of my 21 day fast. It was exactly as you described, and I’ve never personally belly laughed so hard, it cause my entire mid section to quiver. It is truly an abdominal workout, during and after. It occurred while I was alone in prayer speaking in tongues. BUT that nigh when I was going to bed I was thinking about the experience and the enemy began to cause me to question was this really God, was it a stronghold God was trying to free me from, was this demonic? I was confused, and deflated…. until I decided to search if anyone had insight on the internet. And thankfully you did. This was the first article I read and it affirmed me and my experience. 5 hanks again
Please give me one scripture that specifically says… Uncontrollable laughter is from God.
Second please give one example of this happening in the Bible. Thank You God Bless
There is no scripture that says that this laughing is from God, defenitaly not the laughter i heard in churches, laughter that disrupt everything. The fruit of the spirit is self control. But satan , knowing his time is running out, attacks children of the Lord and makes them believe his mocking comes from God, because satan hates the name of Jesus, there are psychiatric illness that makes the patient laugh uncontrolably for no reason, and satan is using it to make people believe it is the Holy Spirit,, The Holy Spirit brings joy and laughter but not like a disrupt,
I had a huge conversion experience. I knew very little about Jesus and nothing of the Holy Spirit. When I decided to accept Jesus as saviour I had an immediate and powerful manifestation. I had no idea what was happening to me. I started to cry, crying with such intensity. Wave after wave of intense wailing, but then suddenly that stopped and I started to laugh. Oh what joy! I laughed and laughed and laughed like I had never done before. Literally rolling around the floor holding my stomach as this intense laughter came out of me. This went on for at least 20 minutes
After that experience as I read my bible for the first time and listened to other people’s testimonies I realised who the Holy Spirit is and how these manifestations can occur. I had never seen or heard of any of this stuff. I was in someone’s living room!
Noone can tell me that this was not God. That night changed my life and 25 years later I still burn with passion for our Lord
To those that doubt about laughter I would say just because you don’t understand it, it doesn’t make it not real.
I do understand though that I’m sure some people will have engaged in ‘Holy laughter’ when part of a crowd and it became a ‘learned response’. Like everything it is open to abuse, but do not doubt that God can and does use laughter in this way.
It was the most wonderful of experiences, lavished upon me by the one who loves to give good gifts.
Hi David, I just had this uncontrollable laughing tonight at a prayer meeting at Church, along with another lady. I was praying for her son to accept the Lord and we both started laughing. She recognised it as a manifestation of the Spirit. We both laughed and laughed … it was crazy but in a way it was a release of stress for me as my husband has been ill for 3 weeks. Thank you for your comment, it helped me a lot.
I have experienced both weeping and laughter. The weeping was during a revival meeeting in church and I heard to Lord’s encouraging voice for me personally. Shortly after that, what I believe to be Holy Spirit laughter, came to me as I was driving a car. It filled me with joy as I drove 40 miles or more culminating in a “dunking” in a fountain of love I never knew existed this side of heaven. At that period of my life God became REAL to me. In His Presence there is fullness of joy!!
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.
John 14:21
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
John 14:12
Praise God,as I was reading your blog about laughing in the holy spirit yesterday night,i immediately bursted out laughing without stopping and and from there started speaking and praying in tongue and also laughing. It seems as I was speaking in different languages, from one language to another. After a while I started singing in tongue and it was so melodious. It was as if I was singing different different songs all in tongues. My voice voice was so fine and melodious that I couldn’t believe It was my voice. It came to a stage that I even cried and latter laughed. It was an amazing experience last night.
