 David for those people who maybe are watching for the first time or those who are rewatching a lot of times You know people see the glory and they don't know the story. Could you take us back and Share how did you come to know the Lord? What is what was your upbringing like? Before you became a minister and David that everybody knows today Well, I'm a third generation preacher fourth generation Christian And my story really begins back generationally when my great-grandmother Gave her life to the Lord and of course There were benefits of the gospel being handed down from generation to generation my grandparents were Missionaries to Russia for several years my dad was and is my mom and dad were and are Pastors currently and they give their lives to serving others in the Lord, of course And you know so I had grown up and in church I went to Sunday school and a very young age I was memorizing portions of scripture and learning biblical moral codes and being coming acquainted with church culture I even attended a private Christian school where every morning throughout the week We would have a Bible class and so the foundation of the word was there now. I knew Jesus historically I Knew him philosophically. I knew him socially because of my upbringing But I never knew him personally Up until I met him. He was just a story that I had heard and there were different people who would testify of the Lord Doings various different things in their lives and I would often listen to those testimonies, you know X gang members X Drug addicts X this and that and I thought well. I'm not really an X anything. I'm a pastor's kid I've grown up in church But little did I know the Holy Spirit would reveal it later But there was a real religious Bondage on my life Specifically in the area of legalistic thinking which over time of course the Holy Spirit also helped me to overcome but Though I don't necessarily know that this was the primary reason I suffered in the way I did I do suspect that legalism to some degree played a very big part in why I developed Anxiety and depression at a very young age I can remember being seven years old and just sensing just this heavy Weight over me. I would lie in bed sweating because of all of the different frantic thoughts that would be racing through my mind I would always catastrophize by allowing myself to imagine the worst possible case scenarios for any situation that I was in and So it became really tormenting. I mean seven years old being tormented and I don't talk about this often I've talked to you about it and a few of my friends and I mentioned it now and then on broadcast But you know, I would see Literally see demonic beings not people who were demon possessed. I saw Demonic beings before my very eyes. That's how severe the attacks were and I remember Just dealing with this heaviness and knowing that there was some type of warfare over me I knew there was some conflict Hovering about the atmosphere over my life if you will and I knew that I was engaged in this tug of war Everyone is but I was for some reason more susceptible to the sense of that warfare going on around me and I remember just age seven age eight nine ten eleven the Torment just began to intensify over the years and by the time I was 11 years old My anxiety was just at a peak and I remember Just not being able to enjoy anything because my mind would always again tend toward the worst-case scenario even in church services I would just The torment was so deep that I would take biblical doctrines save for example in the book of Romans when Paul the apostle talks about vessels of wrath Instead of just recognizing that Paul the apostle was talking about the nation of Israel and how God would use their Disobedience to bring salvation to the Gentiles. No, my mind wouldn't allow for that practical thinking instead My mind went to well, I'm a vessel of wrath I'm someone who God has destined for doom and destruction and torment and hell and Even other doctrines like the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, which at that time I did not understand I would always think okay Well, that's definitely me because again worst-case scenario thinking so this went on for a while Even to the point of sitting in church services anytime I heard a message on hell anytime I heard a message on You know sin anytime I heard a message on the judgment of God It would just compound it because this religious thinking was taking that truth and warping it to become a stronghold in my mind And I didn't realize it then but it was again. I I guess that this is a primary contributor I don't know if it was the only Contributor because I often say that I don't know exactly why this developed in the way it did in me But I do suspect that legalism played a very big part, which is why today I'm very passionate about combating like legalistic thinking and you know It just was this heavy deeply rooted struggle in the mind that I just could not overcome. I mean, I would try I mean Positive thinking I would go through that cycle, you know What if the anxiety hits when you ask the question? What if and then I would talk myself down try to Rationalize everything around me, which is why I got so good at rationalizing things But then right back to the big question of what if what if this goes wrong? That goes wrong. This person gets hurt that person dies you get injured you die you get some disease I mean these are thoughts running through an 11 year old's mind and I remember it came to a peak when I attended with my family for a week a Bible conference that took place in California and If you grew up in