MOSQUITOS DE LOS HONGOS Y DE ALAS OSCURAS DE LOS HONGOS (GNATS) 6 .10.4

Although these two experiences do not a l w a y s occur at the same time, they can. And it is most wonderful when they do. In Acts 10 when the Gospel was first preached by Peter to the

Gentiles, that is what happened. Although Peter did not lay hands on these people, they clearly received both the new birth and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit as Peter was preaching to them about Jesus:

While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? (Acts 10:44-47).

It is important to note that in this instance, as in those recorded in Acts 2, 8 and 19, which we have already discussed, it is either stated outright or clearly implied that all those who received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit gave evidence of their experience by speaking in tongues.9_{The same is true today. Speaking in tongues}

is the outward evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Some Christians are uncomfortable with that. “Do I have to speak in tongues?” they ask.

No, you don’t have to—you get to! Speaking in tongues is not some spiritual badge of honor. It is an indispensable tool that God has given you to help you live a victorious and powerful life. It is a tool you desperately need.

As believers still living in natural bodies, you and I need to be able to pray in tongues because we have weaknesses. Our under- standing of spiritual things is limited. We don’t yet know all we need to know, and that lack of knowledge can constantly hinder our ability to pray according to the will of God. God has made

provision that enables us to overcome that weakness. Romans 8:26-27 describes that provision:

So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeak- able yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance. And He who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit [what His intent is], because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God’s will (AMP).

First Corinthians 14:2 further describes this process, saying, “For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.”

You and I need to be praying about what will happen to us tomorrow. We need to be praying about God’s plan for us and our families five years from now. We need to be praying out the plan of God for the earth. But many times we don’t know those things. They are mysteries to us. What can we do? Pray in tongues!

Praying in tongues, or in the spirit, enables you to pray the perfect will of God for your life. It allows you to step out of the realm of the flesh and into the realm of the spirit so that no matter how weak or ignorant you may be in the natural, you can pray exactly as you need to pray, as the Spirit gives you utterance.

Sometimes you will have an insight, a word, an interpretation of what you are praying in the spirit. Say to the Lord, “The things I know not, teach me, and the things I see not, show me.” You will b egin to receive revelation on things you have never before under-

stood. That’s what you need—revelation from God! That’s w h a t we all need. The result of praying in tongues might come to you later as “a know i n g ” — y o u ’ll just know something. You will have a wo r d of knowledge from the Spirit of God. (See 1 Corinthians 12:8.) God has things that are so much better for us than what we have seen, that we can’t even figure them out. But if we’ll pray in the spirit, in other tongues, we will reach beyond our knowledge and expec- tation, into the area that is “above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).

Is it any wonder that speaking in tongues has undergone such persecution? The devil hates it! He knows it is the only way believers can pray beyond what they know and into the limitless possibilities of the Spirit of God.

He understands, even if we don’t, that even baby Christians— newly reborn ones—can pray in tongues, receive the mind of the Spirit and start growing fast. That’s the way the church at Jerusalem grew in the early days. That’s all they had. They could- n’t take their New Testaments and read the epistles of John or Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. They had to use the ability and understanding the Holy Spirit gave them. And when they did, they turned the whole world upside down. Study the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 14 concerning this.