Have You Been Baptized in the Holy Spirit?  I remember a Pastor saying, if you are not sure if you have received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, then you don’t have it!  This seems a little harsh, but it has been my experience, that when God fills you with His spirit, you know something amazing has happened to you!   The Holy Spirit baptism is an experience that is undeniable.  It is one of the most dynamic spiritual experiences, I have had next to receiving Christ as my Savior.

You can go to heaven without it, but why would you want to?  The baptism in the Holy Spirit, or the infilling of the Holy Spirit, is a secondary experience to salvation.  It is given freely as a gift, just as Salvation is a gift, you can not buy it, you can not earn it.  All you have to do is believe and receive it!

Acts 10:45  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.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit and ‘Power’

1.  One of the evidence that you are baptized in the holy spirit is, you will have ‘power.’  Power to do what you may ask.  To become a witness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  After I received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, I became an immediate witness!  I told everyone that would listen about the love of God and Salvation.

I wanted my friends, my family, and strangers to know the wonderful experience of having their sins washed away.  I wanted to pray more, read the Bible more, I had an insatiable hunger for the things of the spirit.  

Acts1:8  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.

You will Speak in Tongues

2.  When you are baptized in the Holy Ghost, you will speak in other tongues.  God will give you a prayer language for intercession and edification.  Your times of prayer will be fuller, richer and more fruitful.  The Bible will come alive and you will receive a greater understanding of the Word of God.

Acts2:4  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.   Your prayer language may not be like another person.  Some people receive a full and flowing prayer language.  Some receive only a few words.  If you received a few words in tongues, continue to use them, until you receive more.

Baptized in the Holy Spirit and ‘Fire’

3.  In old-time Pentecost, they use to say, receiving the Holy Ghost, was ‘like fire shut up in my bones!”  The fire of God will seek to burn up things in your life, that will hurt your relationship with him.  This process of sanctification (being set apart for God’s purposes) begins and will continue as long as you live, as an ongoing work of the spirit.

God will shake everything that can be shaken until what remains to give glory to his name.  God is a consuming fire, and that fire destroys only what does not benefit our lives.  Fire does many things, it burns, it refines, it ignites, and it gives off the light!  When you get hot enough, people will come to watch your burn!  You will become contagious

Isaiah 48:10  Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

Why didn’t I Speak in Tongues after Prayer for the Holy Spirit?

There are some people who do no immediately speak in tongues after receiving prayer for the Holy Ghost.  There are also those who only receive a few words and not a full prayer language.  Do not be discouraged,  He who promised is faithful and it will come.   The first evidence of having the baptism is not tongues, but ‘power’!  Acts 1:8.  You may notice a new fire within.

You may have a greater desire to read the Word or to win souls to the Lord!  Walk in the power you have received the tongues will come when you least expect it.  You are a unique individual and the Father does not deal with us exactly the same way.  Thank Him daily for receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Gratitude is an act of faith!  Believe, that you have received!