When I started, with my eyes closed, I would see word parts or names flash in front of my eyes. I tried to pray myself but it sounds fake and forced. Submerge my soul in your Spirit and gift me with the power to pray in tongues. If you want to feel God's presence—the Holy Spirit—in your life, you'll have to admit those sins to God, ask for His forgiveness, and repent, or commit to doing better in the future. 3. But this regenerating work of God’s Spirit is not the limit of what Peter means by baptism in the Spirit. Maybe i focus too much on the sounds rather than focussing on the Spirit and my heart. 4. Depend on God to help you increase your faith in praying with the Holy Spirit, and trust that the Father will remove any barriers in your way. In 1987 I had a incredibly supernatural experience with God but did not speak in another language. We see in 1 Corinthians 12:13 that baptism of the Holy Spirit is a common and initial experience of all Christians who are entering the body of Christ. You act out of faith, your gift is strengthened, which results in increased faith for the next action. and you shall be my witnesses.” This is an experience of boldness and confidence and victory over sin. And the believers from among the circumcised who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. If you are constantly looking to see who might be watching, getting interrupted, or are distracted you aren’t going to be able to listen to the cues given to you. But one thing is sure: the heart in which the Holy Spirit has been poured out will stop magnifying self and start magnifying God. I’ve never found listening to my own voice disturbing or distracting since I’ve been hearing my own voice my whole life and I know I’m allowing God to speak through me and He can say whatever He wants to so I never even pay that much attention to what I’m saying. I was praying (in English) intently, really focused and out came my prayer language, flowing! Max, I just now figured out how to find the original post with comments. It was miraculous. Do gifts (like tongues) happen instantly? But I’ll mention two things from the book of Acts — things that mark the experience of being baptized in the Holy Spirit or of receiving the gift of the Spirit. God gives different spiritual gifts to different believers so that we will be able to bless and edify one another. I’ve tried working in complex sounds such as “x” and “ing”, but it physically doesn’t come out of my mouth when I’m in prayer – so I’m not going to force it! Late one evening in mid December, 1976, I was kicked back in my Lazy-Boy recliner reading a paperback book about receiving the baptism of the holy Spirit. Reading through the Bible in context helps us understand this question better. That sounds exactly like what happened, I opened my mouth and out it came, no rehearsing or chanting or helping along, it was just there. 5:22–23; l Cor. Distraction can come in many forms: rambunctious children, fear of embarrassment, multi-tasking, and even the sound of your own voice. I know I felt all of these frustrations during my journey towards a deeper prayer life. What is Speaking in Tongues Speaking in tongues, for the Christian, is a way of allowing the regenerated human spirit to pray to God or to praise God, or to speak a message from God, without the interference or limitations of the human mind. I have never found anyone else who has had the same experience and when I hear people try to form words using their own language it’s hard to believe that it comes from the Holy Spirit because I have heard the language o the Holy Spirit before and its something I will never forget. So if I’m speaking and one person hears me in Spanish, another in German, another in Italian and another in Greek… am I speaking 4 languages at once or am I speaking in an unknown tongue and God is allowing each of them to hear me in their own language so they can know what I’m praying? I sometimes fear that we have so redefined conversion in terms of human decisions and have so removed any necessity of the experience of God’s Spirit, that many people think they are saved when in fact they only have Christian ideas in their head not spiritual power in their heart. The two questions I want to try to answer today are: (1) What does it mean to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit? The same thing happened to my aunt and she said she just kept praying and seeking the Lord and out they came again after years of asking. “It comes with the package!” Speaking in tongues is not the baptism in the Holy Spirit, but it is what happens when and as you are baptized in the Spirit and it becomes an important resource to help you continue, as Paul says, to . Throughout the New Testament, everyone who was baptized in the Holy Spirit began to speak in tongues. Amen. Place faith in God’s salvation plan at the forefront of your mind. In fact, out of all the conversion accounts in the New Testament, only two record speaking in tongues in that context. I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized in water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us, when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I should withstand God?”. For they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God.”. The whole gift of praying in tongues is to give God your tongue and time so your spirit can be built up. This step is the most obvious step, but it’s where most people go wrong – open your mouth. Thank you for sharing your story. . Speaking in tongues actually happens when a person allows syllables to flow out of their mouth without consciously controlling them. The Gift of Tongues As I prayed, sinful memories bubbled up into my memory, but I instantly felt the guilt and shame associated with these sins release. When I began, many of my first attempts were filled with me repeating “Lord increase my faith” over and over again. For many people searching to learn the “how to” speak in tongues, their search ends in frustration. In short, start babbling like a baby. Working towards preparing your “soil” does not disqualify or cheapen these gifts. Ask for God's forgiveness for your sins. That means you will speak in another language that isn’t your own, for those who do not know. I practiced the most while driving my car so I didn’t over think it. When you read the New Testament honestly, you can’t help but get the impression of a big difference from a lot of contemporary Christian experience. Heartfelt praise and worship is the mark of a real experience of the Holy Spirit. I hope what I’ve said helps someone in just letting God use them as He sees fit. However, sometimes amidst all the practice we just don’t feel powerful enough to break into the next level. 