may –be as satan sees one is willinjg to serve the Lord, he comes with an attack, Surely he can not possess a born again, but he can attack and make you think it is the Spirit, The bible says the fruit of the spirit is self control
Surprisingly, when God wants to bring this Joy and change the legalistic training that I experienced in my life, the laughter came and it was a beginning of my healing. Sometimes, I may like to experience it again, but I believe Father God knows better than me what I need. I will never in any way try to mock him by acting out of line as if this laughter was from myself. I don’t believe my experience as a Christian believer should be up for debate. I do hope it can help someone else surrender their all no matter what to the One True Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Praise God,as I was reading your blog about laughing in the holy spirit yesterday night,i immediately bursted out laughing without stopping and and from there started speaking and praying in tongue and also laughing. It seems as I was speaking in different languages, from one language to another. After a while I started singing in tongue and it was so melodious. It was as if I was singing different different songs all in tongues. My voice voice was so fine and melodious that I couldn’t believe It was my voice. It came to a stage that I even cried and latter laughed. It was an amazing experience last night.
What’s the purpose of laughing in the spirit?After the laughter…is there a change in your walk with God? Is there a transformation taking place? Because the presence of God will bring change. I know people who said they experienced laughter in the spirit….and are more miserable and sadly depressed. We serve a God of order not confusion.
Hey Ana!
I recently have been laughing in the Spirit. I would call it more rejoicing in the Spirit. This started to manifest after going through “dark night of the Spirit” and seeking after God as Jeremiah 29:11 speaks of. God had been allowing the roots of my deepest wounds to be revealed and I decided to go uproot them in order to have the true freedom that Christ bought for us on the cross.
The spiritual gifts are very real. The Holy Spirit in acts is the same Holy Spirit today. He is our counselor. If you ask, and seek, you will find them and you will be given them. Driving out demons and healing are real. I live with 5 other brothers in Christ, and we drove 2 demons (evil spirits) out 2 nights ago after praying over them and asking the Holy Spirit to fill them. It isn’t until we seek, and believe that God reveals more of Himself and His power to us. He is a gentleman, and a Good Father. He never gives us more of Him than we can bear – the good or the bad.
Rejoicing in the Spirit is nothing more than pure joy – joy in its rawest form; a perfect joy. At times when I think about how amazing God is and the fact that I get to pray/ talk with Him, I get filled with so much joy that I start laughing and it is far greater than my normal laugh. Rejoicing in the Spirit is a form of speaking. It is a language. It is something that gives glory to God. It does because it is raw emotion. God is a person and full of emotion, but when He feels, He feels all of the emotion. Not 5/100%. Not 50/100%. Not 99/100%. He feels every emotion 100/100% every single time. One of the fruits of the Spirit is JOY. Laughter in its purest form is JOY. When the Holy Spirit has fed you this fruit, rejoicing/laughing in the Spirit can be a manifestation of this fruit. I believe when we fast, that is when the Spirit can feed us these fruits because they are not something we can pick and eat ourselves. It is a good gift from God. It is a perfect gift. Not everyone receives the same gifts. Not everyone will be given this type of rejoicing manifestation. I’m sure there are some that have led people astray with theatrics and shows, but just because people have done this does not diminish the Spirits power or gifts. The Holy Spirit is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.
What a joy it is to be sons and daughters of the Living God. What a joy it is to be His. What a joy it is to be dearly loved by Him. What a joy it is to be free to love Him.
Marcus,
I love your explanation! Truly it brings JOY!
Joy is a gift from God, only. Joy is a character of God. This I learned recently also, from my new husband that is also a gift from God.
Thank you for sharing!
Lisa D Smith
The Holy Spirit has shown me many things. Great and wonderful things that I don’t understand. I have prayed for others and the Spirit of Christ has healed them. I have seen physical manifestations on many occasions. The most astounding was a ball of light in the night sky directly above me. No it wasn’t E.T. but it lit up everything around me and there were no shadows on the ground. Of course I have experienced the laughter you can relate to. So much laughter that I was brought to tears.