church, then you know that especially if you're a pastor's kid You know that sometimes family vacations will double as Bible conference So for that week the family vacation was that we went out to this Bible conference and we were staying in a hotel It was vacation and it was Bible conference time. And so I'm there In between the sessions. I'm just I'm literally I'm literally lying in bed sweating Like I could still remember the the feeling of the heat on my body the the beads of sweat Falling down my face I remember Tensing my body to the point where my muscles were cramping because I was just trying to not let the anxiety get the better of me And that particular week for some reason The idea of hell that that doctrine was just foremost on my mind just right there I couldn't I couldn't enjoy time with the family. I couldn't enjoy the worship services happening at the conference I couldn't enjoy the word and and I realized that I was fighting With the Holy Spirit, but at the same time fighting with the enemy the enemy has this real subtle way of Intertwining his attacks with reality like he'll use your emotions to endorse his lies He'll use particular situations to endorse his lies He'll even use biblical truths have and use them halfway to endorse his lies So here the Holy Spirit is calling me to salvation and at the time the enemy is Tormenting me with this idea of housing. No, I have you you're mine There's nothing that you could ever do to receive that you committed the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit And I didn't recognize this until later, but it was actually my own spiritual pride that kept me from front finally saying Okay, Holy Spirit. I give you my life. Jesus. I I believe you are the son of God I surrender all to you it was it was this religious pride because before you can experience the real thing You have to first admit that what you had was fake all along And so here I was the pastor's kid memorized the verses lived the model life At least what people saw from the outside there was this moral standard I had held and people saw me as a person of integrity a person who was close to the Lord a person who knew the Bible verses and Still that was what kept me from finally saying Jesus I give you my life and so I remember finally I had it and I said I I have got to come to Jesus I've got to know him and My family and I were all staying in one room and I remember telling my dad dad I I want to talk to you about something Can we talk privately, please and and so we did he he took my family and said hey go outside I want to talk to digga here and we're gonna we're gonna discuss something whatever he wants to talk about and I told him I need to get saved. I need I need to surrender. I need to I need to come to Jesus and In this hotel there were two beds pastor Vlad And I'll never forget that moment There were two beds My dad sat on one. I sat on the other and we're sitting across from each other both sitting on the edges of our bed He reaches his hands out and I put my hands in his and He began to lead me in a prayer of surrender to the Lord As I'm praying I became so overwhelmed with just this Sense of immense love this sense of indescribable peace this intensity of deeply felt joy like Flowing over like like like like when a glass over fills the joy was just Bursting out of my like like like bursts of euphoria Mm-hmm, and I'm trying to pray and my my mouth was shaking I couldn't even get the words out my my tears I remember just feeling the heat of the tears on my face. My mouth is shaking. I'm trying to pray and And I couldn't get the words out. It wasn't necessarily important anyway, but I couldn't get the words out at that moment But I remember just giving my my life to the Lord and in that moment. It was just a complete and Deep transformation to where now I was I remember thinking Wow, the Jesus I heard about The one my dad talked about the one my grandparents told stories about the Jesus I I memorized verses about in the Bible the biblical narratives in the text It was like the Holy Spirit lit the word on fire. There was great illumination and I remember just being so overwhelmed at the idea that I I I met Jesus I know him I I just met The Son of God the one who I read of encountering people and utterly transforming their lives was now right there with in me pastor Vlad Jesus walked into that room and every bit of torment walked out Jesus walked into that room and that weight lifted of course. I would have to learn to Identify and combat certain things in my own human nature But but in that moment there was just this overwhelming sense of wow He did that for me and I remember the weight of this shame and guilt just Lifting off of me and I'll tell you I would have thought I lost half my weight because when I walked out of that room It was just I was a completely different person Wow, you know, I kind of I relate with you concerning, you know, I come also my my great grandfather was actually healed of leprosy when Well missionaries came into town His father converted and so my that's my great grandfather and then my grandfather had a leprosy His name was Ivan and so they prayed for him and he actually got healed and that's how the family became Christians And then he was a leper. He becomes a pastor of this village and So when I visited Ukraine last time that's kind of I heard, you know, pretty much From my father's side and then I battled similarly partially because of the way I was born With with an optical nerve being damaged during the during the birth and though I grew up in a Christian family You know grow up in a religious