My encounter with the Holy Spirit

I first encountered Pentecostalism when I entered secondary school. At that time there was a prefect in my hostel who was Pentecostal and started a bible study group for anybody interested. I was not particularly keen on attending the bible study as I somehow felt that in such places people aim to tell you how you ought to live your life. I did not fancy the idea of being told what to do and what not to do. You could say I was afraid of being dominated and ending up with no will of my own. Somehow, I felt compelled to go since all my friends thought it was a good idea and I did not want them to think I was not godly enough. In retrospect, I know that was bad motivation.

When I started attending the bible study, I was utterly disappointed. I had been attending a mainstream church since childhood. The person leading the bible study would start attacking my church and other mainstream churches. She made snide remarks about people in such churches not speaking in tongues. To me, she displayed such arrogance and the so-called holier than thou attitude. In my heart I thought if the Holy Spirit she spoke about made her so arrogant then I was not interested in it. I do not remember how many times I attended the bible study. Probably it was 2 or 3 times. After that I stopped. I could not stand being derided constantly for belonging to a church where people did not speak in tongues. I could not see why speaking in tongues was so important considering that our bible study leader prayed in other tongues and nobody could understand anything.

About three years later, I joined another bible study group which was led by another Pentecostal. This girl was very loving and it was easy to become friends with her. At that time I had relegated the issue of tongues to the back of my mind somewhere and did not pay much thought to it. We covered so many different topics about the bible and never for once did our leader deride other churches for any reason. Because of this I felt comfortable attending the bible study and really felt like a part of everything that was going on. My relationship with God improved tremendously through the bible study group. I also sought God for myself by finding out what the bible said about the various issues we discussed. I was simply not going to take what someone said about the bible without checking it out for myself. Eventually the issue of receiving the Holy Spirit came up again. This time the focus was not on speaking in tongues but being baptized in the Holy Spirit. I decided to check out what the bible said about being baptized in the Holy Spirit.

I found out that John proclaimed that Jesus would baptize his followers with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3: 11, Mark 1: 8, Luke 3: 16, John 1: 33). Jesus himself informed his followers that they were to tarry in Jerusalem so that they would receive the promise of the Father, which was to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1: 4-5). He told his followers that they would receive power following the baptism of the Holy Spirit and become witnesses of their master (Acts 1: 8). From the scriptures we realize that it is God’s promise to his followers that they receive the Holy Spirit.

What happened when the Holy Spirit came upon the followers of Jesus Christ? The bible tells us that the Holy Spirit descended into the room where the disciples were assembled like cloven tongues of fire and rested upon each of the people present. Every follower of Jesus who had patiently waited for the promise of the Father received the Holy Spirit. Thereafter the disciples began to speak in other tongues. Immediately afterwards Peter who had denied Jesus, stood up and boldly proclaimed the gospel. By the power of the Holy Spirit the people hearing Peter asked what they could do. Peter declared that they were supposed to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins after which they would receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 2: 38). In Acts 8: 14-17 the bible tells us that the apostles laid hands on believers so that they could receive the Holy Spirit. The sign that an individual has received the Holy Spirit is speaking in other tongues (Acts 10: 44-46, Acts 19: 6).

After searching out scriptures for myself I realized it was God’s will for me to receive the Holy Spirit. It is his promise to every believer. In my heart I accepted the scriptures and ceased to argue with them. I realized then that in this regard the church I was attending was not standing in truth. I do not remember asking God to baptize me in the Holy Spirit. It so happened that one day I went for bible study as was my custom. Normally we gave one another time to assemble together before formally starting the bible study. Those that arrived early would begin praying individually. On that day I think I felt rather pious. Usually I prayed quietly but for some reason that day I decided to pray aloud. I liked to pray quietly because I was uncomfortable that someone might just overhear my prayers. While I was praying out loud, somewhere in the middle of my prayer I started to speak in another tongue. I tried hard to speak my mother tongue without success. I tried to switch to English but what came out was another tongue. Finally it dawned on me that I had received the Holy Spirit. I was awed! I really thanked God for what he did for me that day. What I can say is that from that day onwards my spirit came alive. Suddenly things that I had always done without qualms began to prick my heart and God began to transform me. One of the major changes  I noticed was that there were some movies which I had previously watched without any problems but I could not stand to watch after my encounter with the Holy Spirit. I know I am not yet there but I have been moving forward inch by inch. God keeps changing me for the better. Every believer needs the Holy Spirit. If God himself gave the promise, embrace it! Expect to receive, and you will receive.