Introduction:
As New Covenant born again blood redeemed believers in the Messiah our Lord Jesus we are constantly engaged in spiritual warfare in the unseen spiritual realm in the atmosphere that exists just above the circumference of the earth. Satan himself is called “the prince or ruler of the kingdom of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). His kingdom is that unseen spiritual realm just above the earth’s surface in the atmosphere where the television and internet signals flow to and fro around the globe.
As we take our stand against the devil’s schemes by faith we are constantly engaged in a spiritual wrestling match, not only with him, but also against the authorities, against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm. Satan moves across the world in this unseen spiritual realm close to the physical surface of the earth.
In the Book of Job when the heavenly beings stood before the LORD and Satan stood among them, the LORD asked Satan “where have you come from?” Satan replied; “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it” (Job 1:7; 2:2).
In the New Testament the apostle Peter tells us to be alert to this fact that Satan, prowls around like a roaring hungry lion seeking its prey to devour it. Satan is seeking to highjack the souls of those who belong to the Lord Jesus. Peter writes’ “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world” (1 Peter 5:8-9). Now the LORD has furnished us with spiritual weapons by which we can take the fight to the devil. These are not physical weapons as such but spiritual weapons.
As we read in the New Testament, “For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh. The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We tear down arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Messiah” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
Our minds are the spiritual battlefield, and out thought life needs to be constantly governed by the Spirit of God and brought into line with His will and purposes as He has revealed them in the Spirit-Breathed Word of God.
These spiritual weapons are the power of faith, the whole armour of God, the Blood of Jesus, the Word of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, the power that is in the name of Jesus, the power of testimony to the Word of God, and the power of corporate prayer and also praying in the Holy Spirit personally in our devotional time with the LORD. Today there are multitudes of faithful born again blood redeemed, blood washed, Bible believing New Covenant believers who do not understand what it means to be praying in the Holy Spirit. They have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of them, having been spiritually reborn by His power (John 3:3), but in a very real sense He is treated as a prisoner without power, one who needs to be released within them to do His sanctifying and empowering work effectively in and through them.
As we will see this spiritual weapon of praying in the Holy Spirit can be released in prayer and come forth either in a known or an unknown language imparted by the Holy Spirit. What does it mean to be praying in the Holy Spirit? We will focus on two passages of scripture in the New Testament related to praying in the Holy Spirit and what it will do for us spiritually.
(Jude 1:20-21) “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously (expectantly, in anticipation) for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Messiah to eternal life.”
(Romans 8:26-27) “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
Praying in the Holy Spirit will strengthen us spiritually and in John’s gospel we are told that the Holy Spirit is called “the comforter” or “Counsellor. The Greek word is “paracletos” or pronounced alternately as “paraclete” meaning “one called alongside to strengthen another.” The Latin word is “Comforte” from which we get the word “fort” or “fortress.” (See “The Paracletos”).
Let’s look at these passages of scripture…
(Jude 1:20-21) In these verses we are told what the spiritual benefits there are in praying continuously in the Holy Spirit. As we will see in the other text it does not always mean that we will have words to express, but more so an inward groaning and expression flowing out of our inner spirit man towards the LORD. It can be in our own language we understand, or in an unknown language imparted supernaturally to us by the Holy Spirit that we do not necessarily need to understand when speaking in our personal devotional time, or to ourselves during the day where others do not hear us (1 Corinthians 14:2).
Praying in the Holy Spirit will accomplish three things according to the text of Jude 1:20-21. Firstly; it will build us up spiritually in our most holy faith Secondly; it will keep us walking in the love of God which is only possible by the Spirit’s enabling (Romans 5:5). Thirdly; it will enable us to wait in expectation for the mercy of our Lord Jesus that will bring us into eternal life, an eternal life we have already possess through saving faith in the Lord Jesus, an eternal quality of life that will be fully expressed in our resurrected bodies in the Millennial age to come, and then continue into eternity.
It is one thing to be encouraged to pray in the Holy Spirit, but another thing to know how to pray in the Holy Spirit or to have this experience. The other text in Romans 8:26-27 tells us what praying in the Holy Spirit is like and that this is possible for every born again child of the Living God who has the Holy Spirit living deep down on the inside of them as an abiding presence.
