The Tongue Tied Christian

Chapter 4 – Lord, I Have a Problem...... "I Did Not Receive"

You know, as receiving salvation is different from one person to another, so the receiving of the Baptism differs from one person to another. I have spoken to some who have shown that they were genuine Christians by conduct, speech and other outward signs, yet they say to me that they did not have any spectacular experience. They just said, "Lord, I believe In You, please save me," and that was it. On the contrary, there are those who have had great, earth-shaking situations and to hear their testimonies is certainly to be inspired. However, God does not work the sane with each person and that is why It is exceedingly harmful as well as wrong to box-in or make a common denominator of a salvation experience other than the person, Jesus.

In regard to the Baptism, it is the same. There have been people who have had fantastic experiences but there have been others who recognize that they had to ask for their salvation and now have to ask for the Baptism. They ask and they receive, though nothing spectacular happens to them. Here again, the small word, FAITh. We have to "faith" it. One of the accompanying signs, and I said, "one", is to have a prayer language. There have been many people who have come to my office or I have gone to their homes, or perhaps participated In a service, who have requested the "Baptism" and have according to the Word of God received "the Baptism", but were not given the experience of tongues, and they have asked, 'Why?"

For example, a lady comes to my office and says, "I want more than I now have in my relationship with Jesus. I know He is alive, but I just want more, and there must be more than just being a Christian and being saved." I explained to her about the Baptism, it is another dimension. It does not make you holier than anybody else, it is just another dimension that you can choose, if you desire, and the party says, "I choose."

So I pray a simple prayer, and the lady says, "I don't really feel any different. But I do believe I have received the Baptism." I explain to her about the accompanying signs, one of them being the prayer language. She asks the Lord for this, we begin to praise God, and suddenly there canes from her mouth words that are not her own. To be sure, in this particular. case, they were not fluent nor were they comfortable with her. But it was a beginning and her face was radiant. She was so thankful to God that she had latched onto this ability to just allow God to let His Spirit flow through her in a prayer language.

On the other hand a lady comes feeling the same way, sits on the couch in my office and she asks for the Spirit Baptism and relates that she feels a tingling and a different feeling. She says, "Jesus is within me in a different dimension." When we begin praising the Lord for this, and desperately on her part, desiring to have her "tongue experience" but nothing develops. She makes the comment, 'Well, I guess the tongues are not for me."

I explained to her that tongues were for her, because tongues are for everybody. But there are reasons why, as I see it, that some do not have the tongue experience. I suggested to her sane of the following remarks.

We first predicate our information on the Word of God. Now, God is the one who allows us to speak in tongues. One person came to me and said, "I would like you to teach me how to speak In tongues." I replied that I cannot do that. I do not teach anybody. Only the Great Teacher, only Jesus, can do this. Speaking In tongues is letting God's Spirit flow through your spirit, through your mouth, and as you perhaps have heard the expression, "bypassing your mind."

Your mind, which represents you, is being put aside for the moment, this Is the physical, and you are letting the spiritual beginning with God flow through your Spirit. This terminates in prayer language.

Now, since God is the one in the controls, since God does it, then the problem In not having the tongues is not with God, but is with the individual. Now, I do not know why everyone does not have this, and In particular those who have requested it. For myself, I requested it and did not have the prayer language for some time. Others with whom I have spoken have had similar experiences, while on the contrary, some have instantly received their prayer languages. So I come back to the original statement that, "It is God that gives. It is God who allows this to flow. But we, as human people, sometimes block it.

Here are some suggestions. Number one, there may be possible outstanding sin in your life that needs to be confessed. If you will pause and go into your memory bank and find some sin that you have never confessed, then this sin is something that can be a blockage in this "outlet". There are tints when we would want to receive a fluid, for example, through a drinking straw. We have had this experience in our home when we use the little paper straws.