My name is Lisa. I was going through a divorce over a decade ago that basically widened a wedge between me and my 17 year old son. I was heartbroken and devestated thinking I would never have a loving relationship with him again. One Sunday during our praise and worship service at church, I was overcome with this laughter that I could not halt. It was very joyful! I could feel my mood totally change and I was brought up in a very legalistic church background, so at that time, I had NO clue about Holy Laughter. Since that time I have opened my heart up to God and more recently totally surrendered to his will in my life and direction. I do not believe the laughter brought on anything evil at all. I believe it was given to me by God to show me that JOY is possible in all areas and after any event in my life…in anyone’s life. God is so good to us. A person is not all-knowing. Only God is omniscient. I also believe it began a healing process.
Amen, God is a God of order. Last night we were having a prayer meeting and while one man was praying some women started laughing “disturbing” the prayer the order. Why would God laugh through us to express His joy. The scripture mentioned in John is nothing about laughter, sorry. You laugh when someone tells a joke, or something funny happens, what is funny about a person busy praying to God, it is a “sacred moment” not a “laughing moment” disturbing the flow of the Spirit
Thank you for your post. I am still growing In Jesus Christ but I also want to let someone know how this laughter changed me. Yesterday as we were praying I started to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit, everyone in the room was praying in tongues but and I could hear that their voices were no longer natural voices. They were so clear and powerful, I started feeling happy and happy. I started laughing and I could hear that the tone I was laughing with was not my natural tone. I am a new believer and after that I started asking myself was this God or not? This blog has helped me understand that it was really the Holy Spirit. After yesterday, I am filled with Joy and I feel like I want to experience that happiness again and again. This was my first time experiencing the Holy Spirit.
God is real, Creator! Save my soul.
Emotions and experiences do not prove Truth. Only the Word of God is what we lean on.
Terri are you saying that when you are feeling hunger now, that feeling of hunger does not mean you are really hungry right?
God uses every avenue in His creation to communicate truth to us. One of these avenues is our EMOTIONS.
Sarah said; God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me – Genesis 21:6.
I hope you read that right? God has made her laugh! By virtue of that miracle, it sparked an uncontrollably contagious laughter that made others who hear her also laugh.
God is God and decides and chooses to use what He chooses to use at any given point in time.
PS. 2:4
In heaven the Lord laughs as He sits on His throne,making fun of the nations ( CEV ).
This portion of scripture is proof that the Lord can laugh and He can also make us to laugh as in Ps. 126:2 We celebrated with laughter and joyful songs. In foreign nations it was said, “The Lord has worked miracles for His people.”
I laugh in the spirit in church services, and sometime i feel not sure, and when I am praying for others, sometime the spirit get on me and i just laugh. laughter is healing to the body.
My tell me I laugh at things she thinks not funny I telling her the joy of the Lord is her strigth.
I struggled with depression for years but the holy spirit has been manifesting through laughter inside me. I just get so tickled and have a good belly laugh. The holy spirit has such a wonderful sense of humor. It started happening since I started attending a spirit filled church that moves in the gifts of the spirit. This laughter is truly healing me from the inside out. No more depression, only unspeakable joy and peace!!
I sat in church determined to find out if this was of God or not. So when they stared laughing I looked at these two young girls who were laughing and I decided fake or not , their having a good time and I’m not going to judge them. Then I just started Laughing too. I honestly believe it was because I said to myself that I was not going to judge.
I was at a church visiting and I believe that God does fill us with His joy! However there was so much confusion and disruptions that I find it harder to believe in that laughter as real. God is also a God of order and we couldn’t even hear the teaching of the word.
In any moment or stirring of the Holy Spirit, there will 3 kinds of manifestations. Firstly it is truly the manifestation of God’s presence. Here, people may fall in His presence. There is no defined direction, forward or backward, people fall because the presence of God is so powerful that it is difficult to remain standing. Secondly, the manifestation of the evil spirits. The devil, demon and the Satan will want to create confusion. They will influence unbelievers and believers. Finally, the manifestation of the flesh. There will be fake expressions and people may fall due to peer pressure. Demons may intensify their attacks while the affected one may respond to the moving of the true Spirit of God.