If we have been spiritually reborn from above by the blessed Holy Spirit Himself, then He, being God the Spirit, has fused Himself with our spiritually regenerated inner human spirit. As it is written; “But the one who joins himself to the LORD is one spirit with Him. “ (1 Corinthians 6:17), and it is out of our spirit that this prayer language, either in a known, or in an unknown language will flow, because the Holy Spirit abides in our inner spirit man. With these things in view let’s now look at the main text related to praying in the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:26-27: Exposition
(Romans 8:26-27) “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
In these verses we are told that “the Spirit helps our weakness”. The word “helps” has three shades of meaning. Firstly; The Holy Spirit prays “with us,” in that He is “taking hold together with us of the problem or circumstance we are praying about or wrestling with.” Secondly; He prays “for us” because He knows what needs to be prayed for and how to pray. Thirdly; He prays “in place of us” in situations or circumstances when we do not know how to pray ourselves or even what to pray for.
This continuous action of the Holy Spirit is to help us in our weakness. The word “weakness” can be used in relation to our physical bodies or in relation to our souls and it applies to both these. It relates to one’s physical health and wellbeing in that it describes; “a physical ailment or sickness or “a want of physical strength, weakness” or “an infirmity of the body, the weakness and frailty or feebleness of health or sickness.”
The word also relates to one’s spiritual health and wellbeing, when the soul; “needs to be strengthened, and to understand a thing, to enable one to do a great and glorious thing, to restrain corrupt desires of the fallen nature and to bear up under trials and troubles.” What a wonderful friend and comforter and spiritual fortress we have in the blessed Holy Spirit!
And then we read; “for we do not know how to pray as we should,” There will be times and situations and circumstances in life that assail us that are out of our control, and it is at such times we may not know how to pray or what to pray for and in this way experience that “weakness” whether it is physical or spiritual.
When we are spiritually exhausted or physically sick, or suffering a sense of spiritual heaviness through manifold temptations, or fighting depression or discouragement or a sense of anxiety through intimidating circumstances, we may not know how to pray or what to pray, however, the blessed Holy Spirit knows exactly how to pray and what to pray. For we are also told, “but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;”
Notice what He does. He “intercedes” for us. In other words He represents us before the throne of God, and like a lawyer in a court of law does, He defends us and acts as our advocate with God on our behalf conveying our petitions to Him in a way that He knows God will accept. Also notice that His intercession for us is fused with our inner spirit man where He also dwells (1 Corinthians 6:17). If the Holy Spirit living down on the inside of us knows what to pray and how to pray, then He can also release in our spirit words we can express verbally, and this is where speaking in an unknown tongue can enable us to pray in the Holy Spirit because it bypasses the intellect and rises up out of our spirit man fused with the Spirit of God.
Notice that the blessed Holy Spirit also, “intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;” These “groanings” convey the idea of “a deep sighing coming up out of our inner spirit man that words find hard to express.” It does not mean that words are impossible to speak, but that it will be hard for us to find adequate words needed to be expressed when one is inwardly sighing and contemplating a situation that is causing them to bend over at the knees with anxiety, or with a sense of confusion in a certain daunting circumstance or situation, whether in a time of physical or spiritual infirmity.
It is at a time like this when speaking in an unknown tongue privately can strengthen us in the situation we are seeking to cope with. We may not have words to express in our own language but the Holy Spirit can do this for us, and when we speak in an unknown tongue released within us by the Holy Spirit it is like a pressure valve that releases our inner feelings and emotions heavenwards. When the Holy Spirit is operating in us in this way we can trust Him to present our desires and requests perfectly before the throne of God our Father in Heaven according to His perfect will. And then we read…
“…and He who searches (investigates) the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” God is all knowing and He inhabits eternity and knows everything there is to know. He is everywhere and He searches, examines or scrutinizes the thoughts, the desires and the motives of our hearts, and knows what is happening deep down on the inside of us at all times (Psalm 139:1-18).
