This is a great teaching video by Roma Waterman.
More from Roma here; www.romawaterman.com
tongues
Today’s Sermon
How To Receive The Baptism In The Holy Spirit
People often get hung up about how to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Here are 4 simple steps. Follow these steps in a posture of humbly receiving from God.
1. Ask
It is obvious that the Lord delights to give good gifts to His children. Often, all you have to do is ask. In Luke 11:11-13, Jesus says:
“What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
If you have never received the Holy Spirit, then ask your Father in heaven who will gladly give Him to you.
2. Believe
Faith is the key to every part of the Christian life. We receive when we believe.
Take hold of promises like Luke 11:11-13, and the other places where Jess promises the Holy Spirit. Read the book of Acts. Take hold of the promise that God wants you to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
3. Speak
The gift of speaking in tongues requires that you open your mouth and say something.
Some people really stumble over this. God will give you words to speak in your heavenly prayer language, but you have to speak them out. You might only get one word to start with but as you speak it by faith, more will come.
Some people see words in their mind, others hear words, yet others just speak fluently. God deals with each of us differently and according to our faith. So leet God give you the words to say.
To open your mouth and say something might involve a giant leap of faith, but do it anyway.
4. Listen
Our ongoing relationship with the Holy Spirit is a two way street.
God is wanting to speak to us, and we need to listen. The voice of God often comes to us as a whisper that is so easily overwhelmed by the noise of the world and our own thoughts. We need to “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
Take time to tune into the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Steven Strang: Four Truths About Speaking in Tongues
Most Christians know the church was founded on the Day of Pentecost and many liturgical churches celebrate the day. But many ignore or overlook what happened that day—the Baptism in the Holy Spirit was given, including speaking in tongues.
There were many foreign visitors in Jerusalem that day and they heard their own languages. But this practice died down over the centuries until the modern Pentecostal movement that began with the Azusa Street revival of 1906 and which has swept the world.
Nevertheless, speaking in tongues has continued to be misunderstood and even controversial in many circles.
There are some genuine misconceptions about what speaking in tongues looks like and what purpose it serves the believers. No doubt Christians are divided about whether this gift has ceased or not, and there are even debates about when the proper time is to speak in a prayer language. Instead of debating with one another about tongues, I think it is best if we look at the four truths that are pertinent to this gift that I write about in my new book Spirit-Led Living in an Upside-Down World, which releases May 16.
1. Speaking in tongues is neither unbiblical nor outdated. Although not all Christians believe the same thing about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and its accompanying evidence of speaking in “other tongues,” nothing in New Testament Scripture restricts or confines speaking in tongues to being only a first-century exercise.
The benefits of receiving a supernatural prayer language are profound. When we do not have the words to express our need, we can use our prayer language—a language understood by the Spirit, who speaks through us to the Father, and understood by the Father, who empowers the Spirit to work in our lives to give us victory.
2. Speaking in tongues is not a transcendental experience. There is really nothing weird about praying in a language we have never learned. As Jack Hayford puts it: “The ways of God in dealing with His redeemed children may be supernatural in the source of His operations, but they are not weird in their ways of working. To speak in tongues is not to resign the control of one’s mind or indulge one’s emotions to a point of extraction. The exercise of spiritual language does involve a conscious choice to allow God’s assistance to transcend our own linguistic limits, but it does not surrender to any order of a mystical, trance-like trip beyond oneself.”
3. Speaking in tongues is not a status symbol. There have been some abuses of tongues, including those who act is if they are spiritually superior to those who have never spoken in tongues.
The Bible doesn’t tell us tongues are to be used to impress other believers with the spiritual maturity of the one who speaks. The Bible tells us, “Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what shall I profit you, unless I speak to you by some revelation or knowledge or prophesying or doctrine?” In another place, the apostle Paul says, “So tongues are for a sign, not to believers, but to unbelievers.”
