Putting On The Armor Of God And Praying In The Spirit

For most of my life I have read the scriptures, however I was raised in Calvinist Baptist teachings which did not believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially the gift of tongues. I do know there are Calvinists who do believer in the gifts, but growing up I never met any. Over various periods of time, I read my bible with joy. One thing that often would trouble me is found in Ephesians 6. We are told to "pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and request". I would think, how in the world do you pray in the Spirit and how would I know when I was praying in the spirit and not just my mind?"

It was not until I reached my 50's (2010) that I understood the 7th part of the armor of God, "Praying in the Spirit". I had prayed for the baptism of the Holy Spirit for years and may have received "baptisms in the Spirit", but not the gift of languages/tongues. I believe it was partly a result of unbelief and fear, going back to childhood teachings.

Today I will share the events that preceded my receiving the gift of tongues. I am not ashamed of the gift. I am not ashamed of the Holy Spirit, Jesus and the Father.

I had received an email from a friend of mine whose business partner was cheating her. When I awoke the next morning and as I got out of bed, I asked the Father for a word for my friend. As I stood up I received a complete thought (a few lines of scriptural truths) to share with her. I said "thank you Father, that is a good one!". By the time I got to the stairs to go down, I had received 3 "complete revelations from the scriptures". I said "wow Lord, those are great, but you know I cannot even keep a grocery list of 3 things". Instantly I had another 'download" and by the time I got to the kitchen sink, I had received hundreds if not thousands of complete revelations for my friend. My brain was on fire. I felt like I was having an aneurysm burst and knew I would die if this kept on. I cried out "Father, please stop! I am going to die!".

He immediately stopped the revelations and I, sobbing and with an overloaded brain on fire, went to my chair. I said "Lord, what was that!!!? I was going to die!' I am confident the Lord responded and gave me the following understanding.

• In the morning you get up and say good morning Lord. You talk to me in English words, but I am spirit and when I speak to spirits like the angels, I can say one syllable and give the plans for an entire war in the heavens. I immediately connected this to tongues and responded "wow, that is why I need the gift of tongues".... so my spirit can speak to God on a level my mind cannot. I also learned that no man can talk to God and live, if God talks to the person's brain as he does to our spirits. I do not tell this story as a prophet. This is what happened to me and is not meant to define scriptures, however, I believe this is in harmony with the scriptures.

Two weeks later while visiting a church in a prayer meeting, I was surrendering my all to the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and I received the gift of tongues. They were silent, but my tongue was going to town and I was not controlling it. I knew it was from God, because I was totally crying out to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit. I told the Father I refused to be afraid of Him ruling my tongue. I wanted him to rule over my entire being. I wanted his thoughts to be my thoughts and his ways to be my ways. He heard me. I knew if I asked God for bread, He would not give me a stone? The next morning I prayed in tongues for hours. I prayed very loud and wept and wept. When I asked the Lord why I was crying, I am confident he told me in my mind that my spirit was rejoicing and had been waiting for 50 years to speak.
   
The 7th part of the armor of God is "praying in the spirit". 7 is the number of completion.

10Finally, be strong in the Lord, relying on his mighty strength. 11Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the devil’s strategies.j 12For ourk struggle is not against human opponents,l but against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers in the darkness around us,m and evil spiritual forces in the heavenly realm. 13For this reason, take up the whole armor of God so that you may be able to take a stand whenever evil comes. And when you have done everything you could, you will be able to stand firm.

1. 14Stand firm, therefore, having fastened the belt of truth around your waist, 
2. and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 
3. 15and being firm-footed in the gospel of peace.n 
4. 16In addition to having clothed yourselves with these things, having taken up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to put out all the flaming arrows of the evil one, 
5. 17also take the helmet of salvation 
6. and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 
7. 18Pray in the Spirit at all times with every kind of prayer and request. Likewise, be alert with your most diligent efforts and pray for all the saints. 

Added the following 11-8-13. 

It breaks my heart that so many deny the gifts of the Spirit of God.....especially religious leaders such as John MaCarthur, but anyone who is bold enough to put his own name on the face of the Bible can surely be deceived. In his pride he has challenged God's Apostle Paul who told us "not to forbid the speaking in tongues". Now he is telling millions they can speak in tongues and repent later in spite of the scriptures warning him that if you take away from the Revelation you will go to the lake of fire.  

1 Thessalonians 5 ISV

• 16Always be joyful.
• 17Continually be prayerful. 
• 18In everything be thankful, because this is God’s will for you in the Messiahi Jesus. 
• 19Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.j 
• 20Do not despise prophecies. 
• 21Instead, test everything. 
• Hold on to what is good. 
• 22Keep away from every kind of evil.

Added the following 11-9-13.

Acts 10 ISV

44While Peter was still making this statement, the Holy Spirit fell on all the people who were listening to his message. 45Then the circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the gentiles, too,46because they heard them speaking in foreign languagess and praising God. Then Peter said, 

47“No one can stop us from using water to baptize these people who have received the Holy Spirit in the same way that we did, can they?”t 48So Peteru ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus the Messiah.v Then they asked him to stay there for several days.

Brothers and sisters, it greatly troubled me when I realized the gift of tongues/languages is still for today. It so troubled me that it started a journey seeking out where I had been taught falsely in other areas. I still cannot believe anyone who looks at this seriously can deny this gift is for today, yet I myself did. I personally believe it is a deception of the wicked one, to steal away a priceless gift from God. 1 Corinthians makes it so clear. You can also search out my previous writings pertaining to "tongues". Some going back to 2012.

1 Corinthians 14 ISV Please read the entire chapter and even before chapter 14

13Therefore, the person who speaks in a foreign language should pray for the ability to interpret it. 14For if I pray in a foreign language, my spirit prays but my mind is not productive. 15What does this mean? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing psalms with my spirit, but I will also sing psalms with my mind. After I received the gift of languages, I finally understood. I can pray in foreign languages with my spirit and pray in English with my mind....both at the same time. 

39Therefore, my brothers, desire the ability to prophesy, and do not prevent others from speaking in foreign languages. 40But everything must be done in a proper and orderly way.

Jacob Prasch has a word for us!