God the Father knows the mind of God the Holy Spirit. The word “mind” conveys three shades of meaning; “the thoughts, the feelings and the purposes” of the Holy Spirit Himself. God knows what the Holy Spirit is thinking at all times, and they are one within the Tri-Unity of the Godhead. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit never act independently from each other because they are One God in three persons, not three separate ‘gods.’
Just as God the Father knows the thoughts, the feelings and the purposes of God the Holy Spirit, likewise God the Spirit knows the thoughts, the feelings and the purposes of God the Father and of God the Son, and the Holy Spirit knows how to intercede for us according to God’s will. Indeed the blessed Holy Spirit knows at all times what needs to be said, what needs to be done, and how it should be done, and through whom it should be done, and there is no situation we will ever face in life that He has no answer for.
What a divine, strong, loving, wise, sensitive and compassionate friend we have in the blessed Holy Spirit. If He knows the thoughts, the feelings and the purposes of God at all times, then He most certainly knows all about us, our personality, and the situations we face every day as we navigate our spiritual journey through this crooked and perverse generation and wicked age in which we now live.
The blessed Holy Spirit can go where we cannot go. He can move into situations that are humanly impossible for us to handle because He is God the Spirit and is equal in His divinity with God the Father and with God the Son, and they are perfectly one in their divine attributes. What is impossible with man is possible with our Triune God, because all things are possible with Him, and nothing is too hard for the LORD! (Matthew 19:26) (Luke 1:37) (Mark 10: 27) (Genesis 18:14).
If we have the Holy Spirit inside of us then we can pray in the Holy Spirit. It needs to be said that when the Holy Spirit prays through us and in us that we may be able to speak in words we understand and this does happen. Sometimes though, we do feel that words we understand are not adequate or sufficient to express how we are feeling deep down on the inside. It is at that time that speaking in an unknown tongue can release our inner spirit man to express our deep longings and feelings towards God when we have no spiritual strength left to find adequate words. At such times it is spiritually comforting to lean back upon Him and allow Him to do His intercessory work on our behalf to the LORD unhindered by any human limitations.
Already in our lives as New Covenant believers we will have experienced times of depression, doubt, anxiety, fear, apprehension and even opposition from those who do not know God or obey the gospel, or even from those within the fellowship that do not understand what it is to be praying in the Holy Spirit or for that matter what it is to be Baptised with the Holy Spirit.
Now the Spirit Himself is always groaning in intercession in us yet we may not be aware of it as we are seeking to work through our own emotional struggles. However, speaking in tongues will open a way for those emotions to be fully expressed and released, and because it bypasses the intellect it allows for freedom of expression when human words are absent or not able to be adequately expressed. Speaking in the Spirit in an unknown tongue or language in private will edify us in all the changing circumstances of life (1 Corinthians 14:4).
How then can we pray in the Holy Spirit? This is not a certain formula to follow. It is not an ‘experience’ manufactured by man or by human effort. It is a spiritual experience that is the privilege of every born again blood redeemed child of the Living God. God’s Word is our ‘street directory’ as it were around the Kingdom of God. What do we discover in God’s Word? We can eagerly desire spiritual gifts and we should while keeping in mind that they are imparted according to God’s sovereign and perfect will and not according to what we will (1 Corinthians 14:1-2) (1 Corinthians 12:11).
When we come to pray we should always confess anything God brings before us that we need to have Him deal with. After this we can ask the Holy Spirit to take control of our tongue and to help us to pray. We may need to wait on Him to move within us, or to give us the words we need to pray that will be in line with the Word of God.
When we pray according to God’s promises He will hear us and answer us according to His will (1 John 5:14-15). We can pray the Word and in doing this we will always be praying in the will of God and have the inward assurance from the Holy Spirit that the LORD will answer us in His time and in His way. The Messiah our Lord Jesus specifically said that God would give good gifts to those who ask Him (Matthew 7:11).
Waiting on the LORD enables the Holy Spirit to align our will with the will of God so that as we delight in the LORD by faith, and often it is by faith and not by feelings or emotions we feel naturally, He will give us the desires the longings or the groanings of our hearts because they will be in line with God’s Word which is His will (Psalm 37:4). After all “we live by faith, and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7), and so we fix our eyes on what is unseen and of eternal value, rather than what is visibly seen with our eyes of a temporal nature and value in this physical world (2 Corinthians 4:18).