4. Speaking in tongues is not a substitute for spiritual growth. Using our prayer language and speaking in tongues will not cause us to grow spiritually even if we do it seven days a week and 24 hours a day.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is available to all believers, not a select few. Just as we receive new life in the Son of God by a definite act of personal faith, so we receive supernatural power in the Spirit of God by an act of conscious faith.
Stephen E. Strang is the bestselling author of God and Donald Trump. The founder and CEO of Charisma Media, Strang was voted by Time magazine as one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in America. He has interviewed four U.S. presidents and has been featured on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, CBN, Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, theDailyCaller.com and in many Christian outlets.
The Power Of Tongues
The power of tongues is this: it helps your spirit ta[p into the flow of the Holy Spirit. The idea of “flow” is important here. You are continually getting the “flow” of :
- your cognitive thoughts
- your emotions
- Holy Spirit
- the world
- satan and demonic spirits
Like a social media feed, these things are scrolling past you in a constant stream.
You can be overwhelmed by this kaleidoscope of impression on your spirit.
Stop the scroll! Turn to Me. Filter out everything but My Spirit.
In quietness and meditation is your strength.
When you speak in tongues, it filters out satan and the world. When you listen to Me, it filters out your own thoughts.
There is power in verbal spoken out prayer. There is power also in praying in tongues.
There is amazing power in listening to My voice.
Hear me. Listen to Me.
J. Lee Grady: Why Is the Gift of Speaking in Tongues So Awkward?
J. Lee Grady: Why Is the Gift of Speaking in Tongues So Awkward?
From Charisma
Churches across the world will commemorate the day of Pentecost this next Sunday, whether they meet online or in their buildings. Most will celebrate the need for the Holy Spirit’s power, and they might read Acts 2:1-4, which tells how the Spirit’s flame rested on all the disciples who prayed in the upper room that day.
But when they read verse 4 (NASB)—”And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance”—some people will shift in their seats or clear their throats. This aspect of Pentecost makes people uncomfortable. We don’t know what to do or say about tongues. It’s just too weird for most people.
It was awkward for me too, when I first heard about it. I’d never met a Pentecostal. Speaking in tongues wasn’t part of my church tradition, and I had never heard anyone do it. In fact, the first person I heard speak in tongues was myself, when I was baptized in the Holy Spirit in 1976!
Since then, I have prayed for countless people to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I don’t force them to speak in tongues. I just warn them that it might happen, since it happened in Acts 2.
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Several years ago, when I was teaching at a ministry school, a 22-year-old guy from Maryland asked if I could pray with him. He had heard me share how I was baptized in the Holy Spirit at age 18, and he wanted the same experience.
This young man, Eric, understood that he already had the Holy Spirit living inside of him. But he knew that Jesus offers us more. He knew the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a second experience in which the fullness of God’s divine power anoints us for ministry.
I explained to Eric that speaking in tongues makes no sense in the natural. It actually sounds like gibberish, yet the Bible says praying in the Spirit strengthens us profoundly (see 1 Cor. 14:2, 4). I laid hands on Eric and asked Jesus to fill him with divine power and to release the Holy Spirit’s language as a manifestation of the overflow.
Nothing dramatic happened at that moment, but I told Eric to remain expectant. I’ve learned that oftentimes, the release of the Spirit comes more easily when people are alone and not distracted by people standing around. I encouraged him to go home and pray some more.
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A couple of days later I received a message from him, letting me know that a small miracle had occurred in his life. He wrote: “Thank you for praying for me to speak in tongues. That night was interesting because phrases started to pop into my head. I began speaking the phrases, and by the next night I was speaking in tongues as I was falling asleep. Now, every moment that I am not worshipping, praying, eating or speaking to someone, I am practicing this gift. Praise God!”
Many of us fall into the trap of downplaying speaking in tongues, even after we’ve received the gift ourselves. We may consider it divisive (and it certainly can be when it is abused) or we’re embarrassed because it seems fanatical to our friends or family members.
