A Nugget from New Life Network
Scripture for the Day (April 20, 2017)
For the promise [of the Holy Spirit] is for you and your children and for all who are far away [including the Gentiles], as many as the Lord our God calls to Himself. (Acts 2:39, Amplified Bible)
We were living in Collierville, TN in 1982 and I was lost as a goose spiritually. My wife Cheryl had recommitted her life to the Lord in 1978 and she was getting more on fire for God by the day. In a secret effort to defend my lifestyle I started reading the Bible and I would search out scriptures such as “a little wine is good for your stomach” and use that to justify my alcohol intake to my wife. The only problem with that system was I had to read a lot of other stuff in route to those type scriptures such as Jesus loved me and died for me and He had a plan for my life.
One day Cheryl came home from a Bible study and told me there was something very important she had to tell me. I thought she may be going to tell me she was leaving me but that was not what she wanted to tell me. She told me that she wanted me to know that she had been baptized in the Holy Ghost and spoke in tongues. She later told me she was thinking I would probably kick her out. What she didn’t know was that I had read in the Bible where the Apostle Paul said he spoke in tongues more than all of them (1 Corinthians 14:18) and to not forbid anyone to speak in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:39). Because I knew that, I told Cheryl it was alright with me but just don’t expect me to speak in tongues.
Late one night, several months later, after many drinks, I gave my life to the Lord in a hotel room in Washington, DC. That changed my life forever and I started hungering and thirsting after the things of God. I even got to the point where I prayed to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Sometime after that prayer we were in a worship service at our local church and the worship was very strong. As I lifted my hands and started worshipping and singing to the Lord I started singing in another tongue (not English). My response was that I immediately shut it down. My thinking was that I was getting too emotional and I had to make sure this was God and not me.
Several weeks later we were in the home of a precious woman of God at a prayer meeting. There were a lot of people there and in the middle of the meeting this woman stopped and said somebody here has asked for and needs to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost. I knew that it was me but I was not about to raise my hand. The meeting ended and we were exiting the home when I looked at this woman and told her it was me she was talking about. She took my wife and I aside and began to pray for me. In the midst of her prayer she stopped and looked at me and said this, “You have already been baptized in the Holy Ghost. You just need to speak it out.” No one knew what happened previously at that worship service but me and God. I had not even told my wife. That night, thanks to that woman’s relationship with God, I spoke in tongues and my life changed forever. Thank you Maudee James!!!
We could teach on this subject for weeks but here is what I want you to understand. We have not because we ask not (James 4:2). Praying in tongues is praying in the Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:14). Praying in the Spirit is part of your armor (Ephesians 6:18). When you don’t know what to pray in English you can pray in the Spirit and know that you are praying a perfect prayer. When the Apostles were baptized in the Holy Ghost they left that place with a boldness they never had before. That boldness is still available today. You may ask how do I receive? You do it the same way you received salvation. You ask for it out of your mouth and you receive it by faith. Sometimes it is easier if you have someone who is already received pray with you. My wife Cheryl has a special anointing for that and will be glad to pray with anyone to receive. Believe me; it will change your life forever!!!
For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. (1 Corinthians 14:14-15)