God is doing new things now, Laughing in the Spirit my beloved brethren is true, if you can really experience this wonderful manifestation you cannot say anything negative about it, in fact it is a sign of victory, you cannot settled God in a same o same o things, that’s why He is called a wonderful God…
I agree with all the way, God has more to show us, but we have to be will to “See”. I got my laughter in the later 80’s at church listing to the Happy Hunters on laughing in the Spirit.
I experienced the same, its so wholesome, Jesus its wholesome,
the Joy is so much that, one become slain in the spirit, i experience both weeping uncontrollably and pap, laughter
This is a powerful teaching. Last night I laughed like I could not even control myself and I knew that this was God’s doing. Now I can’t wait to get myself in prayer so that this happens again. It was a great and amazing experience. Initially was scared of the people around me but it’s only that I couldn’t even control myself
So not of God, the God I serve does things with purpose and order, also calls us to be controlled. To make assumptions is adding to Gods word and truth, study church hierarchy, God tells us we are to do things in an orderly manner. Does this laughing heal? Does it orify God in any way, it doesn’t. God is not liar, He told us what fruit of the spirit is…this is not any one of those. You teach blasphemy.
Thank you for this article, it answered many guestions I had about laughing in the Spirit. Thank you that you gave go scripture to back it up also. God is “always” and will be doing new things for us. How can anyone think that laughter from God is wrong. God bless you and your family and thank you Holy Spirit for leading me to this wonderful truth. Amem
My husband and I were in Hawaii on vacation para sailing. We went with some friends. There were about 5 other couples who went up before us. We were the last I think. The others went up with no problem. Up and down in about 5 min. When we went up we went up much higher than everyone else. We were so high we could barely see our friends in the boat. We were up in the air about 20 minutes and the rope broke and we fell into the ocean. My husband was strapped to my back. The moment we began to fall I screamed “Jesus”. It was all I could say before plummeting in the ocean. When we went underneath my husband was buckled onto my back. We shot up from underneath the water and I immediately opened my eyes and my husband was about 8 feet away. We were in very deep water. The whale watching area of water. The life guards got us back onto the boat and we were both fine. We asked the para sailing operator if the contraption we were in was supposed to unlatch so we could separate in the event something like that happens he said “no”. That night I had a laugh that I could not stop. It lasted about 2 hours on and off. I’ve only laughed that way one other time in my life when I was 12 years old. I believe that laugh was from the Holy Spirit. That was 22 years ago and it has never happened again. We watched the video our friends took of the incident. The video showed us go under the water attached and we came up separated. I have no doubt an angel of God separated us underneath that water. There is no other explanation. I can’t explain the laugh but I believe it was the Holy Spirit rejoicing with laughter. I’m not a flaky person. I’d seen people claim to be over come by the Holy Spirit with laughter and thought it was a fraud. I believe there are people who fake that. I’m a pastor’s wife and I’ve seen church folks fake a lot. What I experienced was not fake. I’ll be forever thankful for God saving me that day. The name of Jesus is more powerful than any name. I pray God’s blessings over the lives of everyone who reads this. Amen.
I started experiencing this 10/24/2020. Every time I think of the goodness of God, I start laughing. When it first came over me, I laughed for a whole day. This was a breakthrough for me from years of high stress. After weeks of prayer and meditation, God has restored my joy, greater than ever before! It’s a wonderful feeling! Thank you for this article. I have no doubt this is the Holy Spirit. People who don’t believe, are clearly blinded by religion. I’ve got joy unspeakable and full of glory!!! And YES it heals!
While I was being baptized in water yesterday, when I came out of the water I suddenly started to laugh. I was quite surprised though.
