How to
Receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit
By David Emerson Root, Jr.
Introduction
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a gift of God which we can
choose to receive after we become Christians (Acts 1:4-5, Luke 11:11-13), and
the purpose of this gift is to empower every believer for being a witness of
Christ to a hurting and unbelieving world (Acts 1:4-8, Luke 24:49). The usual
outward evidence that we have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not
that we "feel" anything but that we are able to begin praying in tongues
by the Holy Spirit. The overwhelming Scriptural evidence for these statements
can be found in my article called The Baptism of the Holy Spirit, so I won't
repeat all of the proof here.
The purpose of this article is to show you how to receive the
baptism of the Holy Spirit, and it is my prayer that by the time you finish
this article you will be speaking in tongues by the Holy Spirit as evidence
that you have received the gift of the power of the Holy Spirit! This doesn't
mean that speaking in tongues is the only outward evidence, but my article
called The Baptism of the Holy Spirit shows that speaking in tongues was the
common outward sign in the New Testament that people had received the baptism
of the Holy Spirit.
Speaking in Tongues
In my article called Praying in the Spirit Involves Speaking in
Tongues I explained that there are two kinds of speaking in tongues in the New
Testament:
1. When we pray to God in
tongues, we are praying in the perfect will of God because it is the Holy
Spirit who is giving us the words to utter. The Bible calls this
"pray[ing] in a tongue" (1 Corinthians 14:14) and "pray[ing] in
the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:18) and "pray[ing] with my spirit" (1
Corinthians 14:15), and in the New Testament this was the usual outward
evidence that people had been baptized with the Holy Spirit.
2. The other form of
tongues happens when a message is delivered from God to a congregation in an
unknown language. This form of tongues must always be interpreted, and the
message is delivered through a person who is operating in the "gift"
of tongues.
After you are baptized with the Holy Spirit, you might or might
not operate in the gift of tongues, but you will have the ability to pray in
tongues by the Holy Spirit.
When you pray in the Spirit (i.e. pray in tongues), the words that
you speak will come from your spirit and not from your mind. Some people find
it easy the first time they speak from their spirits by the Holy Spirit, but
many people will find that their analytical mind keeps getting in the way.
Therefore, I want to offer some thoughts which might help you when you first
try to pray in tongues:
1. Don't expect the Holy
Spirit to "take over" your mouth and force you to speak in tongues.
The Bible says that on the day of Pentecost the disciples spoke in tongues as
the Spirit gave them the words to say. When you speak in tongues, you must make
the sounds even though you don't know in advance what those sounds will be.
This is what makes it difficult for many people the first time they try to pray
from their spirits.
2. You don't need to work
up a bunch of emotion or whip yourself into a frenzied state of euphoria in
order to speak in tongues. Some Bible commentaries give the impression that
speaking in tongues was "an ecstatic utterance of sounds" which
people in the New Testament made when they were in a euphoric state of worship.
However, the weight of evidence in the New Testament does not support this view
(see my article called Praying in the Spirit Involves Speaking in Tongues). Consider
that when you praise God in your normal language, it is up to you how much
feeling you put into it. If you say, "Father, I give You praise in the
Name of Jesus," you can say it in a quiet monotone with no feeling, or you
can say it loudly with great emotion. It's completely up to you, and it works
the same way when you pray in tongues. You can control the amount of feeling or
emotion that you choose to speak with. You can also sing in tongues if you
wish:
"I will pray
with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit,
but I will also sing with my mind." (1 Corinthians 14:15)
It is completely up to
you how much feeling you put into it, but don't expect any particular feeling
to "come over" you.
3. Every spoken language
is made up of a bunch of individual sounds. If you read this sentence slowly
out loud, giving equal weight to each syllable, you will see what I mean. So
every spoken language is really just a bunch of syllables, and speaking in
tongues simply means that you are saying some syllables that make no sense to
you. This is why speaking in tongues is an act of faith and trust in the Holy
Spirit.
4. When you speak in your
normal language, the words come from your mind and you say them out loud with
your mouth. However, when you pray in the Spirit the words do not come from
your mind, but instead they come from your spirit as the Holy Spirit gives them
to you. This is why the apostle Paul said that he prayed with his spirit and
also with his mind:
"I will pray
with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit,
but I will also sing with my mind." (1 Corinthians 14:15)
When Paul prayed with
his spirit (i.e. when he prayed in tongues), he was not using his mind. His
mind was unproductive and unfruitful because it wasn't giving him the words to
say as he spoke in tongues:
"For if I
pray in an [unknown] tongue, my spirit [by the Holy Spirit within me] prays,
but my mind is unproductive - bears no fruit and helps nobody." (1
Corinthians 14:14, AMP)
We know how to say
things that come from our minds, but when we speak in tongues then the words
come from our spirits (by the Holy Spirit). This process bypasses our minds,
and it is sometimes difficult at first for people to get their minds out of the
way so that they can pray in the Spirit. Later in this article I will offer
some suggestions which have helped people to "bypass" their minds so
that they were able to speak out the words which came from their spirits. After
you speak in tongues for the first time, it will become easier to do it again
and again whenever you choose.