We also know from the New Testament; “For all the promises of God in Him are “Yes,” and in Him “Amen”, to the glory of God through us” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Sometimes there will be a waiting period between the “yes” and the “amen.” As we learn to wait on the LORD He will always come to our aid. He is never too late or too early, but always on time!
When we are waiting on the LORD it is spiritually edifying and will sustain and strengthen us in our faith walk as we give ourselves to praying in the Holy Spirit. The great advantage of this is that even while we are engaged in our daily occupation, or in some other necessary physical activity during the day, we can still be praying in the Holy Spirit while we work, and if it is in an unknown tongue then our spirit is praying while our intellect is engaged in that activity that is necessary in the visible and physical realm. Praying in the Holy Spirit will most definitely build us up spiritually no matter if we are at home or at our place of employment.
The prophet Isaiah understood this spiritual principle from the LORD when he wrote; “But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). Consider all of the opposition Isaiah faced in his ministry and if anyone knew the ministry of the Holy Spirit in his life Isaiah did.
Waiting on the LORD does not mean we just sit around drinking coffee, or being idle or somewhat complacent in the work of God, or lazy in using the gifts God has given us to strengthen the brethren, or to neglect expectant prayer. At such times, when things seem to be the same and there seems no answer in sight to a specific dilemma facing us, we need to be praying in the Holy Spirit, and what Isaiah says will become an ever increasing reality in our own spiritual journey and experience. So waiting on the LORD does not mean we cease in our work for the LORD, using our gifts for Him and continuing to do His work even when we feel discouraged and feel like just giving up.
When you go to pray, ask the Lord Jesus for this gift of praying in the Spirit and speak out in faith believing that you have already received it. The only thing that will prevent this prayer from being answered will be if you harbour an unforgiving spirit towards another person, especially a fellow believer in Messiah (Mark 11:22-25).
When you come before the LORD the blessed Holy Spirit will enable you to pray by His power, and if there are no words forthcoming then you need to continue to wait upon the LORD and seek to express verbally the longings of your heart by faith. As you speak out in faith the Holy Spirit will enable you supernaturally to pray even if your words are mixed with an inward groaning. God will see your faith and reward it (Hebrews 11:6).
When you start to speak you may find strange words starting to come out of your inner spirit man, and if your tongue has been yielded to the Holy Spirit, then start speaking them out verbally and you will find that the feelings of your inner spirit man will be released and even burst forth in a new way you have never experienced before! Words will flow! These will be rivers of living water for you and for others as well (John 7:37-39). Speaking in an unknown tongue cannot be manufactured but must be a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit as are all the spiritual gifts He imparts (1 Corinthians 12:4-6, 11).
If you believe that you receive this gift when you ask for it, and believe that you receive it, then, in His time, the Holy Spirit will impart to you the ability to pray more effectively in the Holy Spirit. Words, either in a known language, or an unknown language, will come forth, and there will be supernatural power released in you as those words are being expressed verbally.
In all matters pertaining to spiritual gifts you must allow for the Holy Spirit to impart those gifts He desires you to have and to exercise. They will always be in line with the specific avenue of service and ministry He has chosen for you. Paul Himself said that he spoke in tongues more than all of those who exercised this gift at Corinth (1 Corinthians 14:18), and did not forbid speaking in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:39), and also wished that they all spoke in tongues, but more so to prophesy (1 Corinthians 14:4-5). However at Corinth they did not all speak in tongues, but most certainly could experience the strength, the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit including His power in prayer.
Epilogue:
In closing; Rabbi the apostle Paul writes…
“All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:29-31).
In the Greek text when we read this statement it implies that not everyone will have the same gifts, and this includes the gift or manifestation of tongues, however Paul does encourage us to seek the greater gifts implying these will edify the local Body of Messiah. In all of these matters the more excellent way is to use these gifts for the edification of others grounded in love, being the greatest gift of all (1 Corinthians 13:8-10, 13). Having said this does not mean that we should not experience this gift of praying in an unknown tongue in our own private devotional time, or in times when we do not know how to pray or what to pray for. We can most certainly ask for it.
