How to Easily Be Baptized in the Spirit with Tongues

In my last three posts, I explained what the baptism in the Spirit is and why it is available to all believers.  You can receive the baptism in the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues (your personal prayer language) — here, now, today — even if you have been prayed with dozens of times in the past and have been disappointed.

We have made this entirely too difficult for people, with all our little methods and tricks, and too many have ended up despairing of ever receiving their prayer language — mostly because of wrong teaching.  It’s time to stop that.

Many of us have been taught that when we ask God for the baptism in the Spirit, if we somehow mysteriously end up speaking in tongues, then we “got” the baptism.  If we don’t fall into speaking in tongues, then we didn’t “get” the baptism. We end up thinking God didn’t choose to give it to us, and either wonder why we are second-class citizens in the Kingdom or else beat up on ourselves for not having enough faith.

It does take faith to believe that God truly will baptize us in the Holy Spirit when we ask, and then to act on it by opening our mouths and letting our prayer language out.  But let me state right up front that if you are a Christian, you already have all the faith you need.  Every believer in Christ already has GREAT faith.

Why do I say that?  Think about what you believe: God Almighty, Who existed from all eternity, took on human flesh, died for every sin you would ever commit, arose from the dead, and will raise you from the dead in a glorified body, too.  And you will one day live in heaven with Him for all eternity, without any sorrow or pain anymore.  As a Christian, you accept all that, don’t you?  But when you think about it a little bit from a “rational” perspective, it sounds ridiculous!  And yet, you know it is true, and you believe it with all your heart.  That takes great faith.

The baptism in the Spirit, with the evidence of speaking in tongues, can be received by faith in the same way you believed for salvation.  It isn’t any harder at all.

Here is what we are going to do:

1.)  If you are chewing gum, spit it out.  It doesn’t help to have gum in your mouth when you want to receive your prayer language.

2.)  Get yourself in tune with the Lord in whatever way works best for you.  If you want to worship and praise Him for a while, go ahead.  You don’t have to make a big deal out of this — just get yourself communing with Him for a few minutes.

3.)  Now, ask the Lord to baptize you (fully fill you up to overflowing) with His Holy Spirit.  He says in His Word that this is for all believers, so just ask and believe He will do it for you.

 (Did you do that?  If you did, you are now baptized in the Spirit. You may “feel” His tangible Presence inside of you or all over you, but if you don’t, it’s OK. You are still baptized in the Spirit, if you asked Him and believed Him for it.)

4.)  Because you are now baptized in the Spirit, you have the ability to speak in tongues.  But you have to act in faith for it to manifest.  Open your mouth and initiate speech. By initiating speech, I do not mean speaking out conscious words.  I mean doing everything you would normally do to utter words — but immediately the Holy Spirit takes over and does the speaking.  You will begin to speak in your prayer language effortlessly.

5.)  Keep praying in tongues for a while and enjoy the Holy Spirit flowing through you like this.  From this point on, you can pray in tongues whenever you so desire.

That is all there is to it.

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You may have a lot of questions about your new prayer language, including, “What if it sounds funny?” What if I only have one or two syllables?” etc.  It doesn’t really matter if it sounds funny; your native language sounds funny to many people in other parts of the world.  And one or two syllables is just the beginning of something that will probably expand.  If it doesn’t, be aware that some tribal dialects consist of just a syllable or two, and the whole language revolves around voice inflection, rather than multiple syllables.

If you read my series, The Power of Your Prayer Language, a lot of other questions will be answered there.

Now, I know that although most people who follow this simple plan WILL receive their prayer language, there will be a few who will not, due to being afraid it won’t happen for them and clamming up, rather than speaking out their prayer language in faith.  If that happens to you,  here is what you must know: you asked the Lord to baptize you in His Holy Spirit, and He did.  He really did, if you asked Him, believing that He would.

The key to receiving your prayer language is to let go and let the Spirit flow. You need to relax.  Stop stressing.

When you feel you are ready, you might want to pray a prayer such as: “Lord, I asked in faith to be filled up with Your Spirit, and I believe You did that for me.  I am going to trust You for my prayer language, and it will happen for me.”  Then initiate sound in your vocal cords, yield your tongue to God, open your mouth, and let Him do it from there.