5. Sometimes people
receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and they say a few syllables in tongues,
but that's all they say. This is possibly the equivalent of saying something
like, "Jesus, I" instead of "Jesus, I love You, I worship You, I
praise You." That is how it was with me. It was hard for me to disengage
my mind and to let the Spirit give me the words to speak. Don't give up,
though, because with practice you will learn how to keep your natural mind from
interfering and you will then have a free-flowing prayer language.
6. Your "prayer
language" will probably sound different from other people's prayer
languages, so don't be concerned if you don't sound like other people when you
speak in tongues. It is up to the Holy Spirit to decide what language to use,
so just relax and trust Him. Some people speak slowly and distinctly in
tongues, while other people have a high-speed prayer language that almost
sounds like stuttering. I heard about one lady who received the baptism of the
Holy Spirit, but all she did was make "clicking" sounds with her
tongue. One day while she was ironing clothes and watching Art Linkletter on
TV, Mr. Linkletter introduced a woman from a remote African tribe who had a
unique way of communicating. When the African woman demonstrated her native
language, it was simply a bunch of clicking sounds. The lady ironing her
clothes shouted out, "That's my prayer language!"
Don't be concerned if
you don't sound like other people when you speak in tongues, just relax and
trust the Holy Spirit.
7. Some people claim that
speaking in tongues comes from the devil. However, there is not a single
passage in the entire New Testament where speaking in tongues is connected with
the devil in any way (I invite you to see my article called Praying in the
Spirit Involves Speaking in Tongues, which examines every New Testament passage
on speaking in tongues). The religious people in Jesus' day (the Pharisees and
the teachers of the law) made a similar claim about Jesus, that He was
operating in the power of the devil. Notice Jesus' reply:
"But whoever
blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an
eternal sin." (Mark 3:29)
We should be very
careful not to accuse the power of the Holy Spirit as being from the devil!
8. The Bible tells us
that we need the power of the Holy Spirit for living a victorious and fruitful
life which glorifies Jesus, and this is what we are asking God to give us.
Speaking in tongues is the usual Scriptural evidence that we have received this
gift (for proof, I invite you to see my article called The Baptism of the Holy
Spirit), but speaking in tongues is not specifically the thing that we are
seeking.
The Bible says that
Jesus is the One who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit, and this article will
show you how to pray to ask Jesus to do this for you. If you ask Jesus to
baptize you with the Holy Spirit, then who is going to do it? Jesus is! When
you have been baptized with the Holy Spirit, then who is going to give you the
words to say in tongues? The Holy Spirit is! Trust Him!
9. When you begin
speaking in tongues, the devil might start telling you lies in order to plant
doubts in your mind. Here are a couple of thoughts that you might find yourself
thinking:
* "I don't believe
that I was really speaking in tongues. That was just me making those
sounds"
The devil wants
you to be confused that it was just you making those sounds, but it is supposed
to be you making those sounds! Remember, the Holy Spirit is not a ventriloquist
and He does not treat you as a ventriloquist's dummy. Instead, you must step
out in faith and make the sounds yourself, trusting that the Holy Spirit is
giving you the words that He wants you to speak.
* "I thought
I was supposed to receive power, but I don't feel any power!"
The devil wants
you to focus on your feelings rather than focusing on the truth of the Word of
God. Jesus never said that you would feel any power, He said that you would
receive power (Acts 1:8). Put your faith in the Word of God, not in your
feelings. When you speak in tongues, it is the outward evidence that you have
received the power of the Holy Spirit for living the supernatural Christian
life that God intends for you. You will have the power of the Holy Spirit
within you, but the Bible never says that you will feel anything. Our beliefs
and actions should be based on Biblical truth, not on our feelings. The power
of the Holy Spirit is available to you after you receive the baptism of the Holy
Spirit, but you will need to learn how to use that power by faith (more on this
later).
How to Receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit
First of all, if you're not sure that you are truly a Christian
and going to heaven then I invite you to read my article called How to Be
Certain That You Will Go to Heaven.
After you become a Christian, you have the right to ask your
heavenly Father for the gift of the Holy Spirit:
"On one occasion,
while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave
"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)
Notice what Luke 11:13 (above) says about how to receive the gift
of the baptism of the Holy Spirit: We simply need to ask for it! Remember, we
don't receive salvation by asking for the gift of the Holy Spirit, so Luke
11:13 (above) is not talking about receiving salvation. It's talking about
receiving the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5, above).