Yet when I read the apostle Paul’s comments on the issue, I realize that speaking in tongues was a key component of the New Testament church. Not only did tongues play a fundamental role on the day of Pentecost when the church was born, but this strange gift also fueled Paul’s personal zeal. The same apostle who wrote the book of Romans and preached to Caesar wrote: “I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all” (1 Cor. 14:18). Paul most likely prayed in tongues for hours at a time.
Paul also instructed the Corinthians: “Do not forbid to speak in tongues” (1 Cor. 14:39). He knew that even though some people might be tempted to misuse this gift (and this is usually why people restrict it), we must never shut it down.
Eliminating the gift of tongues can have a direct impact on the flow of the Holy Spirit’s anointing in the church. If you forbid tongues or pretend this gift is not needed today, you might as well flip a breaker switch and turn off all the lights.
Speaking in tongues doesn’t make us holier than anyone else. And if we don’t exhibit love and Christian character, Paul said it becomes a useless gift comparable to a noisy gong (see 1 Cor. 13:1). But when stewarded properly and tempered with humility, this seemingly insignificant gift becomes an invisible spiritual weapon.
I’m not saying we should showcase tongues in church gatherings, scream at people in tongues or make people feel like misfits if they haven’t experienced the gift. (We must forgive immature Christians for doing those things.) When the Corinthians put tongues on the platform and turned their meetings into chaotic circus sideshows, Paul rebuked them sternly.
But the same apostle who warned his followers not to flaunt tongues in public also spent countless hours praying in tongues privately—because it’s a vital source of spiritual power that we must never neglect. This Pentecost, don’t apologize for the secret of the apostle Paul’s power just because it’s awkward. We need the Holy Spirit’s power like never before.
Anna Gibson- “No Longer Thirsty.”
A powerful testimony from Mark Virkler’s blog of God reaching into a person’s heart and transforming her life.
No Longer Thirsty Since I Received the Gift of Speaking In Tongues – Testimony by Anna Gibson
At the age of 6, my dad introduced me to a prayer that if I prayed it, he claimed I would then be a Christian. I wanted Jesus in my heart. I constantly lived to please Him, but after this prayer, I expected to be perfect. No more spankings, no more corners. But instead, I felt worse. I struggled more everyday and I didn’t understand. My parents didn’t explain.
At 14Â I began realizing I was trying to be good on my own. I didn’t know the next step. For several weeks at church an elder came up to me and asked if I wanted to be baptized. I denied him each time. One Sunday he asked my dad. To my dad’s knowledge I was saved so he told me to get baptized. I was frustrated. He didn’t see my heart. There was no way I was saved. But because I had been taught to be submissive, I did not argue with my dad. “In the name of Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, I now baptize you.” I arose out of the water as if a heavy blanket were over me. Burden… I felt the guilt and shame of lying to the church as they all cheered for me. Every compliment that day made me sick.
At the age of 19, just before going to college, my spirit was being tormented. I heard the Holy Spirit calling me, but my flesh was crawling with demons of fear, desires, lust and hatred. I slammed my Bible to the floor and spoke out loud, “If you really are God, then show me a verse!” I really wanted an answer!!! Immediately I put my finger on a verse that said, “Be slow to anger.” That made me more mad. I said, “There is no way I am settling down.” Again I slammed the Bible, threw it open and put my finger down. This time the verse was, “Be slow to speak and quick to listen.” How could I listen!! I was so mad and there was no way I wanted to cool down. I wouldn’t hear a thing!! The third time, again, “Be slow to anger.” I just dropped to the floor. “Okay, God! What is it?”
I heard God say, “Choose this day. Me or the world?” It wasn’t long before I said, “Jesus! I want Jesus!!” Immediately God led me to repentance. The next step was baptism. A bitter word in my mouth, but I knew this time, I was depending on Jesus to help me through this life. He wasn’t just sitting on the sidelines waiting for me to mess up so He could go back to the cross. The day of the baptism we went to the river. As I went into the water, my eyes were open and I saw a bright light enter my soul and darkness rushed out of me. I just watched the spirit of shame wash down the river.
