If I've been babtized by the Holy Spirit, why cant I speak in tongues?

[shepherdsword]

Dear Kingsdaughter,
I read in Acts 2:38, that repentance from sins is necessary. So I must inquire, do you still commit sin?
If you do, then you haven't turned from sin, and that is what Jesus came to free us from.
"Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Then Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin." (John 8:32-34) If you're a servant of sin, you are not a servant of God. Jesus said, "No man can serve two masters..." (Matt 6:24) You must decide who to serve.
Remember, "God heareth not sinners...", (Jo 9:31), so a sinner cannot ask for the Holy Ghost. (Luke 11:13)

I wonder PJW ,if you could tell us....do you sin? Stating that someone must walk in sinless perfection before they recieve the Holy Spirit is about an erroneous teaching as I have ever heard.
The verse you quoted (LK 11:13) actually disputes what you are trying to teach:

Lk 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall [your] heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

It clearly states that those to whom he was speaking were evil.Yet God in his mercy would still give them the empowerment they needed to overcome. To overcome sin one must walk in the Spirit. This cannot be done without the Holy Spirit.

You also pull John 9:13 out of context and misapply it. The whole concept of "God not hearing sinners" was an understanding based on being under the Mosaic law.
After the sacrifice of Christ we are all made clean by his blood. God does not refuse the cry of the broken and humble. If your extrapolation were true then God would not have heard David in Ps 51 when he cried,after committing adultery and murder, for God to not take his Spirit from him.

Clear proof that David had the Spirit the entire time he was caught up in his sin. If "God doesn't hear sinners" then no sinner can ever be forgiven.

*note*

I apologize to you,Kingsdaughter for this derail. Just couldn't let this lie slide by.

[Saved7]

So I AM called by God to be conformed into the image of His Son. Called to be saints. , I haven't been a saint and I've made mistakes, no , not mistakes, sins, let me just call it what it is , sin, and I've repented of those sins and asked the Lord for forgiveness. The past couple of weeks thoughts of my past came flooding into my mind and I don't even know what triggered these thoughts. They came back into my mind with a vengeance. When I got saved, the joy and the love that I felt and experienced with God was incredible, that first year all I wanted to do was read my Bible and see what God had to say to me. Prayer and time with the Lord was so exciting. I remember going to my first church after getting saved, I was so excited to fellowship with other christians and talk about Jesus.

Would you believe that feeling this way, and being reminded of this fire and joy you had is a very good thing? For if you did not remember, then how could you know that you were missing something? And because you know you are missing something, then you know to seek God for it. I've been right where you are, in fact, I am still fighting to get my way back there, only better of course, because I've grown and matured and learned so much along the way. Don't worry about whether or not you ever speak in tongues, that's not necessary, though it would be a blessing to have. What you need to be seeking God for is HIM...to know Him more, to love Him more, to become more and more like His Son...to be a true daughter to God.

Sister, just pray what you are feeling, explain to God what you are missing, let Him know what you are longing for with Him. And believe me, it ain't tongues, it's Him that you are longing for. He will fill you up if you keep seeking Him. Notice how the Bible over and over says to "seek" God, Jesus said it in several ways, "seek, knock, ask". POUND ON HEAVEN'S DOOR AND DON'T STOP, until you get an answer, and when you get an answer, ask, and just keep pursuing God and you will find what you seek.

I walked in that church and the women were all dressed in long skirts and dresses( I was the only one in jeans) and the men in suits. The woman I was sitting next to , holding her King James Bible, with a scowl on her face, looking like she wanted to chew me up and spit me out, turns to me and says that I am unworthy and that I needed to repent of my wickedness. Needless to say, I left that church and never went back.

These people can really rain on your parade, can't they? Never mind them, they are lost in their own little legal system of salvation and they are far from happy.

I think God regrets calling me because I haven't been a saint. I used to feel like I was His daughter that He loved in those first years after getting saved. Now I feel like the bad kid He never wanted.