home went to church and people ask me when I got saved Like I don't have that particular moment like in your case You have you have that particular moment where you where you went from knowing about Jesus to encountering him but for me it happened when I came to the United States and I My security struggle with inferiority with my body image and all of this stuff reached its peak at about 1314 years of age to the point where I had either I'm gonna end my life Because I really felt like these lies these intrusive thoughts that you're worthless You're no good God God made a mistake by making you or I'm gonna turn this pain and start You know pressing in and praying and I didn't know much about prayer But I would close myself in the room and Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit I didn't know at the time, but he started to reveal his I started to experience his presence It went from my parents faith to having my own faith and that pretty much launched me into ministry into being a youth pastor And so so I kind of relate with With those thoughts the thoughts of the pretty much a constantly going in there to the point where you start feeling like that Just that's my thoughts. That's me. That's that's I'm thinking and then when we grow in the Lord we begin to differentiate that these are actually attacks and How was your in your ministry is really? Presenting and through teaching and through demonstration the power of the Holy Spirit and the person of the Holy Spirit When you've met when you met Jesus How long did it take and when was your I would say distinct encounter with the person of the Holy Spirit? Well, and you know this as well as anyone The Holy Spirit is present at salvation. You you teach this Quite clearly and and I always appreciate when we have teachers like you who clearly Identify that the Holy Spirit comes in at salvation So I don't want to tell the story and give the impression and I know you wouldn't either where where the Holy Spirit just kind of showed up I like to say it was it was it was a moment of my awareness of his presence as opposed to him showing up in my life But you know when I really began to first appreciate that presence on my life It was it was absolutely transforming because if I could take it back to right after I had given my life to the Lord So I'm 11 years old. I I'm I'm now saved born again. So now when I go to church, it's not, you know Okay, here's another sermon another another lecture. It was it was like I was I was receiving Spiritual food that was actually helping me to grow and so I would start coming to church Suddenly there's this new hunger this new desire for the things of God I'm showing up every church service and I'm saying okay, Holy Spirit. What do you want to speak to me? Or Jesus, what do you want to speak to me? But you know it wasn't until I read Good morning, Holy Spirit by Pastor Benny that I Came to the realization that the Holy Spirit is a person Who can be known as a friend and that was a Radically transforming point in my life, you know in your spiritual journey There will be certain points along the timeline of your walk with God that just have highlight points on them That become markers in your spiritual journey and that was definitely one of them But you know, I wanted that and I didn't recognize at the time. I didn't know the Holy Spirit's in me At the time I didn't know the Holy Spirit doesn't come and go but that he abides faithfully at the time I didn't realize that he was a person not a force And so, you know, I would pray in certain ways, but I think the discovery of That beautiful reality of the friendship of the Holy Spirit really began to happen When I was probably about 13 years old Just before going into ministry, which is actually the ministry resulted of from this encounter. I had with the Holy Spirit So it goes back to one night. Keep in mind. I've been saved now for two years. I was so from 11 to 13 I was praying four to eight hours a day in the word and you know, it's funny because So I'm gonna drop from 11 to 13. You would pray four to eight hours a day Well, I didn't have a job so it was it was much easier than doing that now and so, you know I didn't have any responsibilities and you know, the Lord understands, you know If there are seasons that we can't do that but at the time teenagers You're a teenager and you're listening if you're a teenager and you're listening And I'm saying if somebody is a teenager and they're listening right now during the summertime This is what you need to do a to four to eight hours a day prayer Just live in the presence of God I mean the awareness of that presence and I like to say that those moments of ceremony not just praying throughout the day But those moments like in Matthew 6 where Jesus tells us to go away quietly close the door those private moments now I still to this day look back and try to pinpoint the timeline All I know is from 11 to 13. I was praying for eight hours a day consuming the word Where exactly this encounter happened? I often had what I did a few years ago as I wrote down a timeline And I tried to remember okay. What what were the dates? What were the times? What were the months? So all I know is this was kind of just one season of growth and sometimes I get the dates and the Chronology mixed up here and there, but here's what happened that I can remember vividly That one night. I'm wanting this Encounter with the Holy Spirit. I want this this touch of his presence I what I realize now is what I actually wanted was To to live in what I already had so I shut the door to my bedroom I Go to pray and I