I began to journal my prayers when I realized I would fall asleep during prayer on my bed. I didn’t want to fall asleep on my Lord. During these prayers I heard the spontaneous thoughts and knew it was God. I just had no idea I was doing what you teach, Mark! Miracles and pain, blessings and curses later my dad sent me an email from your videos with Charity explaining dreams. My dad knew I dreamed a lot. That’s when I started hearing more. I wanted what you had. I wanted what Charity had. Joy didn’t seem to stop flowing from you. I felt that through the videos. I asked myself, “Why am I not happy? I have tried minimalism, I’ve tried requesting my husband to do more for me. I’ve tried hanging with new friends. I’ve tried working from home. I’ve tried having children, etc. Nothing is working.” There were days I was happy and thought that was the Joy of the Lord, but it was not sustaining. I wanted MORE!!!!!!!!!
Then I received the email that you were coming to my area… wow! My spirit jumped up and down. I just knew we were to go. The first evening my husband and I met Don and Kay Martin from Kansas. I heard they led groups in their home. That’s what piqued my interest. Saturday morning we arrived early. When Don and Kay walked in I inquired about their meetings and how they did that. From that moment, Don gave us a word from the Lord and we were connected. We had lunch together, then from 4:30-11:30 p.m. we were with them. At 10:30 Don asked, “Are you filled with the Holy Spirit?” We said, “Well yes….” He added, “With the gift of speaking in tongues?” Immediately, “NO!
Oh goodness, no.” That moment opened up questions and I began to shake. I told them that for many years how I felt something in my stomach rise up and flow to my head whenever I prayed, but it was becoming far more frequent that I was beginning to think I had a disease that would come on if I bowed my head. Don asked me if it made me feel like it just wanted to come out and I said, “YES! I feel like my brain is going to explode!” He led us to his hotel room and there we yielded to the Holy Spirit and within moments, Spiritual beautiful language was flowing from our mouths! The Holy Spirit was finally flowing! What a relief!!! I felt ten pounds lighter within MINUTES!!!! How could this be and how can you explain this feeling?
My sweet Jesus brought this illustration to my mind:Â The Potter and the clay. When you find natural clay to work with, it is suggested to bring it in and dry so that you can smash it and grind it into a smooth powder. At this point you pour a little water at a time to mix it in. Once you can make ribbons of clay through your fingers when you squeeze it, it is ready to be formed.
Before receiving this gift I felt like a clay pot that had been formed but set aside and dried. I was thirsty. I was not a good vessel. I could not hold what was being poured into me. The occasional moisture was nice, but I was not where I knew I could be. When we met with Don and Kay Martin they took us to the Potter’s house. My opinions, my analytical self and my weariness were crushed and refined to powder. Yielding to the Holy Spirit I felt Him adding water and mixing together my spirit and His. He threw me to the wheel and began spinning! I am refreshed! I am redeemed! I am whole! I have been made into a beautiful vessel! Already the demons are fighting, (this is where the fire comes in.) Just enough fire, just enough heat will “bake” me. I will mature the longer I am in the fire/ the kiln. I want to be completed in His time!
I thank God for being patient with me. His mercy endures forever! I am His creation! I am proud of it! Thank you for yielding to our Savior and not giving up after 11 years of silence.
Mark Virkler: How To Receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are for all believers, so why do some find it so hard to receive them?
Mark Virkler explains how we can position ourselves to receive the fullness of God’s Spirit and overcome some of the obstacles that get in the way. He has both video and pdf content on this page.
It’s well worth taking a look at.
Three Types of Tongues
In the Bible, there is often more description of the way things are or should be than analysis of events. If we are not careful, we can easily be confused because we try to impose an order or a structure onto the scriptures that is not meant to be there.
The gift of tongues (sometimes called “glossolalia” from the Greek word meaning literally to speak in tongues) has three different applications in the New Testament and in contemporary experience. We need to be aware of these different usages in order to read the scriptures properly.
