If you want to be an effective Christian with power from on high in your life then you can be filled with the Holy Spirit.

To be filled with the Holy Spirit is like a sponge that is totally soaked in water as opposed to a sponge that is only dipped in water but has still quite some dry bits in it. Nicky Gumble, in the Alpha Course, likens it to being like a boiler firing on all cylinders rather than a pilot light.

When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, there is a boldness that comes on us that is supernatural, we cannot help but speak about God, and there is a burning desire in our hearts to keep on praising God and worshipping Him, spending time in His presence, reading His Word with Him, love our enemies with a supernatural power and conquer obstacles in our lives.

All we have to do is to ask God to fill us with His Holy Spirit and He is faithful to answer our prayer:

Luke 11:11-13 (Amplified Bible)

11 What father among you, if his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone; or if he asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts [gifts that are to their advantage] to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him!

One of the benefits of being filled with the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues:

The ‘Gift of tongues’ and ‘Speaking in Tongues’ is not the same thing. The ‘Gift of Tongues’ is done publically and it always has to be interpreted so that everyone understands what is being said. ‘Gift of Tongues’ is only available to a few.

‘Speaking in tongues’ is available to every believer, it is between you and God and does not require interpretation, indeed, it is often used at times where words fail us. But to receive the ‘Speaking in tongues’, the truth has to be known in our hearts.

The first thing to do, before we try and speak in tongues is to prepare our hearts by asking God to give us the revelation knowledge that it is His will that we would be speaking in tongues. To do this, we can pray about it, ask for the gift, and we can study God’s Word about speaking in tongues, spend time with God and wait for revelation.

The second thing to be aware of is that love is more important than speaking in tongues because love is eternal. To speak in tongues we have to have a relationship with God and seek His presence, then we would have an inner knowing of His love for us.

The enemy does not want us to speak in tongues because it is a very good way for us to receive direct revelation from God. To unbelievers, it will sound like a lot of mumbo jumbo. This is the devil trying to steal, kill and destroy (Jn 10:10a). Speaking in tongues is like serenading to God!

God loves us so much more than we could ever possibly imagine in our little peanut brain. We are His children and God wants to bless each one of us abundantly with every blessing. (Jn 10:10b).

The fact is, the Holy Spirit does not take over our vocal cords and our mouths to speak for us. We still have to produce the sounds ourselves, but the sounds are created without thinking what we shall say next, so bypassing the brain.

When we speak in tongues, we ask God to lead us in love and by faith through the power of the Holy Spirit, and ask God to help us to interpret, if that is His will. Then start to make some sounds, focusing on God, imagining that there is a lifeline (Jesus) running from within our being to the heavens above.

We may start with just one or two words, and then build a vocabulary; with time the language develops a particular sound pattern.

We could try and speak in tongues on a regular basis but sometimes we forget and go for weeks without it, and wonder why we don’t feel quite as joyful as usual. Whenever we need to pray for a particular situation, we can lift that situation up to God, and start speaking in tongues.

Speaking in tongues is the empowering of the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s secrets into our heart. And He knows the desires of my heart better than we do usually.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit comes with the gift of speaking in tongues but you can still choose to pray the prayer to be filled with the Holy Spirit without desiring to speak in tongues.

Dear Abba, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

I recognise that I am in need of more of Your power in my life. Your Word promises that when we ask, we receive.

Please fill me with your Holy Spirit (with the evidence of speaking in Tongues). I am asking this to you by faith right now…

I believe that you have filled me and I receive the infilling of Your Holy Spirit in my heart right now! Thank you Holy Spirit for being the power at work in my heart and in my life!

I give you all the praise and all the glory, in Jesus name, amen!