I believe it was because God knew I had to be convinced that what I had received was truly from Him.
Repeating after someone else or learning to say syllables was not going to satisfy my heart that I had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit according to the book of Acts.
When I spoke in tongues, there was no doubt in my heart that it was from God. I had been praying continuously for over a week. I was praying on a Friday night between 11 & 12, in the name of Jesus, this time I mentioned the blood of Jesus and my unworthiness, when all of a sudden I felt something surge through me…it was powerful and felt so amazing…and the experience changed me dramatically. A thought came to my mind to listen and I heard myself speaking fluently in another language.
God knew I needed this…now you may have a different experience from God than my experience. We don’t have to have the same experience but we all need an experience from God of receiving the Holy Spirit.
When a person truly receives the Holy Spirit there will be an experience in your life that will change you, empower you to do His will, and ultimately to transform you to the image of Christ.
I have seen people filled with the Holy Spirit and used of God to do a good work for the Lord, and they have never spoken in another tongue. I can’t and will not ever say that they are not saved or don’t have the Holy Spirit.
I was saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, being used of the Lord before this experience happened in my life on a Friday night in July, 2006.
I can never deny this experience and I could have never done the things after that experience if it had not happened.
When a person is truly filled with the Holy Spirit they will exalt Jesus above everything else. They will desire to deny themselves, take up his cross and follow Jesus.
A person cannot truly deny themselves nor take up his cross without being filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter couldn’t do it and neither can we without the Holy Spirit.
Jesus told his disciples to tarry in the upper room, not to go anywhere until they were endure with this power from on High.
He told them…
Acts 1:7-8 (KJV) 7 …It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Then on the day of Pentecost it happened…
Acts 2:1-4 (KJV) 1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Acts 2:14-21 (KJV) 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all [ye] that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is [but] the third hour of the day. 16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21 And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Acts 2:32-33 (KJV) 32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. 33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
Acts 2:34-36 (KJV) 34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 35 Until I make thy foes thy footstool. 36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
Acts 2:37-39 (KJV) 37 Now when they heard [this], they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men [and] brethren, what shall we do? 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, [even] as many as the Lord our God shall call.
We can do nothing apart from the Holy Spirit. Jesus baptizes us in the Holy Spirit and we will receive power to witness.
If you have not received the power to witness for Christ then you have not yet been baptized in the Holy Spirit. The disciples needed it and so do we!
Blessings,
rbanks