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went all the way down to his legs, and when it did, he was standing there under his own power,
shouting and giving glory to God!
Now, let’s stop right here. Was he waiting on God to heal him all of those months he was in the
bed? No, he was not.
After years of tarrying and waiting to be filled with the Spirit and speak in tongues, I got a hold
of a little book called Seven Steps To Receiving the Holy Ghost, by Kenneth E. Hagin. I had
never seen the man before. This was before we went to RHEMA, obviously. I read that little
book. It said do this, pray this, believe you receive, and now speak in tongues. I read that and I
thought, “No way! It can’t be that simple!”
I remembered when Sister So-and-So got filled: she saw a ball of fire come through and hit her
in the head, and she rolled up under the pew and spoke in tongues for an hour. I was experience-
oriented and feeling-oriented, not Word-oriented, and I had been tarrying for years.
I laid the book down and scoffed, and I thought, “No, no, no. Because when the Holy Spirit does
it, He does it. He doesn’t need a man. And if you hear me talking in tongues, it won’t be me.”
And as long as I said that and believed that, I never did it, because unless
you
are talking in
tongues, you never will.
Someone who says that might argue, “You know what I mean.” No,
you
don’t know what you
mean. I’ve been there. I’m trying to help you. “Well, I want Him just to come over me, and fill
me, and make me do it apart from me.” That is never going to happen. He’s not a demon. He
doesn’t possess and control people. You have to willingly yield yourself, and here’s where the
confusion comes in: “yield” means “to act.”
Yielding
to the Spirit means
acting
on the
promptings and urgings of the Spirit.
If the Spirit of God is dealing with you to give, how do you yield to the Spirit? You act on that
urging and prompting and give. If the Spirit of God is dealing with you to pray, how do you yield
to it? You act on that and pray.
I had the Holy Spirit come on me. I had felt the power of God, and I had felt the anointing. There
were times at the altar when the power of God was so strong we all fell out in the power. Every
one of us was lying on the floor and could hardly move. Yet, I’m still saying, “Oh, God, fill me
with the Spirit! Oh, God, give me the Holy Spirit. Oh, God…” and I didn’t have enough sense to
realize He was saying, “Hey! It’s Me! I’m here!” Ignorance. I didn’t know any better.
I threw the little book up on the table and said, “Ahh.” Something came up in me, thank God,
and it was the Holy Spirit. I didn’t know it then, but He said, “You tried everything else. Why
wouldn’t you do that?”
I said to myself, “Well, if there’s even a chance.” I know that’s unbelief but that’s where I was. I
took it back out and thought okay, alright.... “Lord, I thank You for being my Father. I confess
Jesus is Lord of my life. I ask You to fill me with the Holy Spirit, and I believe that I receive.”
Do you hear this language right here? “I believe,” what? “I believe I receive. I believe I take.”