We cannot begin to even think of Christianity without first understanding how our new birth takes place. In order to do so, we need to understand the central theme that makes our faith so unique and powerful.
You see, the Word says that the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the most important link in our faith, to the extent that without it our faith would be futile and we'd still be in our sins (1 Corinthians 15:13-21).
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is what makes it possible for us to partake in the new birth. This is because Jesus' resurrection brought about liberation for all men everywhere to also have the opportunity to come out of spiritual death.
Now, how was it possible that Jesus was raised from the dead? How was He raised from the dead? Did any man pray over His body? How did it happen.
Romans 8:11 shows us that the Spirit of God (the Holy Spirit) raised Jesus from the dead. The Holy Spirit quickened the mortal body of Jesus and gave His body a new life.
And when Jesus was about to go to the cross, He made very profound statements concerning the Holy Spirit (read John 14 and 16).
He spoke about the fact that He must leave so that the Holy Spirit can come. The Holy Spirit makes every Scriptural truth you've ever read or heard real in your life. Without Him, all we'd have is empty religion that only keeps us following a set of rules that do not lead us to anywhere but the end of ourselves.
The Holy Spirit makes the supernatural natural to us.
He came to help us to live the true Christian life of love.
We cannot live without Him. He enables us to even pray (Romans 8:26).
Now, we read in Acts 19 that Paul met some disciples who said they had never heard of the Holy Spirit. Paul ministered the Word of God to them and then he laid his hands on them and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in other tongues and prophesied.
A similar thing happened in Acts 9 and 10.
It is one thing to have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. That indwelling presence is what made you a new creation. That indwelling presence shed the love of God abroad in your heart (Romans 5:5). But that indwelling presence is not what gives you the boldness and the courage to preach the Gospel or to heal the sick or to cast out demons.
It is the infilling of the Holy Spirit that brings that about. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, the result is that you will speak in other tongues and prophesy. That is the evidence that you're filled with the Holy Spirit... And it is something that every Christian must sincerely desire. You cannot live an effective Christian life without the power of the Holy Spirit at work in you.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit is not a one-time affair. You need to be perpetually filled with the Holy Spirit. Thus, God grants you the utterance to speak in tongues not just once but that heavenly language granted you is for you till Jesus returns. It is a language. It is meant to be spoken. It is the highest level at which you can communicate with God.
I advise that you study 1 Corinthians 14.
Some people ask that, "If you speak in tongues, do you understand what you are saying?"
The answer is an emphatic no!
It's a spiritual language that cannot be understood with the human mind. You need the Holy Spirit to help you to understand what you say in tongues. How? Just ask for the interpretation.
This is different from the gift spoken of in 1 Corinthians 12. That gift is known as the gift of tongues and the interpretation of tongue s. That gift enables you to give a message in tongues and interpret what you said in tongues.
It is not the same as what you receive when you are filled with the Holy Spirit for the first time. What you receive when are filled with the Holy Spirit for the first time is a prayer language. Praying in tongues is also known as praying in the Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 14).
The only requirement to receive the ability to speak in tongues is faith. Pray for the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Desire it. See what Jesus said in Luke 11:13:
"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"
Get out of the realm of rationalization and step into the realm of revelation.
After all, Jesus said it is those who accept the Kingdom as children that will enter it (Matthew 18:3).
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