1. As we step out in obedience, we may ask for and receive the any of gifts of the Spirit that we need to fulfill Jesus’ work. It takes them from “A” to “Z” in the doctrine of this experience and shares very practical steps on how to receive the gift of speaking in tongues. And you trust his promises for your future. Age 81 on the computer ain’t that easy! I knew my spirit took over when i was not thinking of the next syllable to sing. For all I know, God could change the meaning of what I’m saying each and every time, since it’s His language. I love You.” I though how sweet is this message! It seems real obvious to me that God is allowing them to receive the interpretation and not that I’m actually praying in their language. The words were perfectly formed and my mouth knew exactly what it was doing but it has never happened again. Last, remember that God holds no good thing (Psalm 84:11). My Testimony about Speaking in Tongues This shows how difficult it is to establish a norm from the way things happened back then. But there are many others that need to act in faith to see the rewards. The preached word is heard with conviction and power only when the effectual call of God lays hold on the hearers. We must give an open expression of faith in the act of water baptism in obedience to Jesus Christ. Start exercising your tongue and mind to produce random word parts. Does speaking in tongues show a person has the Holy Spirit? These accounts are found in … Are these the tongues you speak of? All I’m doing is letting Him use my mouth to state what He wants and I never thought it was my job to care what I was saying but to trust Him to speak through me and to offer Him my mouth as often as I could think to do it. Peter has preached that in God’s plan Jesus was crucified, raised, and exalted as Lord over all the universe and that forgiveness of sin and spiritual renewal can be had from him. Plateaus in anything can be frustrating, but it sounds like you have the will power of a saint – well done! And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. Then you will get to the point you don’t need to start with a song. “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. For them the Holy Spirit was a fact of experience. by. I got so excited that I lost focus and haven’t been able to get it back (flowing) since. But the limitations of the sounds r there. We must “receive the word.” Verse 41: “So those who received his word were baptized.” Receiving the Word means that it becomes part of you so that you trust the Christ it presents. I asked, Is this it God? In fact, hearing Cornelius and his household speak in tongues … You need to cooperate with Him by opening your mouth and speaking in faith. Related: . An evangelist prayed and anoint the Holy Spirit in me, took me 5 to 10 mins of her praying to open my mind and heart to speak first time in tongues. This article does not build a case to convince you on the biblical reasoning or benefits of prayer in tongues (there are a lot of great books by authors like Dave Roberson), but instead to provide you with very real and practical steps to jump start your ability to receive the gift of tongues. I was waiting for a baby to be born in the family. God is poised and ready to baptize you in His Holy Spirit when you ask Him. It really is that easy! 2. I wanted to also state that some people think we are praying in a known language that we ourselves don’t know because the crowd that heard them speaking on the day of Pentecost heard the men speaking in their own language. The gift of tongues was the most common spiritual gift in the New Testament church. 2. Next experiment and practice with short vowel sounds, then long vowel sounds. My point is pray to be shown your iniquities and generational curses, and pray for them to be released. I care for You. My prayer language is simple and vowel heavy. Paul explains to them that John pointed people forward to Jesus, and so verse 5 says, “On hearing this they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. No, there needs to be a combination of acting through faith and our freewill to bring it into action. So you see, the real issue the Charismatics raise for us is not the issue of tongues. Following along with my mouth, I felt as if I was slowly being tutored to unglue my mouth. Not everyone is bestowed of this gift. I think we would say something like, “I thought we automatically received the Holy Spirit when we believed. In Protestant evangelicalism it is equated with a subconscious work of God in regeneration which you only know you have because the Bible says you do if you believe. The Science Behind Praying in Tongues. My Guest Blogger today is Max Pool. The baptism in the Spirit is an experience of the Spirit given after faith to faith. 4. Speaking in tongues is believed to be an act of strong faith, so focusing your mind in this way makes it much easier to successfully speak in tongues. Thank you most gracious father for the gift of the holy spirit. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.” There is one other instance in chapter 8 where the apostles go to Samaria and lay their hands on some believers so that they can receive the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t bother us when our children mispronounce words. Notice that the gift of the Spirit, or baptism in the Spirit, is preceded by faith. Tongues may come to you as a tool to break these chains, or you might be shown something to help you unlock your tongue. I have notice at times I seem to be repeating the same sounds but I always figured it was because God wanted to emphasize something, so I let Him and I don’t care how many times He wants to repeat it. Once I prayed about 7 to 9 hours straight with break for eating and I got an interpretation, I say to God, “I need You. I so appreciate your message and I will certainly give all your suggestions careful consideration. Like other gifts, speaking in tongues is a gift from the Holy Spirit. Paul finds in Ephesus some disciples of John the Baptist who had never heard of the Holy Spirit. These prayers come from our spirit straight to the Spirit of God, using our natural lips, tongues and voices. You trust his provision for your forgiveness. It really