You Can Receive The Gift Of The Holy Spirit * It is God's will for you.
JOHN 7:38-39 NKJ
38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive . . . .ACTS 2:17 NKJ
17 `And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all . . . .'ACTS 2:38-39 NKJ
38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."EPHESIANS 5:18 NKJ
18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,JOHN 20:22 NKJ
22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit."MARK 16:17 NKJ
17 "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;The only qualification for receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit is to belong to Jesus Christ. Jesus must be your Lord.
* In Bible days they received, and spoke in tongues; and God does not play favorites. (Acts 10:34)
ACTS 2:4 NKJ
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.ACTS 8:14-20 NKJ
14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,
15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.
16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 Now when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,
19 saying, "Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit."
20 But Peter said to him, "Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!ACTS 9:17 NKJ
17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."1 CORINTHIANS 14:18 NKJ
18 I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all;ACTS 10:44-47 NKJ
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.
45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered,
47 "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?"ACTS 19:2,6 NKJ
2 he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit."
6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.Expect to speak in tongues, just as they did in Bible days.
* You do not have to be a "special" Christian to receive. The Holy Spirit is a gift you receive by faith.
GALATIANS 3:2 NKJ
2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?ACTS 2:38-39 NKJ
38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."JOHN 14:16-17 NKJ
16 "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever,
17 "even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.* You do not have to convince God to give you His Gift. He has already given.
Now you must receive. Nowhere after the day of Pentecost do we find any record in Scripture of believers asking God to give them the Holy Spirit. Instead, we always find them praying that people would receive the Holy Spirit already given.
ACTS 2:33 NKJ
33 "Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear."ACTS 8:15 NKJ
15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.ACTS 10:47 NKJ
47 "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?"ACTS 19:2 NKJ
2 he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit."* Everyone who asks receives.
LUKE 11:10-13 NKJ
10 "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
11 "If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?
12 "Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
13 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"Believe you receive when you pray, and you will have. (Mark 11:24)
* Do not be afraid. Relax. There is no danger of you receiving anything bad. You can trust your Father God. Come as a child trusting Him. The Holy Spirit is a perfect Gentleman.
LUKE 11:11,13 NKJ
11 "If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?
13 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"* You will do the speaking, not the Holy Spirit. The supernatural part is not that you speak, but that you speak in a language you have never learned.
ACTS 2:4 NKJ
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.ACTS 10:46 NKJ
46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.1 CORINTHIANS 14:14 NKJ
14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.Definition: Speaking in tongues is your spirit (which is the real you), speaking in a language you never learned, as the Holy Spirit within gives you the utterance.
You must lift your voice in faith and give sound to the utterance within you. The Holy Spirit will not violate your free will. He will not force you to speak in tongues. You must freely and willingly surrender your tongue to Him in faith.
* Quit speaking in any language that you know. Refuse to do it. You cannot speak in two languages at the same time.
* Open your mouth and speak. You cannot speak with your mouth closed. The more boldly you speak the more confidence you will have that you are filled. As you act in faith, the evidence and assurance will follow.
PSALM 81:10 NKJ
10 I am the Lord your God . . . Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.* Speak forth in faith, boldly, whatever sounds or syllables come out. Expect the Holy Spirit to give you utterance. He will. You cooperate by boldly speaking out in faith whatever sounds seem easy to make.
There are hundreds of different languages here on the earth. Unless you know them all, you are not qualified to judge what the Holy Spirit gives you to utter.
Do not let your brain, and the limited knowledge it contains about languages, be your guide. Trust that whatever utterance comes, is what the Holy Spirit is giving you. God is pleased when you step out in faith.
* Feelings are not important. You may, or may not, experience some different feeling. Remember this is a spiritual experience, not an emotional experience.
However, the way different people react to the Holy Spirit can be as varied as the way people react to anything else. Some may act emotional, but that is their choice.
* Do not base your belief on whether your experience is the same as someone else's. We may all have differing experiences, but the Bible is our guide.
The Bible never says, "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and felt like they thought they ought to feel, so they knew they were filled." They were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke with tongues, so they knew they were filled. Do not base your faith on your feelings.
* When you speak in tongues you are speaking to God.
1 CORINTHIANS 14:2 NKJ
2 For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.You are not speaking to yourself. If God likes the sound of it, why should you care what it sounds like? It may sound like "goo-goo" to you, but that may mean, "I praise You God!" in some language.
* Speaking in tongues, although important, is not all there is to receiving the Holy Spirit. You are receiving a divine Person into your life. You should acknowledge His presence and live in the light of it.
However, yielding your tongue to the Holy Spirit's prompting does show your willingness to yield to Him. Your ego, dignity, pride, stiffness, traditions, bashfulness, and culture all must yield as you trust the Holy Spirit to guide your speech.
Speaking in tongues is also a witness to you of a Supernatural Being's presence within, for you are now able to do something you could not do before: speak in a language you have never learned!
* Do not be surprised if satan tries to stop you -- because this is powerful. If he cannot get you to quit entirely, he will try to get you not to do it much. Resist all temptations to doubt; just continue to act on the Word of God.
* Continue to speak in tongues regularly. The more you privately speak in tongues, the better. You cannot do it too much.
* Now that you have received the Holy Spirit, He has come to live in you forever. Now He is there, ready, willing, and able, to give you utterance according to the perfect will of God anytime. You must choose when you will speak in tongues, just as you choose when you will speak in your native language. The Holy Spirit never takes away your freedom to choose.
JOHN 14:16-17 NKJ
16 "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever,
17 "even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you."1 CORINTHIANS 14:14-15 NKJ
14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.
15 What is the result then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.
Sample Prayer: Dear God in Heaven, I acknowledge Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Thank you for forgiving me and cleansing me from all sin by the precious blood of Jesus.
Heavenly Father, I now ask for, and by faith receive, the gift of the Holy Spirit, in Jesus' Name. Thank you for filling me with your Holy Spirit. By faith, I now say that I am Spirit-filled.
Since I am filled with the same Holy Spirit as they were in Bible days, I expect Him to give me utterance just as He did them. So I will lift my voice and speak whatever utterance you give me, Holy Spirit. I will now speak in tongues, in Jesus' Name. (Now do it!)
For more information on the benefits of speaking in tongues, read our paper, You Should Speak In Tongues.
To answer any objections you may have, read our paper, Answers To Objections To Speaking In Tongues.
Go to BELIEVE! Papers List
Go to Believers Home Page