NO...if He regretted it, then He would not have reminded you of how you were in the beginning of your walk with Him. He's good that way you know. He does these things to open our eyes so we might see that we are starving and need to eat from His glorious buffet table. Read the Psalms, find the ones that speak to you where you are at right now in your faith walk, and just pray your heart, pray your spiritual longings to Him, tell Him what you seek and why you seek it,tell Him that you want more of Him. This is never outside of His will, so you can rest assured He will answer it. Just keep asking. YOU....Draw near to God, and HE will draw near to you..

Here's a couple of Psalms (partial) that really speak to me when I am going through that stage of realizing how hungry I am, how far away I am, and how desperately I want to get back to Him.

Psalm 42:

1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

3My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.

5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.



Psalm 63:
1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

8 My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

[Kingsdaughter]

[QUOTE=Kahtar;2799120]

Unfortunately, our enemy is always right there to take away whatever we receive from the Lord. I am glad you saw through it and found a different church.
God, Who created the Universe, and you, and Who knows the beginning from the end, is never surprised by what we do. And, in spite of the things you may have done, He still chose you. You didn't choose Him, He chose you, and called you. Think about that a while.
This reminds of the story of the prodigal son. He ran off with his inheritance, squandered it all away, and found himself in a pig sty. He decided to return to his father's house, thinking he was only worthy to be a servant, and was ready to be happy with just that. His father, on the other hand, looked for him to return every day, and when he saw him coming a long way off, he ran to him, put the cloak of a son on him, and a ring, and gave him a feast. He never stopped calling him his son, even when he was away.
You never stopped being His daughter. And His arms are always open and ready to receive you.


I was to begin with. I had a dozen people expecting me to teach them something, and I was going out there with nothing to give them. Very uncomfortable. It required more trust than I had ever been faced with up to that point. But, after a couple months of doing that, it became routine, actually. Very freeing, because I did not have to study or prepare anything. I only had to trust. He had me do that for an entire year, and in that time, there was only one, single time that He did not give me something.
That one time, as it turns out, He had other arrangements. A woman, Navajo, was coming to the area where I taught to go to a revival nearby. As she drove by the church I was teaching at, the Spirit told her to go there instead of the revival. It was a Thursday, and she did not know if there was even anyone there or not. But she was obedient, and found us doing a study, or trying to.
I was in a dilemma. I went as usual expecting Him to give me something, and there was nothing. I did the usual starting to talk about something, anything, and expected to receive what to say. Nothing. One of the congregation was struggling with an issue, and asked how he should deal with it, and I was trying to answer when this woman came in. My answer was not even coming close to what he needed to hear. Suddenly, the woman began to speak, and she had the right words. And he understood.
Afterward, I was asking the Lord, 'What did I do wrong? Why didn't you use me?' I thought maybe I messed up somewhere and He didn't want to use me.
Then He reminded me of the very words of my prayer that I prayed on the way to the study. 'Lord, they are your children, and it is your Word, and your kingdom. I am just a vessel. Let your will be done, and your Word be spoken, and use whoever you want to speak it.'
It was a lesson for me to be satisfied with how God chooses to do things, and who He chooses to do them through.
Another time, when I got up to start teaching, He began giving me things to say that I did not want to say to them. He was 'raking them over the coals' so to speak, and they needed to hear a word of correction. I can assure you, if it had been my idea to speak those things, they would not have been received. But because He gave them, He also prepared their hearts and minds to receive them, and afterward they all agreed that was the best study they'd had. Lesson there, if you are going to trust God to give you what to say, you'd better be prepared to say it.

I did think on this a while Kahtar. After I read your post last Saturday, I thought about the verses of scripture you posted along with other verses of scripture that I believe the Lord brought to my mind.

