Baptism of the Holy Spirit & Tongues

**At salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell with us, and help us on our faith journey. Many people find this adequate, and wish no more than this, and are happy. All believers have the Holy Spirit. The baptism spoken of here is a different experience, and involves a special infilling of the Spirit in a more intimate way, for the purpose of private prayer, intercession, and prophesy.

Introduction

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a real experience with God, and usually manifests itself with the gift of tongues (heavenly, mystery language). There are those now who do fake it, and there are those who have the real gift, and there are those who are witch hunters, trying to denounce every act of God, in order to quench what they perceive as fake. There is a mindset that thinks since they do not have it, then it must not be real, because they think they are so holy, that they should have more gifts than others. It is this very prideful mindset that prevents them from receiving the real experience. To be fair, this bitterness may also be due to bad experiences with the fake experience, and now they think everything is fake.

A sincere pursuit of the real baptism will be met with God’s acceptance, and a positive response will occur. A negative pursuit for the wrong reasons will either end up with failure, or a demonic counterfeit. No sincere believer wants that to happen.

The baptism is made possible by the salvation relationship one has with Jesus Christ, who asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit to those who believe in Him. Unbelievers cannot receive this experience. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is for the glory of god and to worship God in a more powerful and holy way. The Holy Spirit guides our spirit into a sense of worship, speaking into our spirits the perfect will of God.

Preparing one’s heart

So, one must examine his heart to see if their intentions are pure. This is a holy experience, and it may be used quietly in public at times when others are praying also in tongues, but it should never be used for public display, or to draw attention to one’s self. The baptism with tongues is all about God, not the person. The only openly acceptable public utterance will be when the Holy Spirit is using it for a prophetic word to the entire congregation, and there is an interpreter present.

Receiving the Baptism

Receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit is equivalent to receiving a person, not a “thing.” So, the baptism is a “Him,” not an “it.” Proper indwelling requires a yielded vessel, repentant, loving, humble, submissive to God. One could receive the baptism by the laying on of hands, but it must be without public pressure or coaching. The Holy Spirit can fill a person without man’s help. The real baptism is NOT a learned experience, but quite the opposite. The baptism is God filling the person the person with Himself.

The person should be willing to speak out in faith, and allow the Holy Spirit to take over the natural language they are using in their prayers. Sometimes it helps not to speak a natural language, but to just utter sounds, in order to disconnect their minds from trying to influence the initiation of the baptism. This is done, knowing that these are just sounds to relax the person and their tongue, and not a real language. Many times, people feel so self conscious with others around, they cannot receive this gift. It is best then, to go and be alone with God, and let Him minister to them without anyone around.

There is also a proper timing for things of God, so one should not get discouraged if they ask, and there is a delay. A delay is not a denial. There may be a delay because there is something spiritually blocking the person, such a fear, self conscious feelings, doubt, sin, confusion about what the baptism is, need for acceptance or attention, etc. The person needs to relax, be humble, and trust God.

Speaking in tongues comes from the spirit of the person, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, who overshadows the person’s spirit.

However, the source of the activity is the spirit, not the brain. No one can get their brain to do this…the brain may be affected by it though.

Prayer life with the baptism

I speak and pray in tongues for about 2 hours a day. Sometimes, I have gone longer than that. I have an active prayer life. This is a gift which is given to those for service, intercession and prayer. It is meant to be a protected prayer language to avoid attack by dark spiritual forces, which can hear prayers and form plans against what they hear. It is also a humble experience, because one is usually kept from the interpretation, to show the person there is so much they do not know, that God does. In the prayer, the Holy Spirit helps the person pray perfectly in God’s will, so that the prayers will be answered.

There are times when the interpretation is made known, maybe in part or completely. This is for the edification of the person. I am aware of what certain words mean when I pray…I hope in time, that more meaning comes to me.

Note:

It is not a dream, and is done consciously…. although the person is not controlling the words spoken.

I hope that this helps others understand this experience a little better. God is real and working today, and one must not let cynicism, or disbelief, keep them from receiving what god has for them.

There does not need to be a special prayer to receive the baptism of the holy spirit. Use your own words. Just ask the Father in Jesus name for this. You do not need a recipe. The Father wants to hear from you. If you do not get a prayer language right away, that is ok. Continue in faith. If you need it, the Holy Spirit will give it to you at the proper time.

For the one who asks, “are the tongues real or fake?” I would say this: Scripture says a good tree produces good fruit. If the tongues are real, the person will be guided by the Holy Spirit, be reverent and humble with their gift, and will not abuse the gift for selfish purposes. Also, if the person has asked sincerely, then they should expect to receive in faith what they asked for. If they, instead, have acquired the tongues by an artificial means, somehow “learning” what to do, or made up something under pressure of others to please them, then the tongues most likely will not be real.

Steps to receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit

1. repent of all sins

( if you are new to salvation, be sure you understand what sin is, and what activities are sins. You cannot repent of something if you do not know it is wrong.)

2. renounce sin – make a decision that you will not do these things any more. get public baptism, if possible.

3. you must surrender totally to the power of the Holy Spirit. You must obey Him, as He will expect you to give your life to God.

4. Desire the gift with all your heart ( John 7:37)

5. Ask in faith.

6. Worship God. The spirit comes as you actively pursue His presence. Do not be passive about it.

7. Be patient. The gift could come quickly, or after a time.

8. Open your mouth and speak in faith. Do not use your own language. Just utter sounds, to show submission and willingness, and allow the Holy Spirit to convert these sounds into a prayer language. You will know the difference between your own sounds, and a change to another language that you have no control over.

Clarification:

Maybe I should re-word some things I say. To disconnect the brain is only referring to the moment when you receive the baptism.  It just means do not let it be a mental activity, where you force some artificial behavior on yourself.

There are churches who “teach” tongues, and people “learn” tongues. For me, to disconnect the brain really means to stop using your own mind to control the activity, and let God take over and do it correctly. That way, you get the true gift, and not the counterfeit.

But of course, we should use our minds, and fill them with the Word of God, so we are not deceived.

For anyone, we have unconscious pressures that influence our readiness. We have to examine our motives, and ignore expectations of others to “do it their way.” Or sometimes, god just wants us to learn patience and wisdom first, so that we use our gift the right way.

There can be delays to receiving the baptism of the holy spirit, but when God thinks you are ready, and you also know in your heart you are ready, everything will work out fine, and occur in a way that will inspire you.

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See also “The Church is Having a Power Failure” (signs and wonders gone in the church?) Click here for more

See also “Fake and Real Charismatics”  Click here for more

See also “The Wheat and the Tares”  Click here for more

See also “God’s Glory- a Practical Application”  Click here for more

See also Speaking in Tongues – the Science and the Spirit Click here for more