Speaking in an unknown tongue for one’s personal spiritual edification by the Spirit is a good gift, and the Messiah our Lord Jesus said; “Ask (and keep on asking), and it will be given to you; seek (and keep on seeking), and you will find; knock (and keep on knocking), and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks (and keeps on asking with expectant faith) receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:7-11).
Luke records these exact same words of the Lord Jesus but emphasises specifically the gift of the Holy Spirit. “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:13). Did not the apostle James also write; “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow” (James 1:17). When considering that all of God’s gifts are good then you should not be hesitant in asking for this gift of praying in the Spirit in an unknown tongue or language. God is not stingy in bestowing His gifts.
You can ask the LORD for this gift of an unknown language as it is a good gift to have for one’s personal spiritual journey in life and edification because it will not only build you up in your most holy faith, keep you in the flow of God’s love, but also nurture in you that eternal life deposited in your spirit and soul by the Holy Spirit which will be fully manifested in us all when we receive our glorified bodies at the resurrection of the righteous.
The Messiah our Lord Jesus also said; “Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them (already), and they will be granted you” (Mark 11:23-25).
When you ask for this gift to pray in the Holy Spirit in an unknown tongue, you must yield your tongue to the control of the Holy Spirit, ask in faith believing that you have already received it in the context of a good gift asked for, and then by faith start to pray out loud and it may be that you will find a language rising up from within your inner spirit man where the Holy Spirit resides, and as you speak it out, the language will form into syllables and even though you may not understand what you are saying, you will start to experience what it is to be praying in the Holy Spirit.
The God given ability to speak in an unknown tongue by the Holy Spirit usually accompanies the Baptism with the Holy Spirit as we see recorded in the Book of Acts. However we need to allow for the Spirit to impart to us the gift He knows is the right one for us in relation to our testimony and service for the LORD (1 Corinthians 12:11). It also needs to be said that when a believer speaks in an unknown tongue in a public meeting it must be understood by those who hear it even if the speaker does not understand themselves what they are saying by the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 14:22-28). However, in the context of asking for good gifts and believing the LORD for them is Biblically sound and this includes speaking in an unknown tongue for one’s personal spiritual edification.
My own experience of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit
(A brief account)
Personally for me when I received the Baptism with the Holy Spirit the gift of speaking in an unknown tongue was given to me by a sovereign work of the Spirit of God. I did not manufacture it, neither did anyone try to physically manipulate my mouth to speak words, neither was it some ‘mindless gibberish’ or uttered in some kind of ‘euphoric’ emotional experience that caused me to lose control of my faculties or to fall backwards. It was totally a sovereign act of God and in line with what is taught in the Book of Acts concerning this spiritual experience and further affirmed in 1 Corinthians Chapter 14.
In 1972, after completing my two-year stint in National Service I enrolled full time in an evangelical conservative Bible College. I had no Pentecostal background at all and being a kind of stay at home ‘Baptist boy’, having been saved and baptised in my local Baptist Church at a very early age, had been taught not to associate with anything of a Pentecostal nature and that speaking in an unknown tongue was more than likely of the devil.
If I came across a Pentecostal I would go to great lengths from scripture to prove my theological position against tongues and the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. However, I think it was in 1973 during my second year of Bible College that I started to become interested in this matter of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. God was at work in me even back then with all of the difficulties Bible College students have if they are honest.
A Spirit-filled brother invited me to go with him to a meeting in a Pentecostal or a Charismatic Church meeting. I went more so out of curiosity, however, on reflection I think I must have been open to this experience deep down on the inside of me even though I did not understand it Biblically. Well at the meeting I cannot remember what was preached.
At the end of the meeting the pastor who had been preaching invited anyone to come to the front who wanted to be baptised with the Holy Spirit. I observed that the pastor was manipulating people’s mouths to get them to speak obviously in an unknown tongue as proof of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. I said to my friend that this was not appropriate and it seemed the preacher was trying to ‘manufacture’ this spiritual experience for those who came forward. My friend who had brought me to the meeting was kindly disposed towards me.
