“For John truly baptized with water but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:5).
“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you” (Acts 1:8).
“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4).
The Christian life is not difficult. It is only difficult for those who’ve not been transformed by the empowering grace of God. And as great as being born again is, it is still not enough. Jesus left us with more than the new birth and forgiveness from our sins. Your degree of effectiveness in prayer and as a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ is severely hampered without the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.
Jesus told His disciples not to depart from Jerusalem until they had received this baptism of power (Lk. 24:49). Why would He tell them that if they could be effective without this power of the Holy Spirit?
Our churches have gotten away from prioritizing this sacred baptism.
The baptism in the Holy Spirit was an essential in the early Church. It would have been surprising to the early apostles and believers to find someone in their assemblies without it. They didn’t wait to pray and minister the baptism in the Holy Spirit to new converts.
For instance in Acts 8 Philip the evangelist was conducting a great soul winning campaign in Samaria with power and miracles. Many believed on Jesus and were born again and baptized in water, but then Peter and John came down to Samaria to minister the baptism in the Holy Spirit to the new converts (Acts 8:14-17). Half of the Church has been hoodwinked by the devil and man’s traditions thinking they can minister effectively and live a consistently victorious Christian life without the power of the Holy Spirit.
When one receives the power of the Holy Spirit he also receives his prayer language of tongues. That is the pattern in the early Church (Acts 2, 8, 10, 19). “They shall speak with new tongues” (Mk. 16:17b). Those tongues are the language of the kingdom of God. A brand new kingdom needs a brand new language.
Before Pentecost in Acts 2 there were officially no citizens of heaven. Paradise was below the earth until Jesus trans-located it to the third heaven after His resurrection and ascension. The disciples all received the power of the Holy Spirit after Jesus’ ascension. The tongues came with this power and is a personal expression of the Holy Spirit for our personal edification.
Why am I saying all this?
It is very difficult to wait on the Lord without this supernatural language called tongues. (If you’ve not received the baptism in the Holy Spirit go back to the end of Part 2 and watch the video and receive.)
Praying and singing with tongues is the greatest vehicle to get you in the Spirit. Believers who don’t pray in tongues have no longevity in prayer, no breakthroughs spiritually, and no empowerment. They live from crisis to crisis and life’s circumstances rule them.
The more you pray in other tongues the more you will walk in the Spirit and accelerate in your life and calling, especially as you get established in the Word. The more you utilize your prayer language the more fluency and diversity you will obtain in it. I’ve met many Spirit-baptized believers who are stuck in their prayer language – stuck on the same few syllables they’ve been praying for years. There’s been no advancement in their prayer life because they haven’t practiced praying at length in other tongues.
There is a higher walk and a higher path all saints are called to – a path that transitions you from the carnal mind to the mind of the Spirit. With every hour you give the Lord, especially in praying in other tongues and worship He will begin moving you there.
Praying in tongues and worship will increase our ability to wait on the Lord.