Meeting the Holy Spirit

I was 16 years old and hungry for God, yet unable to adequately express what “more” of God would look like in my life. I knew that my mom and my older sister both had a very strong prayer life as I watched and heard them pray all the time.  My sister had offered to pray for me, but that annoyed me at the time, so I said no. I remember her repeatedly telling me she wanted to pray with me and I kept telling her I was too busy. Then on a random Saturday afternoon she didn’t let me say no. She pulled me into her room and told me to repeat this prayer to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I said the prayer. Then nothing happened. I decided to talk to God in my own room, by myself about having my own prayer language. On my knees, alone in my room on a Saturday night, I was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues.  The prayer language came so easily and I was so excited. But now that I had this amazing experience, I wanted to figure out how to repeat it. This seems so silly now, but at the time I really thought I would have to be in church on Sunday and during worship, I would sense the presence of God and begin to pray in tongues again. It took talking to my youth pastor and receiving some education about how the Holy Spirit works before I was really able to pray in the spirit anytime I wanted. I know now that it takes faith. And that faith can grow and my prayer language can grow. My prayer life has grown so much in the last 20 years. Like the bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Never stop praying.” But that’s impossible, right? Wrong! It’s totally possible when you have a prayer language. This might seem crazy, but I call it “holy” (ha!)!! You see, when I am speaking in tongues it's really my spirit talking. Which means I can still fully function in my soul (mind). So I can drive & pray in the spirit. I can work and pray in the spirit. I can make dinner and pray in the spirit. I can get my kids ready for school and pray in the spirit. In fact, I find that the more I am praying in my spiritual language, my days get easier! It’s like a secret wisdom weapon that has made my life so much better. A few last thoughts as I close:

• A simple pray, asking God to baptize you in the Holy Spirit is how it starts!
• You can pray in the spirit whenever you want! You have control over your prayer language.
• The more you speak in tongues, the stronger your relationship with God grows. 
• The Holy spirit is awesome and available for all of us!

Our prayer is that you would be encouraged to be closer to the Holy Spirit this Summer. Like the bible says in 1 John 3:2 (NLT)  says, “Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.”Love and All the Best! Julia Pearson