So as I knelt in that Full Gospel parsonage in April 1937, I said to the Lord, "Lord, the Holy
Ghost is a Gift. I received salvation by faith. I received healing for my body three years ago by
faith. Now I receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by faith. And I want to thank You now, Heavenly
Father, because I receive the Holy Spirit."
Then I said to the Lord, "By faith I have now received the Holy Ghost. Thank God, He is in me,
because Jesus promised that in His Word.
And I say it with my mouth because I believe in my
heart that I have received the Holy Ghost. Now I expect to speak with tongues because
believers spoke with tongues on the Day of Pentecost. And thank God, I will, too, as the Holy
Ghost gives me utterance."
After I had prayed that, because I was grateful for the Holy Ghost that I had just received and
for the speaking with tongues that God was going to give me, I said, "Hallelujah, hallelujah."
But I had never felt so "dry" in all my life saying that word.
Feelings and faith are far removed from each other; in fact, sometimes when you feel as if you
have the least faith, that is when you have the most faith because you do not base your faith
on feelings. So I said, "Hallelujah" about seven or eight times, even though it seemed as if that
word was going to choke me!
About the time I had said "Hallelujah" seven or eight times, way down inside of me, in my spirit,
I heard these strange words. It seemed as if they were just going around and around in there.
It seemed to me that I would know what they would sound like if they were spoken, so I just
started speaking them out!
So about eight minutes from the time I first knocked on that pastor's door, I was speaking with
tongues!
The pastor had said, "Wait," but instead of waiting, I spent that hour and a half before
the church service speaking in tongues! It is much better to wait with the Holy Ghost than to
wait without the Holy Ghost!
I believe in waiting on God, of course. We should have tarrying meetings for people who are
Spirit filled. It is more wonderful to tarry and wait in God's Presence after you've been filled
with the Holy Ghost than it is to wait in God's Presence before being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Also, notice that you don't speak in tongues, and then know you have the Holy Ghost. No, you
know you have the Holy Ghost first, and then you speak in tongues. Notice Acts 2:4: "And they
were all filled with the Holy Ghost. ..."
If we stop reading there, we would know that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. But if we
continue reading, we find, ". . . and [they] began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave
them utterance" (Acts 2:4). Speaking with other tongues was a result of those believers having
received the Holy Ghost. You receive the Holy Ghost first; then you speak in tongues.
During that hour and a half that I was speaking in tongues, I had a glorious time in the Lord.
You see, speaking in tongues edifies you. First Corinthians 14:4 says, "He that speaketh in an
unknown tongue edifieth himself . . ." Therefore, speaking in tongues is a means of spiritual
edification or building up.
Linguists tell us that there is a word in our modern vernacular that is closer to the meaning of
the Greek word than "edify" and that is the word "charge." We charge a battery; we build it up.
JUDE20
20 But ye, beloved, BUILDING UP YOURSELVES on your most holy faith, PRAYING IN
THE HOLY GHOST.
In other words, when a person prays in the Holy Spirit, he charges himself up. He builds
himself up like a battery that is charged or built up. Edifying yourself by speaking in other
tongues is just one of the many blessings that God has provided through the baptism in the
Holy Ghost. And this wonderful blessing, this glorious gift of the Holy Ghost, is available to
every born-again believer.
FFT: Wait on the Holy Ghost and not for the Holy Ghost. He is given already!
ACTION POINT: Tarry with the Holy Ghost! Charge your self with tongues daily!
INTERACTIVE SESSION: Do you know you have the Holy Spirit already? Do you speak his language?
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