You may want to read the following posts for further understanding:

What Is the Baptism in the Spirit? (Part 1) 
What Is the Baptism in the Spirit? (Part 2) 
Common Questions About the Baptism in the Spirit (Part 3)

I would love to hear from any of you who have received the baptism in the Spirit and your prayer language by following the directions in this post.  Your testimony will also be an encouragement to others.

The Baptism in the Spirit: Why You Need It & How to Get It  — Mp3 Download or CD

Common Questions About the Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Part 3)

In the last two posts, we laid some foundations about what the baptism in the Spirit is.  Now let’s look at a few common questions people have about receiving that we haven’t yet talked about:

What are the prerequisites to being baptized in the Spirit?  There is only one: you must be born again (a Christian; a person who is putting your trust in Jesus for your salvation).

The baptism in the Spirit is a gift from God, not something we attain to by works, just as salvation does not come through works.  There are traditions within some Pentecostal/Charismatic circles about things we supposedly have to do to work ourselves up to receiving this gift, but there really is no biblical backup for these notions, and if you have to earn it, it is not really a gift anymore.

Is it possible to be baptized in the Spirit and not speak in tongues? Pentecostals often argue that since speaking in tongues is evidence of having received the baptism, then not speaking in tongues means one has not been baptized in the Spirit.  At the risk of getting a few folks upset, I don’t think that is quite right.

Tongues is evidence of the baptism, but the absence of tongues does not automatically mean that the infilling of the Spirit did not take place.  If a person sincerely asks the Lord to fill him or her with the Spirit, he or she can receive in faith at that very instant, just as when we ask Jesus to be our Lord, we are saved in that very instant.  The question, then, is whether we will allow the Spirit to operate through us in tongues or not.  I will talk about this more in my next post, where I will explain how to receive the baptism in the Spirit with your prayer language.

There are people who are obviously filled with the Spirit, who move in all of the gifts of the Spirit mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 except tongues and the interpretation of tongues.  Why?  Because the church fellowship they are part of gets hung up on tongues but not always the other gifts.  It is not that they cannot pray in tongues, but that they have been taught that they should not, and therefore are not open to it.  It is not that tongues has been withheld from them, but that they do not want it.

The real issue is not whether we can be filled with the Spirit and get away with not speaking in tongues.  The real issue is, why would we not desire a gift that the Lord so freely wants to give — a phenomenon that the New Testament speaks of as being important?  Why would we choose to resist receiving tongues?

Reasons for resisting tongues include:

1.)  Intellectualism (the “If I can’t figure it out, I don’t want it” syndrome).
2.)  Fear of looking and sounding foolish (pride).
3.)  Fear of losing control.  (This is our soul, not wanting to yield to the Spirit. You don’t lose control, by the way.  You have complete control over when to begin and end speaking in tongues, once you have received the baptism in the Spirit.)
4.)  Unbiblical teaching that has ingrained limiting mindsets into our thinking.

Why should I desire to pray in tongues?  Because it is a gift from God, and His gifts should not be spurned.  Every gift from God is perfect, pure, lovely, and to be desired.  Please see my series, The Power of Your Prayer Language for an in-depth discussion of more reasons.

Next time, I will explain how to easily receive the baptism in the Spirit and your prayer language (the personal gift of tongues).

What Is the Baptism in the Spirit? (Part 1)      
What Is the Baptism in the Spirit?  (Part 2)
How to Easily Be Baptized in the Spirit (with Tongues) 

The Baptism in the Spirit: Why You Need It & How to Get It  — Mp3 Download or CD

What Is the Baptism in the Spirit? (Part 2)

In our last post, we established that all believers have the Holy Spirit within them (John 20:22 and Romans 8:9), but that Jesus commanded the apostles to wait for a further work of the Spirit to come upon them (Acts 1:4, 5).  Nor was it only for the apostles, for Acts 1:14, 15 informs us that many waited with them, and after ten days of waiting and seeking the Lord, this is what happened:

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.  And suddenly, there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.  And there appeared to them cloven tongues like fire, and it sat upon each of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.  — Acts 2:1-4

This was the first time the Church received what we commonly call “the baptism in the Spirit.” The Greek word for baptize means to fully cover, or to make fully wet.  The early Church understood baptism to mean a full immersion, including how they conducted water baptism.   The Baptism in the Spirit, therefore, is to be fully immersed in the Spirit, and this is what the believers in the upper room experienced. The entire room was filled with the Spirit, and they were also filled on the inside with the Spirit.  The evidence of the Presence of the Spirit externally around them was the manifestation of the sound of wind and the tongues of fire, while the evidence of them being filled internally was that they spoke in tongues.