For some reason at that time, I too went out to the front. The pastor laid hands on me. I did not fall backwards or lose control of my faculties or end up on the floor in some euphoric emotional state. As he laid hands on my head he said “speak forth in faith” and I tried but no words eventuated. He made no attempt to manipulate my mouth to try to make mw speak words. If he had attempted that I would have walked away. After the meeting my brother in Messiah who had brought me to the meeting drove me back to the college.
You will laugh at what I am about to say, and I know God has a sense of humour! Later that night, just before bed, I was actually sitting on the toilet believe it or not, and reflecting on what had happened earlier that night at the meeting. You know sometimes the toilet can be “a sacred place” where one can talk to God privately and undisturbed, as I am sure those of you who are reading this will know for yourselves. I was curious about speaking in this unknown language and I opened my mouth and started to speak and a new language came out of my mouth and started to flow out from inside of me. It was not expected. One minute I could not speak and then the very next moment words flowed and the language came.
I was not making up these words as they were just coming up out of my inner spirit man, where the Holy Spirit resided in me and bypassing my intellect (1Corinthians 6:17) (John 7:37-39). At that time I did not know a great deal about this aspect of the Holy Spirit’s gifting or even what it could do for my spiritual growth.
I did not fall down (imagine that happening in the toilet!). I did not slip into some euphoric state, however, I felt something happen on the inside of me and even though words I did not understand flowed, I was still in control and could stop them at any time. After this experience I could not stop talking about what had happened and in the College ‘the closet Charismatics’ went ‘underground’ as speaking in tongues had all been hushed up in the college. This sort of thing was not supposed to happen in a conservative evangelical Bible College and at the time in my exuberance my testimony was somewhat ‘overboard.’
Now there was a guy, who I think was a guest lecturer at the college who was a very fundamental cessationist preacher who believed that the gifts of the Spirit ceased to exist after the first century and that speaking in an unknown tongue was actually of the devil.
Well, he wanted to test my tongue to see if I had received a demon. I did not know what to do so I went to the Principal of the College, a godly man, and I now know in hindsight understood the ministry of the Spirit, to talk to him about what had happened to me. When I sat down with him and related what had happened and that they wanted to ‘’test” my tongue to see if it was demonic in nature, he looked at me and just quietly smiled. He then said to me “You are the last person in this college I am worried about.”
He further added that when he was a missionary in India that he had seen the work of demons first hand and assured me that what I had received was not of a demonic nature. After that he then said to me “come back and see me and I will show you how to use it properly” (meaning the gift of tongues). I never did go back for some reason. College life at that time was quite busy and diversions common and I guess had other issues I was grappling with as well as all Bible College students have if they are honest.
For many years I rarely used this gift because I never understood by the revelation of the Holy Spirit how it would benefit me spiritually. Some years later I came across a book written by RA Torrey about the Baptism with the Holy Spirit and his teaching about the Holy Spirit undergirded by the Bible. Being a Bible man myself I delved into his writings on the person and work of the Holy Spirit and from the Word of God discovered the solid Biblical doctrine of the person and work of the Holy Spirit, including what the Bible actually taught about the Baptism with the Holy Spirit and how to receive it, including the spiritual gifts that flow from it according to the will of the Holy Spirit.
I also discovered that when one is baptised with the Holy Spirit that the gifts that are released will differ according to the will of the Spirit, and this included the gift of tongues. In my case I spoke in tongues. It was my Baptism with the Holy Spirit to empower me for testimony and service for the Lord Jesus (Acts 1:8). It was the solid foundation of the Word of God that stabilised me in understanding this experience Biblically.
As I said for many years after this experience I never used the gift much at all, and down through the years the LORD has actually kept me out of Pentecostal / Charismatic circles, and I think because there are unnumbered multitudes of faithful Bible believers who are my blood redeemed, blood washed brothers and sisters in Messiah with whom I can have fellowship and who need to be open to this experience, who themselves have never been Baptised with the Holy Spirit, but who need to be for a more effective and powerful witnessing and work for the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:8) (Luke 24:49) (Acts 2:4).
