Appendix
How to Receive the Baptism
in the Holy Spirit
How do you receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, including the
accompanying gift of speaking in other tongues? The first step is be sure you are a born-again Christian. Jesus must be living
in your heart. This means being “saved.” For years I mentally believed in Jesus
as my Savior, but He wasn’t living in my heart. I was not born again. I didn’t even know it was possible to have such an
experience — until
If you are not sure you are a born-again Christian, ask God, in Jesus’ name, to forgive you for the sin in your life. Invite Him to come into your heart. Surrender your life to Him, and you will be born again. You will come to know Jesus personally. Your life will never be the same.
Repeat this prayer:
Dear Father God,
In the name of Your Son Jesus, please forgive me for every sin in my life, for every person I have hurt, and for hurting You through my sins and acts of unkindness. I surrender my life to You. Jesus, come into my heart and change me. I receive You, Jesus, as both my Lord and my Savior. I want to live to please You. I surrender my life fully to You.
With your eyes closed, raise your head high and repeat this prayer also:
By faith, Lord Jesus, I see Your precious blood washing over my mind, over my soul, and over my spirit. I thank You that through Your precious blood I am made clean. I am forgiven. I am free of guilt. I am saved. I am born again. I am Your child. Thank You, Lord Jesus.
After praying these prayers one or more times, you will be ready for the next step:
Now You Are Ready to
Be Baptized in the Holy Spirit
The baptism in the Holy Spirit, including the powerful manifestation of speaking in tongues, is a free gift from God Himself. It will give you more spiritual power, joy and peace. Also, it will help you walk closer to God. Jesus will become more real to you, and the Bible more exciting. The Lord wants an intimate relationship with you.
No one is worthy of being baptized in the Holy Spirit, and no one can earn it by good works. You need to be childlike and greatly desire this priceless free gift from God, and you need to hunger for more of God in your life. Ask God for it. Asking shows you desire it, that you consider being baptized in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues a precious gift.
You receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit by faith — as follows:
(It is extremely helpful to have a Spirit-filled Christian “lay hands” on you as you pray):
1. Raise your head very high, and lift up your hands (with your eyes closed). This position may be difficult and seem unnatural at first because it makes you feel defenseless. However, it is a powerful way of opening your spirit to God.
2. With your eyes closed, rapidly speak out loudly (shouting is best) “I love You, Jesus” for about a minute — just one minute.
Be sure it is very loud. This loudness helps to “open” your spirit to the Lord. It also helps to break an inner vow to be quiet, to suppress one’s emotions — a vow most of us have made! (See Chapter 8, “Breaking the Power of Destructive Inner Vows.”) When you pray in tongues (or in English), picture Jesus as standing in front of you. He is there, for He said that He would never leave us nor forsake us. Don’t pray to the air or to the walls, as I did for years, but pray to God through Jesus. Be aware that He is there in front of you.
With this one minute of praise, you will usually begin to feel the presence of the Lord, for God lives in the midst of the praises of His people.
3. After about one minute of shouting “I love You, Jesus,” stop English totally.
Then by faith, immediately start speaking words or syllables you don’t understand. You can do it. Don’t speak one more word of English. But you must open your mouth and speak words you don’t understand. Speak these strange sounds, these unknown words, loudly. As you do this, you are beginning to speak in tongues.
The Holy Spirit won’t force you
to speak in tongues. By faith, you must speak those words. God will give you
what you are asking for — the gift of tongues. You may think you are making it
up, but those strange sounds are words from God. They are “bread” and not “a stone,”
“fish” and not “a serpent” (Luke
4. Step out in faith and speak or sing in a second language and then a third.
You can speak or sing in “divers [many] kinds of tongues” — not
just one (1 Corinthians
5. Be sure to speak and sing in tongues every day, preferably at least thirty minutes a day.
Your “tongues” will get deeper and deeper. And remember, you can speak in many different tongues.
6. Try shouting in tongues for thirty minutes each day for three days, and see what God will do for you.
From doing this, a sister in Christ moved into a whole new
place of intercession. A brother from
Through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, a door of opportunity has been opened for you to walk in a deeper intimacy with God, to have a greater anointing in your life, and to begin to operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Daily praising, worshipping and interceding in tongues is a supremely important key to walking through that door of opportunity. Expect to see your prayers answered, and more quickly. Remember, pray or sing at least thirty minutes daily in tongues. What a super blessing it is going to be in your life.