While the wind and the tongues of fire are not mentioned again in succeeding stories of believers being baptized in the Spirit, the evidence of tongues is. When Peter preached to the Gentiles in Cornelius’ house, “the Holy Spirit fell on all them who heard the word.  And they of the circumcision [the Jewish believers] … were astonished … because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out also on the Gentiles, for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God …” (Acts 10:44-46).   There were believers in Ephesus who had not yet been baptized in the Spirit.  When the Apostle Paul “laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke with tongues, and prophesied” (Acts 19:6).  That there was an outward evidence of receiving the baptism in the Spirit is also implied in Acts 8:14-19, the story of the converts in Samaria.  This evidence most likely was speaking in tongues as well.  Whatever it was was an unmistakable outward sign.

Is the baptism in the Spirit for all believers, or only for a select group?  Peter gives us the answer to this question in Acts 2:38, 39: “… Repent and be baptized [this is water baptism] every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy  Spirit.  For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”  The promise was to all those who were listening to Peter on the day of Pentecost, and to their succeeding generations, and to all who were afar off — in generations to come and in far-flung places where the gospel had not as yet been preached.

The Christians of the early Church considered it abnormal for a believer to not be baptized in the Spirit, and they took steps to rectify such situations.  When Philip preached at Samaria, the new believers there were not yet filled with the Spirit, so the apostles sent Peter and John to help them receive (Acts 8:14-16).  Paul noticed that there was something wrong with a few of the believers at Ephesus and laid hands on them so that they would receive the Spirit (Acts 19:2-6).  It is possible, although we cannot know for sure, that when Aquila and Priscilla noticed that something was not quite right in Apollos’ preaching, that the baptism in the Spirit was the missing ingredient. They then helped Apollos know “the way of God more perfectly.” (Acts 18:24-26).

Next time, we will answer a few more common questions about the baptism in the Spirit, and after that, we will get to how you can easily and confidently receive the baptism in the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.

What Is the Baptism in the Spirit? (Part 1)
Common Questions About the Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Part 3) 

The Baptism in the Spirit: Why You Need It & How to Get It — Mp3 Download or CD

What Is the Baptism in the Spirit?

In a soon-coming post, I will explain how to easily receive the baptism in the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.  Many of my readers have struggled to receive the baptism, and their prayer language along with it, and have become frustrated and even despairing of ever receiving.  This is due to much wrong traditional teaching, which has hindered the Body of Christ from receiving what the Lord has always meant for every believer.  We’re going to clear that up, and help you receive once and for all — even if you have been prayed for dozens of times in the past and have been disappointed.

In preparation for that, I would like to lay the foundation of what the baptism in the Spirit is.

John the Baptist said of Jesus, “I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I is coming … he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Luke 3:16).

Every believer in Jesus Christ has the Holy Spirit dwelling within.  Romans 8:9 tells us, “But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God dwells in you.  Now, if any man does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not one of his.”  Jesus promised His disciples right before His death, “And I will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see him, neither does it know him.  But you know him, for he dwells with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:16, 17).

He goes on to say that it is by the Spirit living within believers that He and the Father will abide with them (John 14:18, 23).  When we tell little children to “ask Jesus into your heart,” what we are really saying is, “Believe on Jesus and yield yourself to Him, and when you do, the Holy Spirit will come to live inside.”  It is through the Spirit that the Father and Jesus also reside with us.  It is because the three Persons of the  Trinity are one God.

When Jesus first appeared to the eleven on the day of His resurrection, He commissioned them and gave them authority to carry on His work, “and when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit'” (John 20:21, 22).

Was this the baptism in the Spirit?  Clearly it was not, since Luke tells us in Acts 1:3 that Jesus continued appearing to the apostles for yet another forty days, instructing them about the Kingdom of God, which they were to cooperate with Him in establishing on the earth, and during that forty days,  “being assembled together with them, [he] commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, ‘Which,’ he said, ‘you have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now'” (Acts 1:4, 5).  He also told them, “You shall receive power, after the Holy Spirit is come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses …” (Acts 1:8).