So if you are a Christian, you can ask for the baptism of the Holy
Spirit. Jesus is the One who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit (e.g. Mark 1:8),
so why not ask Him to do that right now? Remember, you are asking Jesus for the
promised gift of the power of the Holy Spirit for living the victorious life
and for doing the things that God calls you to do for the glory of Jesus.
Speaking in tongues is the result of receiving the power of the Holy Spirit, it
is not the goal.
Just as you received salvation by faith, you also receive the
baptism of the Holy Spirit by faith. When you ask Jesus to do this for you,
believe in faith that you have received it (just as you believe in faith that
you have received salvation).
If you're ready to receive the gift of the power of the Holy
Spirit right now ... if you're hungry for all that God wants you to have ... if
you're eagerly desiring it ... then ask Him for it right now. Here are some
things that you can pray, but pray them sincerely, from a hungry and grateful
heart:
"Lord Jesus, You
said in Luke 11:13 that as a child of God I can ask for the gift of the Holy
Spirit. You also said in Acts 1:4-8 that I will receive power when I am
baptized with the Holy Spirit. So Lord, I am asking You to baptize me in the
Holy Spirit right now. I might not "feel" any different, but I
receive the gift of the power of the Holy Spirit, by faith. Thank You, Lord! In
Jesus' Name, amen."
Now that you have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit by faith
(just as you received salvation by faith), let's take a look at some things
that the Bible says about speaking in tongues. Notice that the Bible tells us
to offer the parts of our body to God as instruments of righteousness, as a
spiritual act of worship:
"Therefore, I urge
you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living
sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of
worship." (Romans 12:1)
"Do not offer the
parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer
yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer
the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness." (Romans
6:13)
So the Bible tells us to offer our body to God. However, the Bible
also says that there is one specific part of our body which we cannot tame, our
tongue:
"Likewise the
tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a
great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a
world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets
the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All
kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and
have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil,
full of deadly poison." (James 3:5-8)
Since the Bible says that we cannot tame the tongue, it is the one
member of our body which we are incapable of fully offering to God as an
instrument of righteousness. It is the Holy Spirit Himself who uses our tongue
for righteousness when He utters mysteries directly to God through our mouth:
"For anyone who
speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands
him; he utters mysteries with his spirit [or "by the Spirit,"
according to the NIV]." (1 Corinthians 14:2)
When we have been baptized (immersed) in the living water of the
Holy Spirit, this event is confirmed outwardly when the Holy Spirit prays
directly to the Father using our tongue and bypassing our mind:
"For if I pray in a
tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will
pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my
spirit, but I will also sing with my mind." (1 Corinthians 14:14-15)
If you have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you are now
able to yield your tongue to the Holy Spirit to be used as an instrument of
righteousness. The Bible calls this "pray[ing] in a tongue" (1
Corinthians 14:14) and "pray[ing] in the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:18) and
"pray[ing] with my spirit" (1 Corinthians 14:15).
In order to begin speaking in tongues for the first time, it is
helpful to praise God for awhile in your normal language so that your mind and
heart are in an attitude of worship. This often helps keep your mind from being
too analytical as you begin speaking in tongues. Worship and love God out loud
for awhile from your heart, with a lot of feeling, until your heart and mind
are genuinely focused on worshiping Him:
"Father, I love
You! I praise You! I worship You! I love You with all of my heart! I exalt the
Name of Jesus! I love You, Lord! You are good! I praise Your Name! ..."
Now, in the same attitude of love and praise and worship, begin
praising God some more but not in any language you know. Just begin speaking
out syllables, trusting that as you do your part then the Holy Spirit will do
His part. Give God lots of praise and love and worship from your heart,
something like this:
"Ora ba ca-shay ha
lamba sa dura hemene ro boso ...."
This is not something which you need to repeat, it is simply one
of the phrases that I said when I first began praying in tongues.
If You Did Not Speak in Tongues
If you weren't able to speak in tongues right away, don't worry!
It feels silly or strange at first when you try speaking out a bunch of sounds
that make no sense to you. Since you don't know in advance what you're supposed
to say, your analytical mind wants to take over and analyze what you're trying
to say, and this quenches your "prayer language."
Consider that we live in the "Information Age," and we
are surrounded by many amazing scientific achievements (especially in the West).
We find ourselves wanting things to be logical and rational and reasonable, and
we tend to want evidence and proof before we will believe in something. That's
one reason why there are so many atheists, because they want proof before they
will believe in God. Even in the Church there are many people who believe in
evolution, for example, simply because scientists sound very convincing with
their evidence. Science and achievements of the mind are all around us in
modern cultures. But have you ever noticed that Christians are rarely taught
anything about our spirit, or about how to listen to our spirit? So if we tell
people about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and they pray to receive it, they
often have no idea how to speak out words which are coming from their spirit.
