Common Barriers to the Baptism in the Holy Spirit
When God gave prophetic messages to individuals to speak, or to write in the case of the biblical text, he gave them a message in their mind and they had to obey and open their mouth or pick up a pen. Tongues works in much the same way. Tongues are a type of prophecy. The syllables come to the mind of the speaker from the Holy Spirit. However, the speaker remains in control; therefore, he doesn’t make up what comes out of his mouth. We must also understand that Holy Spirit will not move your mouth, which means we must act in obedience to work in cooperation with the Spirit—it is a partnership.
5. Overwhelming Feelings of Unworthiness
This mentality comes from the fear of rejection. A great fear for people who seek the baptism in the Holy Spirit, is that God will pass by them, they won’t be good enough, or maybe they will be the only ones that will not receive the baptism. Many times individuals come forward for prayer seeking the Spirit’s baptism and nothing happens, so they develop overwhelming feelings of unworthiness because they feel like they have been passed over again. Others erroneously assume that speaking in tongues reflects some sort of spiritual maturity, and assume that if they don’t speak in tongues, the Spirit does not consider them spiritually mature enough.
The gift of the Holy Spirit is for you because of what Jesus fully accomplished in his death and resurrection.
6. Seeking the Gift Rather than the Giver
This mentality comes from the desire to receive the gift of speaking in tongues rather than on intimacy with the Giver himself. Many people fall into the same error as Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8:18-19). People become mesmerized by the glamor of tongues, and like Simon, desire the evidence rather than the actual baptismal experience. Since tongues are a gift, then we should not seek the gift with selfish intentions, rather we should seek the Holy Spirit and allow him to give when he determines (1 Corinthians 12:11). James warned those who seek with mal intent stating, …
You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures (James 4:2-3).
Jesus sends the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit gives the gifts.
To effectively overcome this barrier, we must stop seeking the gift. Don’t come to a church service hoping that some big-name preacher will do something for you. Remember that Jesus sends the Holy Spirit (John 16:7), and the Holy Spirit gives the gifts (1 Corinthians 12:11). Seek God!
Category: Spirit, Summer 2018