Please is this also a sign that it’s the Holy Spirit
I recently experienced the spirt of laughter for myself I go to an apostolic church as I have been for my whole life we started what we are calling a supernatural summer and I’ve seen these things happen to other people all my life but I was praying at the alter and I went back to my seat and I was about to leave when I felt a rush of wind and I felt myself smile and I suddenly started laughing I couldn’t stop I fell to the floor and as I lay there laughing and I’m tears I felt every little thing just go away light a weight had been lifted the Evangelist that spoke that morning came by the row of chairs that I was laying by and all I remember is him saying some chains have been broken today
So I talked to my pastor about it and the spirt of laughter is a sign of breakthrough in some cases it’s a sign of joy
When i was 17 i was walking in the rain one night on the way home. I was severely depressed and prayed to god with all my heart in tears when suddenly i felt gods spirit fill me up with pure joy like ive never experienced before. I felt warm and full of peace, then i laughed out loud so hard, ive never laughed like that before and it was the single most precious experience of my life which i always look back on fondly.
Now to those that say its not written in scripture so it cant be from god, if thats the case then why since i experienced this do i have a much stronger bond and faith in god than i did before it happened? Why does it feel so good to experience it and why did it happen while i was praying to god himself? Why does every fibre of my being tell me it was from god? If this experience was from satan wouldn’t it decrease my faith and bond in god instead of strengthening it?
To be honest to those that doubt it is from god, pray to him to experience such things, i promise once you do you will never doubt it was from god again. God is a loving god and all things are possible to him, who are you to judge how he manifests his spirit to those he loves. Laughter, happiness and joy are fruits of the spirit my friends and doubters, ask the lord for this experience and i pray whoever reads this truly to be touched by his spirit in this manner so his/her bond and faith in the lord may be strengthened like mine has.
God bless
Hi everyone.It’s me again.What I want to say is that I love to share my testimony with all of you.I don’t even mind if I may be wrong but that whatever people want to say or that they don’t like me because about the way I am.But I know.And this is something I taught myself to love myself because the people who disrespect me are those who have their own problems.thats their bussines.I want to ask what you like about my testimony.leave in a comment.I am always open to hear your voice.I mean text message.But I love to have you as my btothers and sisters in Christ.Even if the page is old.or not used anymore.But I will be still here to wait for your comments.Also God bless you all.
Dear thank you for your explanation and effort to adhere to your conviction. But wether “holy spirit laughter” is a real manifestation from the Spirit is still inconclusive based upon your reasoning. Since you perform eisegesis you read into the text rather then get out of the text what the author intended to say. Not what you would like it to say. If scripture doesn’t mention something explicitly and there are no instances where it is manifested and could indicate such things happened then caution is recommended. It’s better to refrain from the claim and actually even refrain from seeking it. There is enough scriptural support for an array of incredible things to experience with God and is better to pursue these opportunities than to pursue uncertainties. Caution ⚠️ is recommended. If you really want to experience the joy of God go out help the poor and needy, go out and spread the Gospel, go out and…. then you will really experience and engage with God in al sort of emotions….
Very well said and explained by God’s wisdom. I have already experienced laughing in the Spirit together with my covenant partner- brother and sister in Christ. That was a very memorable and special moment of our lives (June 13, 2011) when the Lord God has covenanted with us as we’re praying together. We experienced the glory of His presence, filled our hearts with joy and our mouths with laughter. As we do laughing in the Spirit, one of us has given a gift of vision, and gift of interpretation of speak in tongues. We have heard and received God’s personal message to each and everyone of us. All things that prophesied to us and to whom God revealed his power was fulfilled. We always remember his covenant and glorify God for all he has done and all he’s going to do. Glory to GOD!
To all those saying this laughter isn’t from God, the. What do you say to the weeping and sobbing in scripture? When we’re grieved in the spirit because of a sin, don’t you feel spiritual sorrow and feel lead to cry? I believe this laughter is the same thing. I CAN control it but I don’t want to. I know He cares for me and exalts and comforts me, just as He promised He would.