They only know how to speak out words which come from their mind. Our mind is
so addicted to running our lives that we don't know how to get past our mind in
order to hear from our spirit. Notice that if we only pray with our mind then
we're just doing half of what Paul described in 1 Corinthians 14:15 ("I
will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind"). In the
first century they did not have such an emphasis on science like we do today,
and we don't know what the apostles might have explained to the new Christians
before they began speaking in tongues (such as the disciples in Acts 19:6). But
unfortunately, Christians today tend to be clueless about our spirit, so we are
clueless about how to speak out words which are coming from our spirit.
Since our analytical mind is the problem, somehow we need to show
people how to get their analytical mind out of the way so that they can speak
out the words which the Holy Spirit is giving them in their spirit. Therefore,
here are some suggestions which have helped people to begin speaking in tongues
after they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit:
* Always remember that
the Holy Spirit will not move your mouth for you and speak for you. You must
make the sounds.
* Keep in mind that you
will probably not experience any particular feeling or euphoria come over you
as you speak in tongues. Speaking in tongues simply means that you are speaking
in another language. When you say, "Father I love You, I worship You, I
praise You," in your normal language, you probably will begin to feel an
attitude of worship, but you don't expect an ecstatic state of euphoria to come
over you, right? When you speak in tongues it works the same way. You are
worshiping God in a different language just as you worship God in your normal
language, so don't expect to "feel" anything different than what you
feel when you are praying in your normal language.
* Try praying in tongues
while you do various activities, such as mowing the lawn, doing the dishes,
washing your dog, and so on. When your mind is occupied with these activities,
you might find that it becomes easy to speak in tongues without analyzing what
is coming out of your mouth.
* Consider that when a
toddler is learning to speak, some of the sounds that he makes are actual words
and some are just gibberish. As he practices more and more, he becomes more and
more fluent. Speaking in tongues sometimes works the same way, in the sense
that as we speak in tongues more and more, we become better at yielding our
tongue to the Holy Spirit. If you find yourself making the same sounds quite
frequently, don't worry about it, just keep at it and it will begin to flow
more freely just as a child's language flows more freely the more he does it.
* After I spoke in
tongues for the first time, I still struggled with it for awhile because my
mind kept quenching the Spirit by trying to analyze the words that I was
saying.
* Sometimes it is
helpful to find someone who is experienced at ministering the baptism of the
Holy Spirit (such as a pastor at a nearby non-denominational or charismatic
church), and ask that person to take you through it.
Conclusion
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a gift of God which we can
choose to receive after we become Christians, and the purpose of this gift is
to empower us for our ministries. The usual outward evidence that we have
received this baptism is that we are able to begin praying in tongues by the
Holy Spirit. This doesn't mean that speaking in tongues is the only outward
evidence, but speaking in tongues was the common outward sign in the New
Testament that people had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
After you are baptized with the Holy Spirit, you might or might
not operate in the gift of tongues, but you will have the ability to pray in
tongues by the Holy Spirit.
The two most common problems that prevent people from being able
to pray in the Spirit are probably:
1. Misunderstandings
about how speaking in tongues works.
2. The natural mind
getting in the way. Speaking in tongues bypasses the natural mind, and this can
be difficult at first.
When you are able to pray in tongues by the Holy Spirit, this
demonstrates that you have received the gift of the power of the Holy Spirit.
Now go out and use that power to lead people to Jesus! For example, the
articles in my Healing Ministry will show you some things that you can say and
do to begin seeing amazing healing miracles for the glory of the Lord.
Pray in tongues often, allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through
your mouth. Ask for the interpretation (1 Corinthians 14:13), and see what the
Spirit reveals to you!
"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto
your children: how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to
them that ask Him?" Luke 11:13 KJV
"But ye shall receive power, AFTER that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:
and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in
"He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost SINCE ye
believed?" Acts 19:2a KJV
Pray this prayer out loud, and
mean it with your whole heart!
Heavenly Father, I believe in
my heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that He has been raised from
the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord. You said in Your
Holy Word that You would give the Holy Spirit to those who ask. I'm asking You
now to baptize me with the precious Holy Spirit, so that I may be a powerful
witness of Your Son Jesus. I receive the Holy Spirit now! I expect to speak in
other tongues as the Holy Spirit gives me the utterance. I now receive every
blessing You have for me in the mighty Name of Jesus! Amen!
One of the benefits of being baptized in the Holy Spirit is being able to pray
in tongues. Remember, you
do the speaking and the Holy Spirit gives you the utterance. It is a language
you have never learned before; it is the Holy Spirit praying through your
spirit. Also, you are eligible to receive any of the 9 Gifts of the Holy Spirit
(1 Corinthians 12-14). The whole purpose of the baptism in the Holy Spirit is
to equip you to be a powerful witness for the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8)! Get
ready, you are going to be used in such a powerful way for God's Glory!
