…I wish you all spoke with tongues…1 Cor 14:5 NKJV

By the grace of God, I have had the privilege of helping thousands of born-again ones to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit’s baptism. From individuals to large crowds, from homes to open air venues, from small bush churches to large cathedrals, I have had the joy of seeing the Baptizer minister the wonderful Holy Spirit to His people. You can have that same privilege as well!

When you go to minister the Baptism, there are a number of things you should consider, and then we will briefly talk about how to effectively help people who have a hard time receiving.

First, let’s consider the responsibility of the minister. I believe I can help anyone receive (if I have a good translator, and many times in spite of the translator) who is born again and wants to receive. I believe that I am responsible to help everyone who comes to receive. That means we don’t worry about the time involved, or where we are supposed to be ‘for lunch’ (you can always tell a hungry preacher by how quickly he prays – don’t fall into ‘hungry preacher syndrome’). If God gives us a hundred people who want to receive and only ninety receive, we take the other ten aside and work with them individually until they receive. There are no ‘throwaway’ people! Nobody gets turned away who comes for salvation, do they? Nobody should be turned away because they are struggling to receive the Holy Spirit.

I can help anyone receive who wants to…and so can you. In Ghana, I once helped a pastor who had waited thirty-five years to receive the Holy Spirit. In Rwanda, there was a pastor, who had laid hands on hundreds of others, and they had received, but he himself had never received. After ministering to him for about fifteen minutes, he broke out into glorious tongues!

Don’t ever let the receiving of the Holy Spirit become a ‘sideshow’ in your meetings. Let God be ‘center stage!’ At the right moment, the Baptizer and His baptism should take precedence over anything else…

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear…1 John 4:18 NKJV

This is their personal Pentecost. Your love and confidence will help them believe to receive.

Consideration #1: LET THE WORD DO THE WORK!

So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Rom 10:17 NKJV

Build an atmosphere of faith and expectation by teaching and preaching the Word. Many times, I will start in Matthew 3 where John the Baptist talked about how Messiah would baptize the people with the Holy Spirit. Or I will take them through the book of Acts, showing where people received the Holy Spirit and His powerful effects. Or show them from the book of John what Yahshua said about the Holy Spirit. Or get into the Pauline epistles to see what Paul wrote about the Holy Spirit. The Word overcomes fear and misunderstanding and builds excitement and faith! You will know in your spirit when people have heard enough and are ready to receive…

The one verse I continually get is in Luke 11.

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Luke 11:9 NKJV

I show them that, if they are a born again one, all they have to do is ask, and walk out on their faith. They see that they can be fearless because their heavenly Father won’t allow them to receive something evil…

Consideration #2 – LISTEN TO THE HOLY SPIRIT!

….for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Phil 2:13 NKJV

Stay constantly aware of the Spirit’s leading and act immediately on what He says. Failing to act immediately cost me the opportunity to lead thousands into the Baptism on one occasion.

In 1999, I was invited to speak at a large conference of a Sudanese church that was not Spirit-filled. I was invited because earlier that year I had lead hundreds of their pastors into the baptism through a series of meetings that we had done. Over fifteen thousand were present for the conference! When I was invited to speak, I planned to speak on the Holy Spirit. As I walked up to the lectern, the Holy Spirit said, “Do nothing without the permission of the Bishop!” I preached for an hour with great anointing. You could feel the anticipation of the people being ready to receive! Finally, I said, “I want to invite you to come forward to receive, but I must ask the permission of the Bishop!” I stopped and looked over at the Bishop. He didn’t move…didn’t move…didn’t move (the classic, unspoken NO!). My translator and I couldn’t believe it! After about thirty seconds, I closed my bible and went and sat down. Fifteen thousand people could have received, but didn’t…

WHAT I SHOULD HAVE DONE is this: as soon as the Holy Spirit said that to me, I should stopped walking up to the lectern, and gone over and talked to the Bishop privately about what I wanted to do, and gotten his permission. He did give me permission about a day later, which of course was too late…

Interestingly, the anointing was still resting on me so strongly that after the service, a guy came running up to me, and asked to be filled. I thought to myself, “Aww…what the heck!” (I normally wouldn’t even minister to an individual without proper authority in a service). I put my hand on him and said, “Father, fill him…” BAM! He starts going off in loud tongues. It didn’t make me feel any better though…I knew we had missed a great opportunity!

Stay relaxed, confident and focused and the Spirit will lead you in how to help them step by step. Act IMMEDIATELY on what He says…

Consideration #3 – GENERAL GUIDELINES IN WORKING WITH A LARGE GROUP

There are only two requirements to receive the Holy Spirit’s baptism: you must be born again, and you must want to receive.

After preaching, I will ask for those who have never received to raise their hands. Then I will ask of those who raised their hands, if they want to receive, to stand and come forward. When they are up in front, I will ask for those who are weak in speaking in tongues to come forward (we will minister to them as well). Finally, I ask for those who are strong in speaking in tongues to come up and become a wall of faith around those who are receiving.

When I have everyone up there, I want to tell them two things: what a language is, and how to speak.

I explain to them what a language is because they are going to be speaking in a language that they do not know. A language is simply sounds or syllables where two people agree on the meaning of the sound or syllable. When they speak in tongues, the Holy Spirit is working through their spirit to speak to God the Father. It’s their conversation! So, the person speaking is not to worry about what the sounds sound like…but they are to do their job, which is to make the sounds…

They must speak! I have them say, “I love the Lord Jesus Christ!” Then I describe to them how they said those words. They had to move their lips, tongue, and throat. They had to breathe and formulate the words, the sounds. All of that is involved in speaking in tongues with one exception – they don’t have to think of the words. God will give them the words, the sounds, and they will flow off their lips like running water…

Once I feel that they know what they must do by faith, I lead them into receiving.

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. John 7:37 NKJV

I invite them to close their eyes (to concentrate on Yahshua) and open their mouths, by faith drinking in the Spirit. They say in their hearts, Father, fill me now. They have come to Yahshua, and He is filling them.

Then I pray a short prayer, and then say (by this time most have already started speaking in tongues), “Now, speak in tongues!” Everyone…the strong ones, the weak ones and the new ones all start speaking in tongues out loud. I encourage them to flow in the gift…so, we let the Spirit move!