Romans 8:30
30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified Romans 8:38 28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. John15:16 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. Ephesians 1:4-6 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

I memorized these verses and for 3 days I asked the Lord to let His word sink into my heart and mind. You are right, there is nothing that I have done or will do that will ever catch Him by surprise. He knows EVERYTHING there is to know about me, Its foolish how sometimes I think that I can keep things from Him ,because He knows every thought,motive and intent of our hearts and minds and in spite of all that, He chose me anyway, died for me, made me His daughter, crowned me with loving kindness and tender mercies. That is what totally boggles my mind. How could I not love Him for that?

Wednesday morning I woke up earlier than I usually do, I felt that the Lord woke me up and wanted me to go and pray. I went into my study and as I knelt down to pray, I opened my mouth to speak and I couldn't, I just cried, my cry turned into weeping. I felt the presence of the Lord in that room. Just me and Him. I could hear His Words "it is finished" in my heart and mind. I know why He reminded me of those words too, you see, I had been carrying shame and quilt for so many years and although I thought I believed that Jesus paid for ALL of my sin, I still felt that I needed to DO SOMETHING else to be COMPLETELY forgiven and what Jesus was telling me, was that He paid for ALL my sin and all the quilt and the shame that goes along with it. When I really looked into what Jesus had done for me on the cross, I was completely floored by His love for me. God knows the end from the beginning,yes? I would like to believe that before Jesus went to the cross, He saw me, He saw what sin had done and how I was lost and was desperate to be free from the bondage of sin. He knew that He was the only one who could save me. and so He stepped down from heaven and came to this world to lay down His life for me,

John 1:14 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Hebrews10:5-75 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:

"Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a body You have prepared for Me.
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You had no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—
In the volume of the book it is written of Me—
To do Your will, O God.

How could I have ever doubted His great love for me. It is like a love story, He is my Prince of Peace who rescued me from sin and darkness and eternal death. He came as a man to die for me, so that I would be His bride forever. I am in love with Him, is that weird to say? You know what? I don't really care if anyone thinks it is weird. I am in love with Jesus who I cant see, hear or touch and its great!! I have been forgiven through His precious blood, He has cleansed me from the filth of sin and has clothed me with Himself. I am a new creation in Christ, I am indeed the daughter of the King and no one and no devil in hell, will ever change that.

John 1:12-1312 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

You did a study a couple years ago called "Kingdom of Priests" do you remember that study? I learned a lot about the OT, the priesthood, Aaron and the Levites, the sacrifices. If the children of Israel had huge celebrations after the sacrificing of all those animals, how much more should I rejoice, should WE ALL rejoice because the Son of God was our Lamb that was offered up, ONCE FOR ALL.

Hebrews 9:13-14. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

John 1:29 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

1Peter 1:18-19knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

I was in bondage to shame and quilt and didn't even know it! It was a stumbling block in my walk with the Lord. God had to remove that in order for me to receive more of what He wanted to show me in His word. Unbelief was an obstacle as well. If I didn't believe that Jesus Christ had paid for ALL of my sin, shame quilt and all, then how am I going to believe that God would give me anything?

Back to Wednesday morning... Jesus had lifted a tremendous burden from me that day, the burden of shame and quilt. I'm experiencing a freedom that is deeper than the freedom I experienced when I got saved 14 years ago. Its amazing how I see God, myself and others now. Theres more assurance and confidence in what I believe. Is that normal? I am ready to go full throttle, in the Lord's work.

What is so incredible in all of this, is that God gave me exactly what I was searching for, and it had nothing to do with speaking in tongues, but even though I started this thread on that topic and was praying about it 3 weeks ago, God knows how to take care of His children...

Romans 8:26Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us[
a] with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Romans8:28And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

[Kingsdaughter]

Ah yes, the baptism of the Spirit. Hot-button issue and you will find many diverging opinions here depending on who was taught what.

Ultimately, here's the deal: The Holy Spirit is here to reveal Jesus to us. To help and support us in our relationship with the Lord. To enable us to follow Him. To help us love other people. To help us act like Jesus would and form that Christ-like character in us.