Although the disciples were already believers, having received the Holy Spirit, there was yet a further infilling that God wanted them to have, which would give them power to witness effectively for Him in a way that they could not otherwise do.

We will look at what that further infilling was next time.

What Is the Baptism in the Spirit? (Part 2)
Common Questions About the Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Part 3)
How to Easily Receive the Baptism with Tongues 

The Baptism in the Spirit: Why You Need It & How to Get It — Mp3 Download or CD

The Power of Your Prayer Language (Part 7)

We’ve talked about why the gift of tongues, as used in our private prayer language, is so vital to living a powerful Christian life.  It produces health in our bodies, thoughts, and emotions.  It is one of the weapons of our spiritual warfare, is the seventh piece of the armor mentioned in Ephesians 6, and enables us to pray perfect prayers according to God’s will.  It produces a communion between God and us that causes us to walk in greater faith, wisdom, understanding, and discernment.  And, combined with the interpretation of tongues, it helps us to hear God’s voice.

The question we might ask at this point is, “Why would I not want to pray in tongues?”

I would like to encourage those of my readers who have not yet received their prayer language to press God for it until you do receive it.  It is not that He is unwilling to give it to us; it is that some of us have a harder time than others in pressing past our own issues to get to the point of yielding.  Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “… He [God] is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him,”  and Psalm 84:11 promises, “… No good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly.”  As the saying goes, anything worth having is worth fighting for.  Great men of God, such as John G. Lake and Smith Wigglesworth, have struggled to receive their prayer language, yet they refused to give up until they received the promise, and they were not disappointed.

(Note: Since first writing this article, I have learned more about how to aid people in receiving their prayer language easily. Please see my article, How to Easily be Baptized in the Spirit with Tongues.)

For those of you who already have your prayer language, may I encourage you to use it abundantly?  You can train yourself into the habit of praying in tongues (in a whisper, if you like) while you work around the house, drive your car, and do other everyday tasks.  After awhile, it becomes so natural to pray in your prayer language, that you do not consciously make a decision to do it, and you may have been praying for some time before you become aware of it.  It enables us to be in constant communion with the Lord throughout our day.  It’s one of the ways to bring ourselves closer to Paul’s command to “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Paul commented, “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than you all” (1 Corinthians 14:18).  If the prayer language was important to Paul, it should be treasured and nurtured by us, too.

Previous: The Power of Your Prayer Language (Part 6) 

 

Excerpted from Lee Ann’s book, The Intercessor Manual

 

 

The Baptism in the Spirit: Why You Need It & How to Get It, by Lee Ann Rubsam (CD or mp3)

The Power of Your Prayer Language (Part 6)

There is a cry inside most of us to hear God speak to us.  He wants to fulfill this longing.  One of the names by which He reveals Himself is “He Who Speaks” (Isaiah 52:6).  But a lot of people still struggle with learning to hear and know God’s voice.  One of the best ways to hear accurately from God is by praying in tongues and then receiving the interpretation.  I discovered this technique a few years ago, and it has truly enhanced my ability to hear God and to know how to pray.  Here’s how it works for me:

I pray a lot in tongues.  When I pray, I often switch back and forth between my prayer language and English.  I have learned to pay close attention to what I pray in English in between praying in tongues, because often it is something I would not know to pray in my natural mind.  It is actually an interpretation of what I have already been covering in my prayer language; it is fresh revelation from the Spirit Himself.  Interpretation may come as a phrase we pray out loud, a Scripture verse, a thought on how to pray, a word of knowledge, or even a picture or vision.

For instance, once while praying for a pastor-friend in tongues, I clearly heard the thought in my mind, “praying for the unexpected.”  I did not understand what it was about, but I continued to pray along the lines of preparing him for something unexpected.  About three weeks down the road, he experienced some very unpleasant circumstances that he had not foreseen.  But the way was prepared before him in intercessory prayer so that he could handle the event when it happened.

