Baptism

HOW I RECEIVED THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

My first contact with people who said they had received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit was not a very positive experience. They were usually very aggressive people who wanted to lay hands on me and pray for me to have this experience. I was skeptical, but willing. I wanted all God had for me. But when they prayed for me they would usually pray in unknown tongues. It was very confusing to me to say the least. I became more and more confused and finally decided it was not for me and gave it all up!

One day my wife said, "Jim, did you know that Bob Fitts Jr. has received the baptism in the Holy Spirit? I said, "Alice, I have been filled with the Spirit for many years." She said, "No, not like Bob Fitts Jr. he speaks in the unknown tongues."

That is when I decided to go and talk to Bob Fitts Sr. He was a good friend and I esteemed him as a man of integrity.

So early one morning in the Fall of 1972, I arranged to meet with him at his church and drove the half hour to Home Gardens, CA. On the way I prayed that if there was any truth to this experience God would make it clear to me and bless me with it. I was hungry for God!

Bob was there when I arrived at the church, so I wasted no time. I said, "Bob, I would like to clarify something. Is it true that your son, Bob, speaks in tongues?" To my amazement, he said, Yes! Would you like to know more about it?"

At that point, he began to explain this experience. He shared with me what he later published in a brochure: "The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a definite experience in which the Holy Spirit, who is already dwelling within the believer is released to overflow and empower him. This baptism is administered by Jesus and is received by faith.

Jesus himself is our example in this matter. He was born of the Spirit at birth but was not baptized in the Spirit until he received water baptism in the Jordan River. It is the same outpouring the disciples experienced on the day of Pentecost.

The baptism in the Holy Spirit is given for the purpose of exalting Jesus Christ in the life and service of the believer. It helps to understand that:
It is promised to all believers.

"For the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." (Acts 2:38) It is a gift.

We do not have to beg for it or work for it. We cannot make ourselves good enough to receive it. We must receive it like we would receive any gift of God. We just take it by simple faith and then express our thanks to God for hearing and answering our prayer. After we take it by faith we will experience it.

It is administered by Jesus
"John answered, . . . he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." (Lk. 3:16)

There is a baptism in water administered by men; (Mt.28:19) and a baptism into the body of Christ administered by the Holy Spirit; (I Cor. 12:13) and a baptism in the holy Spirit administered by Jesus. (John 1:33).

When we receive it, there will be an empowering which sooner or later will become evident in the life of the one who receives it. Jesus said, "You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit comes upon you " (Acts 1:8)

Ten days later they all received it. (Note: When I say "it" I am referring to the baptism in the Holy Spirit.) "When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all . . . filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." (Acts 2:1-4)

Receiving the Holy Spirit when we are born again and being baptized in the Holy Spirit are two separate events. It is His will that you receive it.

God commands all believers to be filled with the Spirit: "Be not drunk with wine . . . but be filled with the Spirit." (Eph. 5:18) When you pray for the baptism in the Holy Spirit you are asking according to the will of God. Therefore you can know that God will answer your prayer: "And this is the confidence we have in Him that , if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us; and if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know we have the petitions that we desired of him. (I John 5:14)

By faith pray the following prayer and you will receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit:

Jesus, I thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. You said that if I ask anything within your will you will hear and answer. Lord you command me to be filled with the Holy Spirit, so I ask you to baptize me in the Holy Spirit right now. I Thank you for hearing my prayer and for granting my request and that I now have the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Jesus!

Do not seek to have an emotional experience. Claim the baptism in the Holy Spirit by faith and walk in the reality of it by faith.

Feelings will come, but leave that in the hands of God. Your part is to believe, embrace, confess, and act like the work is done. The results will follow. You will begin to experience supernatural gifts and manifestations of the power and presence of God that you never had before.

Feelings are beautiful and good, but we do wrong when we seek to create an emotion ourselves. God will give you overwhelming emotional experiences, but let him do it. Your part is to trust his word of promise..

Now that you have prayed and by faith received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, as an expression of your faith, just begin to praise God, but not in your own language. Simply open your mouth and begin to praise God and trust him to give you words in a language unknown to you, a spiritual prayer language.

You are offering perfect praise to God in the Spirit. You are doing what the apostle Paul did when he said "I will pray with my spirit and I will pray with my understanding also. I will sing with my spirit and I will sing with my understanding also." It is not a matter of emotion. It is a matter of the will. You can will to pray in your own language and you can will to pray in your heavenly language. Paul went on to say to the Christians in Corinth: The spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet, therefore let all things be done decently and in order." You are in control. You can pray softly or audibly. You can start and you can stop. Paul said, "I wish you all spoke in tongues and I thank God I speak in tongues more than you all."

At this, Bob laid his hands on my head and prayed for me to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. I simply received it by faith and a few minutes later I was on my way to another appointment. As I drove along I cannot say that I had any emotional feelings at all. I put my hand on my Bible laying in the front seat and said, "I believe your word is true, Lord, and I believe the prayer spoken over me and I believe I have received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit."

Suddenly the Lord opened my eyes and I could see spiritual realities that I had never seen before, and an explosion of worship erupted from deep within me that was more powerful than I could possibly imagine. Words were flowing from my mouth, but they were words that I could not understand. I was speaking in unknown tongues as Jesus had prophesied in the last chapter of Mark. "These signs shall follow them that believe, in my name they shall cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues . . . they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover." I can truely say that I have experienced all of these signs and more over the past thirty one years.

Jim Hood Ministries
2714 North Olive Lane
Santa Ana, CA 92706
(714) 541-5962