The Spirit when He comes, is God, and brings with Him, His power. Note, it's HIS power, not ours. To be used at His disposal under His direction, by Him. Because God isn't our servant, but we are His servants, see? It takes God's power, not to yak away in untilligible words, but to transform us into that Christ-likeness. So if you hear people yakking away unintelligibly in "prayer", and they get up and start backbiting and hating on others ... rest assured that the Spirit is producing no such thing. When the Spirit of God shows up, He brings His fruit with Him. You shall know them by their fruit, right?

Having said that, the day of Pentecost was for sure a supernatural event that ended up with thousands being added to the Kingdom of God. It was the birth of the Church, divinely inspired, directed and carried out. Undeniably God. People heard the story of Jesus in their own languages, spoken by people who had no way of prior knowledge of said languages. Got their attention, didn't it?

God has since moved in various ways through various revivals throughout the centuries since. Always convicting people of sin and bringing them into the Kingdom as the bottom line through a variety of dynamics and supernatural touches.

What that has to do with you?

Jesus gave you His Spirit to enable you to have a relationship with Him so that you can live by His resurrection power. That's what the Bible teaches us, beyond the shadow of a doubt and is therefore not up for debate. To be baptized means to be immersed. That means that the Spirit of God is with you, surrounding you, in you and all around you and with you, to help you draw close to Jesus and learn to live in submission to Him. The Spirit lends you His power to live as Jesus lived, embrace the new and leave the old behind, dead and buried.

The tongues bit ... I've never spoken in a foreign language (beyond what I've learned at school) but will tell you that I do (or did) have some sort of prayer language that has somehow become internalized and that is a spirit-to-Spirit activity that has to do with intercession and that helps me in prayer. It's more of a power event and not a word event, if that makes sense, because when it happens, you will hear no words coming out of my mouth. I pray with my spirit, is the best explanation I have, and the Spirit takes over and somehow makes it all happen until it's all done and settled. Paul does touch on that in 1 Corinthians 14:14: For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.

Having said that ... focus on Jesus. Focus on the fruit. Of love, patience, gentleness, kindness, self-control and so on. The rest will come as an outcropping of that. Because Paul said we can be as brilliantly supernaturally gifted as we want ... without love, it simply doesn't matter. So first things first.

I agree with everything you said Dani. I can relate to the part about praying in the Spirit. You and a couple of other posters emphasize that being filled with Holy Spirit is not for the individual to selfishly use His power. Actually, I don't think if you had that kind of mindset you would be filled with the Spirit anyway. Thanks for reminding me that to be baptized means to be immersed, that the Spirit of God is in me,upon me,with me, all around me. I thought that was pretty good and I agree with you.

[Kingsdaughter]

Bless you sister! Your motive for this experience is pure and right in line with the reason Jesus does it. Keep seeking it out and don't let anyone deceive you with some "method" of receiving it. Jesus will provide this for you at exactly the right time....to do his will and know him better! The gifts of the Spirit are wonderful and useful but the real evidence of the baptism is walking in love

Thank you shepherdsword, He did provide me with what I was searching for. Only now I want more of Him, I want to know Him more.

[Kingsdaughter]

You really shouldn't think this way at all. God loves you. Part of maturing in christ is learning to grow in the spiritual desert.

http://stobie.home.sprynet.com/religion/GrowDesert.htm

Thanks for the encouragement chad.

[Kingsdaughter]

"Talking in tongues", in Semitic languages (Aramaic, Arabic, Assyrian, Hebrew, etc..) still means "Speaking (different) languages". In my understanding It was a gift from God to be used in times when Christians were few and needed to reach out to nations with different languages. There was no bible in that time, and most couldn't read and write even in their own native language. So they leaned allot to their oral testimony. And speaking word of God in their mother tongue did indeed help foreigners unbelievers to come to Christ. That they could hear Jewish people talking their own mother tongue was a great sign for many unbelievers.

However, speaking heavenly tongue language, is somethning i dont have any experience of.

Can you explain "heavenly tongue language"?

[-SEEKING-]

Only now I want more of Him, I want to know Him more.

