The experience of having been Baptised with the Holy Spirit was received by Dennis Bennett in a cautious, gentle and profoundly tentative way.
When his simple ‘fired up’ friend laid hands on Dennis’ head, he cautiously listened as John began to pray in tongues very quietly. Then Dennis began to tentatively pray in English for what seemed like an extended period of time.
Yet even as he continued, before he was just about to give up, he began to stumble over his words and in his own words ‘I began to speak in a new language’.
“I was allowing these new words to come to my lips and was speaking them out of my own volition, without in any way being forced to do it. I wasn’t ‘carried away’ in any sense of the word, bu was fully in possession of my wits and my willpower. … and it was rather beautiful!”
Then after speaking for about 5 minutes, Dennis abruptly left, but not before commenting to his hosts, “What is this all about? I don’t feel anything!”
For the next few days Dennis thought about what had happened, yet the pull to understand what he had experience pulled him to return to the home of his new ‘fired-up’ friends.
His new friend encouraged him to once again ‘pray in the Spirit’, in tongues, and while he did not experience any profound spiritual inspiration, he noticed the practice of praying in the Spirit left him ‘somehow refreshed’ (v23)
However, the more he prayed, the greater the awareness of God’s presence within him became. He describes his experience of “letting this beautiful unknown language come to my lips, pouring my heart out to God the Father with a fluence and eloquence that I had never dreamed possible.” (v23)
Apart from enjoying the immense freedom of being able to pray without the bounds of intellect or words, the more Dennis prayed the happier he became.
He recalled, “Never had I experienced God’s presence in such reality as now.”
“I recognised that this was the same Presence of the Lord that I had sensed when I first accepted Jesus and that I had known when I used to get up early during my years in the business world; only the intensity and reality of my present experience was far greater than anything I had believed possible. If those earlier experiences were like flashbulbs, this was as if someone had suddenly turned on the floodlights! The reality of God was something that I felt all the way though – even with my body. Instead of being fearful, I felt tremendously happy and elated.” (v24)
Let’s pause for a moment and ask ourselves about our experience of having been Baptised with the Holy Spirit.
When you speak in tongues, is your experience like how Dennis recorded?
I remember when I received the Baptism of the Spirit all those years ago in my early twenties, it was the first time I felt physically and spiritually the fire of passion and zeal burning within me. All I wanted to do was go home and read my Bible, to sing in the Spirit, and worship God.
Since then, the thrill and joy of worshipping God has never left me. Even during difficult and dark times, the practice of praying in the Spirit with tongues will leave me with a profound sense of God’s presence within me.
We don’t speak about the practice of praying in the Spirit very frequently in Anglican circles. Unless you are in a charismatic parish or a prayer group with others who pray in tongues, you are unlikely to admit you regularly pray in an unknown tongue.
What is your experience of praying in the Spirit in tongues?
How often do you pray in the Spirit?
Do you have others with whom you can pray?
Is it your normal practice while in worship in your parish or local church, to pray in the Spirit quietly, under your breath?
Have you found praying in the Spirit at home a refreshing and nurturing experience?
Jude writes that we must, “build yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit.” (Jude 1:20)
Have you adopted praying in the Spirit as your daily prayer habit?
Such an experience could not help but have a profound effect on Dennis’ life, and the life of his congregation. Want to read more about the impact of having been baptised in the Spirit? See Part 3.