say to the Lord. I am not leaving this room Until you touch my life in a fresh way I'm not leaving this room until I have an encounter with you And I made that ultimatum and I committed to not sleeping and not eating until I had this Encounter that was being described by so many others. Well, I remember I was ready to go I had you know, I had a fan on I turned the fan on so that the room would cool down turn the light on I had Music going the Bible open and I'm praying I'm like I'm reaching for every bit of prayer knowledge that I had built up into that point or had or that I had acquired And so I remember that first hour just seeking the face of the Lord and Absolutely nothing happened Like nothing like I look around my room. It's the plain ordinary settings like they had always been nothing heavenly all mundane No senses of his presence physically spiritually or even emotionally. It was just nothing. I'm there me the Bible music praying nothing happened and Then in that second hour, I said, okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna reach deep now and I start praying from my emotions Right, I'm trying to guilt God into a response God if you hear me God if you're there God if you really love me You know, we tried to do this sometimes as if God's gonna be manipulated by our emotions And I realized what I was actually doing at the time was praying in the flesh I was praying from an outer shell of my being not my spirit like John 7 38 out of your innermost being not From my spirit, but from the soul. I was praying from the realm of the soul and here's the problem Many times we try to make up an emotional volume What we lack in spiritual awareness and so it just masks the problem doesn't actually solve it not that our emotions can't be affected I mean an encounter with God can most certainly affect your emotions But your emotions can never truly cultivate an encounter with God That's not where encounters with God originate and they originating God's will Mm-hmm. And so I'm praying for that full hour crying and you know, just emotional Nothing happened. That's two hours now, and I'm starting at this point now to say, okay I regret that ultimatum. Maybe I'll allow myself a snack leaf for a little bit, but no, I I persisted I said, I'm gonna I'm gonna really persist here I'm gonna try my best to just pray pray pray and I in that third moment man I reached for every bit of aggression I had spiritually I was rebuking the devil and I was coming against Principalities and I was tearing down walls of Jericho and you know all that I had learned in in spiritual warfare prayer I'm putting it to the test now and then nothing happens fourth hour comes What do I do? I reach for intellect? Maybe I can think my way through this and now I'm looking at theology All of the things I had learned and this isn't to say that none of these things work This is just to say that I was doing them for the sake of the method not recognizing that God does not respond to systems He responds to sincerity God does not respond to man's efforts. He responds to faith and so I'm there four hours exhausted I come to the end of myself, but here's the best part when you come to the end of yourself That's when the Holy Spirit can finally take over. I poured out all my emotions. I tried all my techniques I applied everything that I had learned everything. I picked up from books and e-courses and Bible conference Well, e-courses want to think at the time, but online videos you name it everything I had gathered right there and it was all for naught And I just in that moment I was frustrated and so I I literally gave up and in a good And it was a good thing too because there was nothing I could do for myself That's when I learned that no man or woman no matter how anointed they are Knows the way into the presence of the Holy Spirit knows the way into the glory of God only the Holy Spirit can teach you that and so In that moment. I give up. I lift my hands. I'm praying and I remember just saying I don't know how to pray. I Don't know how to find Jesus Holy Spirit help me find Jesus I just want him I just I just knew that was more than I was made aware of it because of my religious Blockages and so the Holy Spirit instructs me and this is where he really had the challenge me He said okay, just turn the fan off and the light off. You're too distracted by your room The things in your room and you're too distracted by that noise So I turn all that off and then the Holy Spirit instruct me said for now Close the Bible that doesn't mean prayer and the word don't go hand in hand But at that moment, I think about I had been reading the I read like 40 or 50 chapters that day He said just just for now close that now We're gonna put it to use not just not just you know philosophize about scriptures You're gonna actually put this into practice and so I closed the Bible And then the Holy Spirit says shut off the music and I said but you can't move without the music I had been so conditioned so programmed to think of the move of the Holy Spirit in such a way that I just Was resistant to that at first and so finally I Listened to the Holy Spirit removed all distractions, and I just stood there and waited. I realized at that point There's nothing I can do in my power and nothing I can do in my strength. I have no more techniques. I'm done What do you want? Psalm 80 18 Quicken us and we will call unto thee he has to quicken you first and so in that moment when I finally gave up The presence of the Holy Spirit manifested in a tangible way I sensed a heavy beautiful weight like a heat almost like a blanket come over