Accessing the Holy Spirit - Part One

Perhaps you’ve been under the same misconception I have – that once you acknowledge Jesus Christ and ask Him into your heart, connecting with Him should be easy…right?

I was raised sort of Southern Baptist…meaning, we sometimes went to a Baptist church but not often enough for me to say I was raised in the church. Southern Baptist are notoriously…stuffy. (Sorry, but it’s true.) Sit quietly, stand and sing quietly, bow your head when you pray quietly, and leave service on time. I had vague knowledge that something else existed, but no exposure to make me even a bit curious until I was 16 and went to church with my high school boyfriend. The service was long, full of dancing and shouting, vigorous preaching – truthfully, I don’t remember many details because I was so overwhelmed…but that was the end of that, and I moved on.

I knew there was scripture about spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12), but I never connected that to being for ME. Wait, let’s be real – outside of Jesus died on the cross to save me from my sin, I didn’t really understand how anything else in the Bible applied to me. I had heard about the armor of God (Ephesians 6). I knew the 10 commandments…mostly. I was familiar with what was in the Bible, I knew it was important – but I didn’t realize that what was in the Bible should be directing every aspect of my life.

Fast forward to the last several months and I’m starting to relearn what I thought I always knew about a relationship with Christ. It’s so much more than I was ever taught. It’s real, intimate, and interactive. I’m learning about operating in the Holy Spirit, anointings, being consistently in the presence of God. And it sounds INCREDIBLE.

It also sounds completely foreign, and I have no idea what I am doing.

I started this post last November – thinking I would post about it and then update what happened from there. I never posted it. What began to happen shortly after I wrote it was incredible, very personal, and brand new so I didn’t know how to talk about it. So, I will pick up here bringing with me an entirely different relationship with God and hopefully the words to take you on this journey with me.

I started out stuck on this idea of praying in the Spirit. It’s mentioned all over the New Testament. I think most of us skip over it, not applying prayer IN the Spirit to ourselves, but as some kind of atmosphere we create during prayer. That’s a whole other topic. I also knew about the spiritual gifts, and that one was speaking in tongues…but spiritual gifts were never talked about like they still existed and could be accessed, so I never thought much about it. I frequent bargain book sales often and had stumbled upon a book from 1971, The Gift of the Holy Spirit. What I didn’t realize when I bought it (but God is so good like that), is that the book is all about praying in the Spirit. As I began reading, I realized what the scriptures were saying…

For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unproductive. Then what am I to do? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also… 1 Corinthians 14:14-15

We do not know what prayer to offer or how to offer it as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes on our behalf with sighs and groanings too deep for words. Romans 8:26

But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith, pray in the Holy Spirit… Jude 1:20

Prayer in the Spirit. Prayer with the Spirit. Intercession by the Spirit to God for the things we don’t know to ask for. Edification for believers. Faith building. Holy Spirit. Comforter. Advocate. Helper. Friend. Praying in the Spirit is praying in tongues. Praying in tongues is for EVERY believer. It’s not the same thing as speaking in tongues, the spiritual gift. It’s a personal gift to each and every believer; the key to direct access to God, prayers that follow only the will of God, and the starting point of an undeniable, every day relationship with the Father.

I wanted THAT.

The book made a bold claim: by the end of the book you, too, could be praying in tongues. 

I'm never one to turn down a challenge.

To be continued…