These dear brothers and sisters born again by the Spirit of God who is living on the inside of them have been enlisted into the ranks of the LORD’s army, and trained for battle, however, not having been baptised with the Holy Spirit and with power from on high, have not had fully released in them the spiritual weapons and armour needed to wrestle against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Our spiritual weapons with which we wage war against the world, the flesh and the devil are the whole Armour of God, the power of faith, the power of the blood of Jesus, the power of the Spirit of Jesus, the power of the Word of God, the power that is in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, and through praying continuously in the Holy Spirit.
Today I use this gift of speaking in an unknown tongue in prayer frequently, especially in times of adversity, anxiety or daunting circumstances, or dealing with situations beyond my control that require me to wait by faith on the LORD. It also helps me in times of heaviness of soul through manifold temptations and demonic attacks, and to find solace when dealing with depression, even though by nature I am not a depressed person. Satanic attacks are frequent and in these last of the last days Satan is busy at work knowing that his time is now short!
The Baptism with the Holy Spirit does not make one who has received it more spiritual than one who has not received it! At Corinth they had an abundance of spiritual gifts yet the assembly had all sorts of problems including misusing the gifts. There were a lot of fleshly and carnal things happening, even a toleration of immorality. The point is that even one who has been baptised withe Holy Spirit and moves in the gifts of the Spirit can remain spiritually immature and remain a child in spiritual matters and have real problems with the fleshly fallen nature with its appetites and desires.
When I was baptised with the Holy Spirit I was most certainly not jettisoned into instant spirituality! Many test, trials, temptations, failures, and difficult circumstances lay ahead of me, and over the years I have been learning that in my flesh dwells nothing good or commendable humanly speaking (Romans 7:18), and that I constantly need the grace of God every day for my spiritual survival in this present evil age in which we are living. I also have come to appreciate in a deeper sense the spiritual benefits of continuously praying in the Holy Spirit.
The Baptism with the Holy Spirit is the initial filling with the Spirit, and there will be many fillings after that as new situations or opportunities for ministry and service present themselves (Ephesians 5:18). In the Greek text Ephesians 5:18 can be rendered in the present continuous tense; “Be ye continuously being filled (up and controlled) with the Spirit.” Also in the Greek text it is a command, not an option.
I am no spiritual ‘guru’ and I totally depend on the Holy Spirit to empower me to write what I receive from Him in this website. I am an unworthy servant of the Triune God even at the best of times, and cannot boast in anything of myself. I am here today solely by the grace and mercy of God and without Him in my life I would be a ‘spiritual basket case!’
As the lyrics of that famous hymn goes; “Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come; ’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home.” As the Messiah our Lord Jesus Himself said; “So you also, when you have done everything commanded of you, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty’” (Luke 17:10).
The Baptism with the Holy Spirit that the 120 in the upper room received on the day of Pentecost is for every believer in every age. The apostle Peter made this clear in His sermon when he said; “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus the Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise (of this gift being the Promise of the Father) is for you (those Jews present on that day) and your children (their children) and for all who are far off (the Gentiles), as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself (every believer in every age).” In the Greek text the word “receive” means “to reach out and by faith take that which has already been given or poured out.”
We are saved by faith, we live by faith, and we are filled with the Spirit by faith, and through faith we can receive this good gift of speaking in an unknown language for our personal edification and in dealing with the changing circumstances and situations we all face in life every day. God our Heavenly Father indeed is a good God who delights in giving good gifts to His children, and He does not want us lacking in any good acceptable and perfect gift from above.
The Baptism with the Holy Spirit, and praying in the Holy Spirit in an unknown tongue, is not merely ‘a theological doctrine’ to be analysed, but a genuine and powerful supernatural work of the blessed Holy Spirit that fully launches a believer into the realm of the Spirit and all that comes with this experience.
For me personally when I received my Baptism withe Holy Spirit I spoke in an unknown tongue. It was a spiritual experience that I came to more fully understand Biblically quite a few years after I had received it. Sometimes our intellect can get in the way of receiving what God wants us to have according to His Word, and while we need to test all things by the Word of God and examine the scriptures everyday as the Bereans did in the Bible, we must be careful not to “throw out the baby with the bath water” when we can have this experience from the Holy Spirit including the manifestation of speaking in an unknown language imparted by the Spirit of God!
Shalom; Brother Raoul