spoke to me and is very encouraging. He will like that you are trying. Romans 8:9. They sum up the classical two-stage Pentecostal teaching: The first experience of the Christian life, salvation, is the incoming of the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ, to give us new life, God’s life, eternal life. When that happens, stop attempting to pray in tongues and ask the Father (in your native language) for more faith. Each person heard them in their native tongue and many people there spoke different languages from one another. fantastic blog. Thank you, Jesus, for everything. There were no unbaptized Christians after Pentecost. The Pentecostals are right to stress the experience of being baptized in the Spirit. Our focus will be on the book of Acts and on Luke’s intention as he wrote it. As a result, they never step out in faith to try or they quit early, but this just is another example of the old saying “Jesus can’t take the wheel of a parked car”. I never once thought it was because I was stuck in my prayer language since I’ve never felt I had anything to do with my prayer language. I’m sure you have heard people say that if you receive the Holy Ghost then you will speak in tongues. In itself that is relatively unimportant. “You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit . In the passage above, the apostle Paul said under divine inspiration from the Holy Spirit (since all Scripture is given by inspiration of God per 2 Timothy 3:16) that he wished all of us spoke with tongues. It is easy to imagine a spiritual counselor saying to a new convert today, “Don’t expect to notice any difference. As a convinced Calvinist, I believe with all my heart that the grace of God precedes and enables saving faith. However,Jude 1:20 says, “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.” Receiving […] I close by pointing you to Peter’s instructions for how to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:38–41: 1. Yes, Laurie, my experience was more similar to yours. God initiates it by enabling us to believe (Ephesians 2:8–9; 2 Timothy 2:25; John 1:13). Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. As Paul explained to the Corinthians: “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. The Gift of Tongues is from the Holy Spirit and Spoken Only to God. No, you don't have to speak in tongues if you receive the Holy Spirit.God gives different spiritual gifts to different believers so that we will be able to bless and edify one another. Someone at churches prayed I’d receive the Holy Ghost with signs of speaking in tongues right after I got saved. Christ comes into your life by the Spirit. Let it sink into your spirit that you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then … I have two things to say about this, one negative and one positive. He could ask it, I think, because receiving the Holy Spirit is a real experience. 2. If there is one thing that will kill your ability to start receiving this gift it’s being distracted as you learn. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. After many months I still unable to receive a break through. The Bible says those baptized with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost "began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4). He seems to have in view the person who feels ostracized without tongues and says (verse 16), “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body.” Paul responds, “Not everybody speaks in tongues!”, For these five reasons I cannot say with the Pentecostals that no Christian has been baptized in the Holy Spirit unless he has spoken in tongues. Once I was in a church where LITERALLY EVERYONE in the church who desired the gift of the infilling of the Holy Spirit evidenced by tongues received! I promise there will be a day where it all comes out like a flood and you will finally think “I’m doing it! Just phrases here and there. We all sin once in a while—it's part of human nature. I’ll take the negative first so I can end with the positive. "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the word. And the best way to test the faith of these so-called disciples is to ask them about their experience of the Spirit. Surely the Charismatic renewal has something to teach us here. I began to call prayer lines all over the country asking for help to receive what I understood to be a gift. Once one does receive the baptism they will know it because they will indeed speak in tongues. Then, you are baptized in water. To this day I still listen for those hints God hands out; whether it is a flash of a word part or name in my mind or a new sound that catches my ear. “While Peter was still saying this the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. In Acts 11:15–17 Peter reports how the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius just as on the disciples at Pentecost. and you shall receive power” (Acts 1:5, 8). He spoke personally to me. In the terminology of Acts we could say, what a powerless Christian needs is a baptism in the Holy Spirit. He’s a crusher. The God who keeps watch over the nations, this God still speaks today. Adding to your sound vocabulary is done through a discovery process that exists both internal and external. When you speak the language of the Holy Spirit, you find that He’s an enabling. Internal discovery would be listening for queues in your mind, queues that the Holy Spirit might be giving you. Cause I can’t speak several languages all at the same time. But we have done wrong in limiting Paul’s understanding of the baptism in the Holy Spirit to this initial, subconscious divine act in conversion and then forcing all of Luke’s theology in Acts into that little mold. Is Tongues the Least of the Gifts? Thank you so much for your kindness in helping me along! Sure do – I think it is awesome when it does! Months of this without going to Church, i prayed myself it always sound made up or fake or like baby blabberings. This is why Paul can say in Acts 19:2 when he meets the confused disciples of John the Baptist, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” What would a contemporary Protestant evangelical say in response to that question? The second experience is the receiving, or making welcome of the Holy Spirit so that Jesus can cause Him to pour out this new life from our spirits, to baptize our souls and bodies and then our world around, with his refreshing and renewing power. 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