One of my children was having a great deal of difficulty and the fluid would not come through. We discovered when the straw was lifted that toward the bottom of the straw it had been pinched tight, letting just a very little of the fluid flow through. Now sin is like that. It sort of pinches just a little bit and unless we ask God to forgive us and allow the Holy Spirit to come in and raw, out or open us so that God's favor and blessing can flow, then we will find that it Is just too effective on oar part in that way. This night just be a blockage In that way.

A second reason that I believe some people do not receive their tongues, is an unforgiving spirit. It is important that we have nothing against anybody as a Christian. It is Important that we exercise forgiveness. It is important that we remember that God has forgiven us, and that He forgives us continuously.

So, in seeking the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, with Its accompanying sign of the prayer language, one must be free to ask for forgiveness of anybody who may have wronged them in the past. If possible, be specific, and single out person, date, situation and lay that matter before the Lord. When it is laid out before the Lord, then, by the power of the blood of Jesus it can be erased. Thus not contributing to failure to receive the prayer language.

When we are in our meditating moods and upon those occasions when we are trying to get our life clean of besetting sins, this attitude of an unforgiving spirit is very important. When asked by Hi $ disciples how many times one should forgive another, Jesus replied seventy times seven. So we are continuously forgiving when we are wronged, and then we must remember that when we wrong that we too must ask for forgiveness.

A third reason as I have seen in my ministry why people do not receive the accompanying sign of a prayer language is that there Is a degree, small or great, of bondage and this bondage is due to an evil spirit. A simple prayer of casting out this evil influence or negative factor in their lives is done by the power of Jesus. But we are the ones who do it. For a long time I thought that it was great that Jesus would cast out the negative factor or the evil influence in my life, but then I discovered that He is not the one who does it, I am the one who does It.

So then you, by the authority of Jesus, can cast out the negative factor. It is removed because you have taken the initiative and you have spoken the word and you have done It in the Name of Jesus. The Name of Jesus is the eradicating factor. It is the fleeing factor for this evil influence.

Pride. Pride is an outstanding reason why people do not have a prayer language. Pride canes In different forms and attacks people in different ways, but is the ugliest, I think, of all sins because of the ramifications that deal with pride as It affects the human being.

Pride keeps people out of the Kingdom. Pride keeps people out of the Baptism of water and pride keeps people out of receiving the fullness of the Spirit in terms of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. And it is pride that keeps people from so many beautiful things of the Christian life including the prayer language. There are people too prideful to open their mouths and make a sound, because after all, It is our vocal cords that have to do the work. We must exercise the moving of our vocal cords while God provides the words. Many people are just too embarrassed, even privately to make a sound that would begin them on this new venture.

There are others who fall into this same category and do not want to receive the ridicule of family or friends and who will not even make an attempt. On the other hand, there are those who are desirous of this but have a subtle type of pride that hinders. If we lay our pride before the Lord and humbly confess it and ask God to bless us in a continuous removing of It, we will be successful. I say "continuous" because pride is something that is like a dandelion, it just keeps growing. You can cut it off or dig It up and you think you have It out, but unless you go all the way to the tip of the root, it will continuously come forth.

In the case of our human pride, it is deeply rooted way back to our ancestors of Adam and Eve, and therefore I am persuaded that we can never eliminate the tip end of the root of pride. But for the person who is conscious of this, there can be a control of it and there can be a removing of it to a great and excessive degree. Some people show a very humble spirit and indeed are humble, because they have conquered a portion of their pride.

So a simple prayer of confessing pride and asking God to remove this pride can be very helpful.

Again the question, "Lord, I have a problem, I didn't receive." Outside these four reasons, there may be many more that can be grouped in with the four above mentioned reasons. But one must remember that God is in control and God wants the very best f or His children. Therefore, I cannot buy the statement that people have made, such as, "It is just not my time." My friend, this is the time. Now is the time with God, but it may not be the time for us, because there are so many factors that are involved in this. But so far as God is concerned, now is the time. We have to make ourselves right.

God's Holy Spirit Is constantly moving to draw, and there are times when an Individual will allow the draw to occur, the factors all being right, one receives at least one of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit.