Faith Roots with Pastor Willie George

Acts 2:4

“And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

They, (the 120 believers seated in the room,) is the subject of the sentence. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke with other tongues. The Holy Spirit inspired what was said, but He did not control their speaking. Had God controlled their tongues, He would have violated the terms of His agreements with mankind. The Holy Spirit did not take them over!

Since God knows all things, the utterance we pray is not mysterious to Him; it is a mystery to our minds. Our spirits do not have these same limitations because the person who speaks in an unknown tongue edifies (builds up, strengthens) his spirit. Our spirits know things before we grasp them with our minds.

During the first manifestation of speaking with tongues, there was no need for the interpretation of tongues. The Jews who had come from the various regions of the world understood the words that were spoken, although the Galilean speakers did not! In the most supernatural way, the Holy Spirit established that speaking in an unknown tongue is the ability to speak a language that one has not learned.

It is no wonder that we are edified when we speak in unknown tongues (in our private devotions) because we are declaring the great and wonderful works of God. God chose to include the prophecies of both Hannah and Mary in His Word to this very purpose.

Praying in the Spirit can be better understood if we take a closer look at the simple gift of prophecy. Prophecy does not always foretell the future. There are many places in the scriptures where believers prophesied, but gave little or no revelation about coming events. The prophecy of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2:1-10 is a great example. Hannah extols the greatness of God and His acts of justice. Only the last clause of her word contains an element of revelation.

Most people assume that the gift of prophecy is the ability to foretell the future, but the scriptures do not support that idea. Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, was a prophetess, but the word she gave to Israel after the Red Sea miracle merely rehearses what God had already done.

In this life, ungodly people appear to do well and seem to get by with their unrighteous behaviors. Those of us who have an acute sense of justice grieve when the ungodly prosper. David had many occasions in his life when the ungodly people around him prospered and thrived during his times of struggle.

In my mind, fruit-bearing is like the receiving of a great victory or an answered prayer. We don’t receive answers to prayer every day, but we can be blessed even when we are waiting for our faith to materialize.

God leads us to places of corporate worship where the rivers of living water flow. Too many of His children are struggling to find water in the wilderness where the supply is broken and intermittent. Let the Lord plant you in His house so you can become everything you are capable of!

The blessed man takes great delight in the Word of the Lord. He sees the Word as a precious and valuable thing. Shallow believers speak of God, but the blessed man continually speaks of the Word. He understands that the Word is God speaking to us. He values the written Word over his own feelings and inclinations. Both his actions and his attitudes are radically altered.