Another time I was praying for a loved one who was going through difficulties, and I was very concerned about receiving a good outcome for him.  The words, “God who performs all things for him” flowed out in English in the middle of my prayer language.  It was the Holy Spirit’s reminder of a Scripture verse, Psalm 57:2 – “I will cry unto God most high; unto God who performs all things for me.”  The Holy Spirit was using my prayer language to pray that God would take care of his need, and by interpreting the prayer for me, He was also assuring me that everything was going to be all right.

At still another time I was praying for my pastor for his upcoming sermon.  After praying in tongues for a bit, I was startled to hear myself speak in English, “God, help him with his sermon on brokenness.”  He had not informed me what his sermon was to be about, but it turned out to be exactly that.  God was interpreting my prayer language and giving me a word of knowledge.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:13-15, “… let him who speaks in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret.  For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.  What then?  I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also….”  Those of us who are Pentecostal or Charismatic understand that when a message is given publicly in tongues, an interpretation should be given.  However, few of us were ever taught that this is a normal part of using our prayer language privately as well.

If you have trouble hearing the voice of God, try asking Him to interpret for you what you are saying in your prayer language.  In addition, because we are communing with God on a spirit-to-Spirit level when we pray in tongues, it opens us up to revelation of other sorts.  You will find that you are more prone to having godly, creative ideas flow in your thoughts when you have been praying in tongues.  You may receive visions.  Your understanding and wisdom will increase.

I’ll have a few more thoughts on the power of our prayer language in the next post, and then we’ll be done.

Previous: The Power of Your Prayer Language (Part 5)
Next: The Power of Your Prayer Lanugage (Part 7) 

 

Excerpted from Lee Ann’s book, The Intercessor Manual

 

 

The Baptism in the Spirit: Why You Need It & How to Get It, by Lee Ann Rubsam (CD or mp3)

 

The Power of Your Prayer Language (Part 5)

In my last post, I mentioned some ways that our prayer language is a powerful spiritual weapon:

1.)  It renews our mind, a major battleground where spiritual warfare goes on, so that we think like Jesus thinks.  This enables us to recognize when the enemy is injecting  “foreign” thoughts, so that we can take them captive and get rid of them quickly.

2.)  It builds our faith, according to Jude 20.  We take on the faith of God as we interact deeply with Him in our prayer language.

3.)  It enables us to pray rightly, with accuracy, because it is actually the Holy Spirit within us breathing the prayers, according to Romans 8:26, 27.

4.)  It helps us to hear God clearly, so that we can be effective in our warfare.  (I will talk about this in greater detail in my next post.)

Because the devil knows what a powerful weapon our prayer language is, he tries to stop it in any way he can.  Doubt is his main tactic.  He almost always tries to convince the newly baptized-in-the-Spirit person that nothing really happened, so that he or she will not attempt to pray in tongues again.

Sometimes people doubt their prayer language is real, because it sounds funny or halting.  However, there are known languages in which a halting hesitancy is part of the language.  There are languages that have very few syllables, in which the majority of the communication is done through voice inflection alone.  There is even a language which is entirely made up of clicking sounds in the throat.  Never belittle your prayer tongue, no matter how odd it may seem to you!

The devil will also attempt to use cessationist teaching, which says that the gifts of the Spirit mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 (including healing and miracles) are not for today, to cause people either to doubt the prayer language they already have, or to avoid seeking to receive it in the first place.

You may find that doubts attack you about your prayer language’s effectiveness while you are in the midst of using it.  This is the time to press through, past your mind, and use your prayer language in faith anyway.  When I am praying for my pastor, especially when I am backing him up in prayer while he is preaching or laying hands on the sick, I almost always experience a doubt battle in my mind over whether my prayers in tongues are doing anything.  I press through and continue to pray in the Spirit anyway.  I do not listen to the doubts in my mind.  This is merely the enemy’s attempt to get me to stop praying.

The devil fears what happens in the spirit realm when we pray in tongues.

Next time we will talk about how our prayer language enhances our ability to hear God’s voice.

Previous: The Power of Your Prayer Language (Part 4)
Next: The Power of Your Prayer Language (Part 6) 

 

Excerpted from Lee Ann’s book, The Intercessor Manual

 

 

The Baptism in the Spirit: Why You Need It & How to Get It, by Lee Ann Rubsam (CD or mp3)