me My hands grew heavy with with what I was sensing in the atmosphere I felt literal Sensations of electric currents pulsing up and down my body Then I could sense that same love that same joy that same peace that I had sensed when I first gave my life to the Lord And I was so I was so captivated by what what was happening in that moment And I knew Jesus was there I had my hands lifted my eyes closed and I thought if I move I'm gonna fill my hand brush up against his robe That's what I thought I was afraid to open my eyes because I thought if I open my eyes I'm gonna see him looking at me right here, and if I see that it's gonna startle me and break me right out Of this I didn't want to move an inch and and something happened there that day Where I recognized That my friend the Holy Spirit Was it some force off in the distance that needed to be conjured through emotion and noise that his power Wasn't something I needed more of his his influence wasn't something I had to beg for but rather that he was very close He was abiding and that whether I feel him physically or not It's not even the question But the reality is that in the spirit at all times I'm connected with the Holy Spirit and that changed everything from that moment on the reading of the word Revelation pouring out me that's where the teaching ministry began. It was the Holy Spirit I didn't I was I was never good at putting together thoughts and and Connecting them. I remember, you know being in school just struggling to not that I was I fell behind in In school, but I remember there was certain concepts I just couldn't put like even to this day math is just beyond me. I'm constantly having to use the calculator I wasn't able to put together these concepts that came by the Holy Spirit as he was teaching me while I was reading What he wrote through his prophets and his apostles and so I'm reading the the scripture comes alive Miracles start to happen ministry overflows that same presence that I felt in my room Started to go with me to the store and my school I just start praying for kids at my school and and things start happening and that was the beginning of the ministry But it all began from just coming into this awareness of the nearness of the presence of the Holy Spirit One of the things that I love about even in your book When you talk about your prayer life and the mindset that you have and what you just Allude it to Concerning instead of striving that we surrender instead of trying to get or find God We actually recognize that he's already with us and one of your phrases is that you can't get more of the Holy Spirit You can only get more aware of the Holy Spirit And I've realized that even in my own prayer life is that after a while prayer can only get you if it's a Discipline a routine or a ritual it can only get you so far Until it's a delight and it can't be a delight if we operate from a perspective or a frame point of Trying to get something trying to move God closer to us and there are prayers of intercession I mean, I think we both agree. There are prayers where where we know we have to break through There is a hindrance that is taking place But when our intimacy with God is built on that could you expound a little bit more on that? I'm gonna read a few quotes that I have from your book You mentioned that especially in chapter one is that you can't pray to connect with God or you cannot pray to Connect with God. We must pray from a connection with God You also mentioned that a believer The believer experiences more of God not through receiving more from God, but in surrendering more to God It's not a matter of you getting more of the Holy Spirit But a matter of the Holy Spirit getting more of you and I love this part And you mentioned this when you were preaching in our church concerning oneness Oneness with the Holy Spirit occurs the moment that you experience the saving power of God But the manifestation and the realization of that oneness Takes a lifetime to know and one more quote and I want you to kind of speak a little bit more into this prayer Prayer doesn't bring God nearer. It makes you more aware of his nearness reading, you know about this First few chapters somebody who struggles with prayer this really just takes the pressure off and I think it's a one of the greatest Attractions to prayer when we come from this revelation Not to get something but to pretty much surrender to be still and to just yield to him Well the only distance that can exist between you and God is Your unawareness of his nearness and When we pray it's not that God is getting closer When we worship it's not that God is getting closer rather what's happening is you're becoming more aware of that which is always present with you Who wants to hang out with anyone who doesn't want to hang out with them? Who wants to go and sit down with someone who's constantly on their phone? They just stick their phone in their face and you're talking to them and they're just mm-hmm mm-hmm You know looking back and down almost as if like I'm thinking okay Why don't I just go home and text you because it seems to me that the priorities what's on your screen? And I think that that's how we picture God We imagine and this is probably why people struggle in prayer for the most part in my opinion I don't have any statistics to back that up. That's just in talking with people this seems to be The root cause for most believers is they really imagine that God is just tolerating them Like you know when they go to pray that he's like, okay, I'll hear you But you are this close to just I'm gonna be done with you. I hear this close