I can totally relate to this longing. My advice, spends time in prayer. Whenever you get a chance, just open your heart to Him. I can't begin to tell you how much I have felt Him moving in my life lately.

[keck553]

God soverignly dispenses spiritiual gifts to all before they are born. What we do with them is our choice. We can either use them to defile His Name or bring glory to His Name.

Wanting some 'gift' we don't have is vain and without any profit.

[Slug1]

God soverignly dispenses spiritiual gifts to all before they are born. What we do with them is our choice. We can either use them to defile His Name or bring glory to His Name.

Wanting some 'gift' we don't have is vain and without any profit.

I agree with this. I began to ask God and seek Him for the gift He had given to me and I was led to pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit; knowledge and wisdom. Maybe it was the "timing" God also planned but soon (about 3 months of praying) the gift began to manifest and has been operating ever since.

Before that, "I" prayed for what "I" wanted as a gift so "I" could do what "I" wanted to do for God. NONE of those prayers were ever answered. When I prayed for the Holy Spirit gifts of knowledge and wisdom, that pray was constant due to my conviction TO pray for those gifts and the prayer was answered.

[Slug1]

I can totally relate to this longing. My advice, spends time in prayer. Whenever you get a chance, just open your heart to Him. I can't begin to tell you how much I have felt Him moving in my life lately.

Amen brother!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[amazzin]

Amen brother!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The most unruly organ in the body is the tongue. It is no surprise to me that you cannot "speak" in tongues. Your head says you are baptized, your heart says you are baptized but between your head and your heart is this thing called the tongue. To speak in tongues means to let your tongue loose. Pray specifically that way

[keck553]

I agree with this. I began to ask God and seek Him for the gift He had given to me and I was led to pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit; knowledge and wisdom. Maybe it was the "timing" God also planned but soon (about 3 months of praying) the gift began to manifest and has been operating ever since.

Before that, "I" prayed for what "I" wanted as a gift so "I" could do what "I" wanted to do for God. NONE of those prayers were ever answered. When I prayed for the Holy Spirit gifts of knowledge and wisdom, that pray was constant due to my conviction TO pray for those gifts and the prayer was answered.

Indeed. I usually greet, but I've cleaned closets and purged and organized storage containers, am involved in visual arts and acting, all of which I personally am not drawn to or thought I was very good at, but as it turns out people tell the elders they feel most welcome when they walk in our doors, and ditto on the other stuff. If I end up sweeping the floors and picking up trash, if a clean and warm environment glorifies the Name of God, then it is no less an important task as what anyone can be called to do for the Kingdom.

The things I like to do and used to pursue in the congregation I have backed away from and I won't do them. It's doo dangerous for my spiritual health to 'follow my heart.'
We are called to serve God, not grandstand to serve our egos.

[Indueseason]

I can totally relate to this longing. My advice, spends time in prayer. Whenever you get a chance, just open your heart to Him. I can't begin to tell you how much I have felt Him moving in my life lately.

Amen!!! Keep on seeking the Source,only good comes from that!!!

blessings to you

[Slug1]

Indeed. I usually greet, but I've cleaned closets and purged and organized storage containers, am involved in visual arts and acting, all of which I personally am not drawn to or thought I was very good at, but as it turns out people tell the elders they feel most welcome when they walk in our doors, and ditto on the other stuff. If I end up sweeping the floors and picking up trash, if a clean and warm environment glorifies the Name of God, then it is no less an important task as what anyone can be called to do for the Kingdom.

The things I like to do and used to pursue in the congregation I have backed away from and I won't do them. It's doo dangerous for my spiritual health to 'follow my heart.'
We are called to serve God, not grandstand to serve our egos.

Amen... cleaning the church is a blessing and the freedom I have to do this even as the Associate Pastor now... offering to clean continues. I still laugh when people see me walking through the sanctuary with an armload of toilet paper rolls and they raise their eyebrows as they see me walk by into the bathroom and then I pass by them on the way out with a full bag of trash