1. Sign of the Baptism in the Spirit
In Acts 2:4 we are told: “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”
When we receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit (or are filled with the Holy Spirit), God releases a special spiritual language that enables us to pray to God from our spirit to God’s Spirit. This is one of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11.
In Acts 10:46 (the conversion of Cornelius’ household) and in Acts 19:6 (Paul in Ephesus) there are two more descriptions of the giving of the Holy Spirit and the sign of this is speaking in tongues.
Someone might ask what is the purpose of this prayer language? There are several:
- There are times when I simply don’t know how to pray, so in tongues my spirit communicates directly with the Holy Spirit.
- There are times when my human desire might be contrary to God’s desire in a situation. How can I pray without being directed by the Holy Spirit?
- Some people claim that the Devil cannot understand glossolalia so this intimate communion with God is important in times of intense spiritual warfare.
- It is a reassurance that the Holy Spirit is still with me, even when I feel inadequate or unworthy.
This is a private, personal use of tongues.
2. Tongues as an Interpreted Miracle
In Acts 2, the disciples were speaking in languages that were, to them, unknown. Yet the gathered crowds heard them speaking in their own various languages. You can argue whether there was a miracle in the speaking or in the hearing, but in either event people heard a tongues phenomenon in which they heard people speaking familiar words.
There have been numerous accounts of people speaking in tongues in a gathering discovering that someone present was hearing a message in a human language or dialect unknown to the speaker. This kind of event is quite rare in practice. When it happens it brings deep conviction to the hearer who is usually an unbeliever.
3. Tongues as a Public Utterance
There have been times when I have experienced in an open meeting someone standing up and speaking a message in tongues. Following this, another person (or sometimes the same person) will give a message in English which is an interpretation of the glossolalia. Together the tongues and interpretation amount to a form of prophecy.
In my experience, the language of the public tongue is different to the private prayer language. It feels different inside as if the Holy Spirit is pushing something out. I have also experienced the interpretation part of the equation whereby as another person is spekaing in tongues, I an hearing the words in my head in English.
In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul addresses the proper ordering of charismatic worship. His concern was not so much about which gifts were best, but facilitating the most helpful way of people participating so that the Holy Spirit could minister and everyone could have a turn.
Paul gives guidelines for the proper administration of this mode of speaking in tongues.
- Don’t overdo this or prophecy. Let a few people each have a turn, speaking one at a time.
- There must be an interpretation. The speaker must pray for the interpretation, and if there is no interpretation coming then there should be no more public tongues.
- People are able to speak in tongues privately to God without restriction
These three modalities of the gift of speaking in tongues are quite different in their operation and usage. We need to learn to flow in the power of the Holy Spirit in whatever way He wishes to work.
5 Ways That Praying in Tongues Will Change Your Life Forever by LARRY SPARKS
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5 Ways That Praying in Tongues Will Change Your Life Forever
One of the most controversial and, sadly, most misunderstood gifts of the Holy Spirit is praying in tongues. I am convinced that there is so much antagonism aimed at this gift because of the incredible power it releases into our lives. In the same way that many reject the prophetic ministry because of abuses, misuses and bad experiences, the same approach has been taken—perhaps in greater extremes—toward praying in tongues.Tongues Is a Controversial Subject That Requires Our AttentionAt the end of the day, we need to be honest with ourselves and honest with the biblical text. This unique gift of the Holy Spirit actually announced the birth of Christianity on the Day of Pentecost. It was highly prized by the man who wrote the majority of the New Testament (Paul). It equips believers to communicate with God on a unique level and empowers us to effectively live the supernatural life. In short, it would make a lot of sense that the enemy would tirelessly fight against something that has such strong potential to pillage his expansion of darkness in our lives and on the earth.Corey Russell, a senior leader at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, wrote the book and curriculum The Glory Within not simply as a teaching on the subject of tongues, but as a summons to experience the power of a Person—the Holy Spirit. In the past, many books and teachings have emphasized tongues in almost a robotic way. What was intended to be a source of supernatural power and a catalyst for deep intimacy with God has been reduced to a mere theological position in many charismatic churches.
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