and then I'm pulling my Holy Spirit from you I'm cutting you off. I am just like we're like we're like we're you know He's he's annoyed by our approach that when we approach the throne or heaven. He's just kind of like Okay, yeah, yeah, I guess I'll hear you out. What do you got? I don't have much time, right? We imagine this then we say we don't think that but then we approach him as if deep down That's what we actually believe and so when we come to pray This notion that God is just tolerating us or just barely putting up with us or just Last a leg of his patience with us that right there is gonna be so discouraging and You're not gonna want to pray. I mean who wants to go and pray To a God they think is someone they have to beg to listen And so when we view prayer like that it becomes tedious it becomes a chore So it's not like oh, I'm gonna go talk to my Heavenly Father and he's gonna hear me and welcome me into his presence It's like okay. I gotta go beg for God's attention. I gotta go beg for God to hear me I gotta go try to win favor with God I mean imagine how much heartache you could save yourself in prayer if instead of begging God to hear you You simply believe that he already did not approaching him saying our father I hope you hear me Jesus said our father who art in heaven in other words confident Not only of who he is and what your relationship with him is but also the confidence that he hears you when you pray Jesus didn't come to God and say father, please hear me God. I'm begging you God. Please give me a moment God are you there and we imagine that our relationship with God is like climbing a ladder that if we do good We climb that ladder if we do bad We take a couple steps back and that we have to make up for that difference every time that we pray Well, you know, I didn't pray for three weeks in a row So my first day back in prayer God's gonna be pretty upset with me, isn't he? And I'm gonna have to work my way back up to being a favored person. That's not the case at all I mean no matter how far you think you've gone a Single moment of repentance can bring you all the way home And so believers imagine that they're conjuring a connection when they prayer They're working up some some some intimacy that wasn't there to begin with when in reality You couldn't do that if you tried I mean think about all of the false religions where people are praying every day You think they're actually gaining a connection by their efforts not a chance A thing is if they get in a bad enough situation, they're very good prayer warriors But they're not gonna make that same connection the believers going to have people pray all the time people pray empty prayers People pray half-hearted prayers and nothing happens, but when it comes to the believer We're not praying to connect with God. It's not the work We're praying from connection with God the work has already been done Jesus said it is finished not you take it from here And so if we begin from that place of knowing that God already hears me. I already have favor with him I'm already connected. He already lives in me. I already have the Holy Spirit Well, then that's just life transforming because now you're not praying prayers of the beggar You're praying prayers of the child and you come to him with that confident faith and that boldness entering the throne room knowing that every word You speak he's attentive to that. He's looking at you when you pray. He's looking at you right now Yeah, he's listening to you right now like in this very moment as you're listening to me on this stream And so the moment we get rid of this idea that the presence of God some ladder that we have to climb or some Connection we have to conjure or some favor that we have to win Well, that's gonna take not only the pressure off But that's gonna intensify the desire to pray because that's the hardest part really is Working through those emotions till we finally come to that place of rest Here's how it works in the life of some believers and I'm gonna get really nuanced here And I hope this isn't too like Too detailed, but I think this really actually takes place in the life of the believer They go to pray they shut the door They start praying and they take like two hours to work through all the insecurities to work through all the doubt To work through the idea that God's not listening to them or that he's angry with them or that he's abandoned them or that his presence Isn't felt, you know people panic. Oh, I don't feel him. What did I do wrong? So they're so caught up in their desire their intense desire to have an encounter with God that they themselves become A hindrance to themselves having an encounter with God that Distraction in and of itself that desire for that encounter can sometimes block you from having one because you work your emotions up But here's what happens we get into that place of prayer We're all worked up. God, please hear me God are you there and then after an hour or two after we've settled down? We think ah now that I've done my penance God will hear me and then we enter into this place of faith and then suddenly we start encountering the presence of God Never realizing that we could have skipped all that from the beginning Never realizing that that was never necessary But we think it is because it happens to be that when we finally stop Believing that he's not listening and we finally start believing that he is that that's when we enter into the place where we can sense his presence And we think it was because we did two or three hours of begging We think is because two or three hours of repenting and wallowing