Shalom
I feel so blessed to have experienced laughter, as well as intense crying, through the Holy Spirit. My first experience was intense crying while I was intensely praying in tongues for my dying father. It was uncontrollable. The spirit had taken over…it wasn’t my emotion. It surprised me but I didn’t resist it…I let His spirit take over. I felt so honored! It was like it was being pushed up from my belly.
The second time I had been just learning about Oprah Winfrey’s church and how she was leading thousands away from the truth of salvation. This was right before going to sleep. God woke me up several hours after falling asleep and I immediately said 3 words to the Lord pertaining to Oprah’s deception…”I’m so sorry”. Immediately, I started crying so hard that I had to get up and go into the bathroom and put a towel over my mouth so I didn’t wake up my husband. This lasted for several minutes and was not my own emotion. It was the Holy Spirit communicating how much He grieves over all those lost souls.
I’ve had several experiences while in worship/prayer where I’ll start laughing hard and can’t stop it. When it happens, I always receive the message, “The joy of the Lord is my strength!”
Every time I had these encounters, I was not expecting or asking for it. It just happened. It always happened in private, as well. Never in a church setting.
I was raised a very reserved Lutheran who thought raising of the hands to the Lord was extreme and made me feel uncomfortable. Once I learned about having a RELATIONSHIP with the Lord, He took over and changed me completely. Praise God!!
I have been a christian for almost 4 decades now. I was baptised with the Holy Spirit from the beginning. The Holy Spirit has been felt in my belly while praying. While rejoicing and worshippibg I often laugh loudly in the Spirit. I know it’s not from me but from the Lord. You see… the joy of the Lord has been and is my strength. When I laugh I receive inward confirmation that He is living within me and His presence is with and in me. My entire family is saved and none of them experience this phenomenon… I can’t say why. But I know it is God given because I live a holy life free from habitual sin. I believe that if one has not experienced this they will never understand. I can’t say why it happens to some and not others… not everyone has the same Christian experiences and giftings. I wish I could interpret tongues but I can’t… I just speak in tongues, a lot.
Blessings
Jenny
My story begins with me being stressed about many things, making me feel tired, not only that, I was also tired of “intensive thoughts” that tried to provoke me to move further away from God and attack my mind and life. I prayed continuously so that these thoughts would not consume me. But one afternoon in my house, I don’t know if I surrendered to God that afternoon, I started praying and suddenly I longed for the Holy Spirit to fill me and I surrendered completely, actually I didn’t expect a manifestation to happen. But when I finished praying, an unusual thing happened, the joy of the Lord began to fill me, accidentally I fell when I started praying in tongues, and suddenly I began to giggle with joy like it was uncontrollable, laughing and my body trembling could not be controlled, I just let what the Holy Spirit was doing. At that time it was like something came to my heart and it said that the devil was defeated, that statement made me laugh out loud like joy that the devil had been defeated. When it was over I felt unspeakable joy and peace, my life was changed and better than before, and the attack that was in my mind was gone replaced with God’s peace. It was an unforgettable experience in my life.
I had this yesterday and it was so intense I didn’t know exactly what was happening. That’s why I came to check other encounters and writing about it.
Since yesterday there’s this joy and nothing can really make me sad.. I’m very grateful the Holy Spirit is manifesting Himself in different ways through me.
Thank you for your blog. Be blessed.
You are exactly right God has chosen me and my daughter to have a manifestation of laughter through us from God thank you those people out there that try to prove things wrong are misleading people I appreciate the truth the truth is the truth,!! Today I prayed with a friend and I started laughing from the Holy Spirit and the person I prayed with got hot throughout her body she actually started sweating and getting wet I believe she received a healing today and God can do anything what are these people talking about canest thou believe? God needs more people like you to explain how He works yes joy and healing from God through the Holy Spirit
AMEN