in our past mistakes and begging God when that wasn't necessary You just came to the place of faith. The problem is You now believe and you have faith in what you prayed rather than in what Jesus did and so it gets really I could even say it's a psychological issue to where we're you know correlation not causation We're oh well, you know when I went through that three hours of begging. This is what happened Well, no, it wasn't the three hours that did it It was the faith that you had after you did the begging that ultimately brought about the encounter with God because you He's here. He's with me. I'm with him. We're connected. And so I try to condition my mind I try to discipline myself to when I pray I tell my this is what I tell myself He loves me and people go. Yes. We agree. Amen. We applaud that I go. No, no, no, no He really really loves me like when I walk into that prayer room He lights up Like God, I'm I tell myself all that I'm one of his favorites. You need to tell yourself that too I'm one of his favorites. Come on. He he I can I am just he is he is just so favors me That when I go before him He hears me now. I understand that from the religious to see my legalistic mind would never let me think that Because you know, we would have thought you know back back, you know Sometimes I think we imagine that the more miserable we are that the more spiritual we are and a lot of preaching these days Is actually based on legalism This idea that you have to view yourself like a worm or otherwise you don't have the true gospel and it's just Nonsensical especially since the Bible says that if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation So if we're constantly living on sin consciousness, well, of course, we're gonna be we're gonna be living with the results of religious thinking So I would have never have allowed myself to think like that I would have said well, no, no, no stay humble and for some reason we think that being humble is is Thinking miserably of yourself and that's not even the case either But rather it's coming to the place of knowing that because of what I didn't deserve it. Yes, I was a sinner Yes, I I did think I was an enemy of God. That's true But then it's also true that because of what Christ did I'm the righteousness of Christ I'm perfectly holy and blameless and him I can approach God with confidence. I'm highly favorite of God I'm loved with an everlasting love and coming into that realization Without the nonsense of the guilt left over because that's the real battle That's the real battle now because we hear the Bible tell us that we're victorious and loved and righteous and holy But then we feel like we aren't and so we have to reconcile this What do I believe my feelings or what the Bible says? Well, religion's always gonna say well, no, no, no, you you have to believe what your feelings say So that's a real deep Deeply rooted mindset that needs to be broken and the only way to break it is to start praying from the perspective of the scriptures Rather than the perspective of the flesh What about since we're on this Prayer a train What are some practices that you have in your if we could pretty much without going into your room? Be a fly on the wall. What are some practices secrets? You might say that you practice in your prayer I know I read in your book where you talk about the difference between being still and being silent You know praying the scripture as well as you know praying in the Holy Spirit. What are some of the David's secrets to prayer? Primarily for me, it has a lot to do with worship Okay, you know, there's a lot of things that you can do to get rid of that internal struggle in the mind Like the Bible says don't worry about anything instead pray about Everything worry is how your flesh prays worry is a useless attempt at control Worry is putting faith in with the enemy you can cause to go wrong rather than in the miraculous And so don't worry about anything pray about everything tell God what you need thank him for what he's done Well that right there tells me that the prayer request in and of itself can't be evil because I can still be grateful We'll also asking so he wants me to make requests And so tell God what you need. Well, thank you for what he's done And then the Bible says the peace of God will fill your hearts. Well that piece comes after I've made my prayer requests Because what happens is we're like Martha. We have this entire list of things that needs to be done Right. We come to God. I have these responsibilities on the job I have these responsibilities with my family members. I have these responsibilities with my kids I have these responsibilities with the ministry team I have these responsibilities to study the word and then add to that. There's financial responsibility add to that There's moral responsibility add to that There's the attention of that that's needed to be filled for all the people in your life And if we're not careful these things just begin to clutter our minds But when you give that prayer request to God, they're saying you take that Not that we're relieved of the responsibility of the practical things that we need to do to accomplish and fulfill those Responsibilities but rather we're saying God I trust in your grace to enable me to fulfill those things So I give it to him now He takes control from there and then that's when the peace fills my heart when I've given him that prayer request Here's the problem many believers They'll take their request to God They fill peace and then they say thank you Lord. They wave at him and up in the sky so to speak Thank you Lord. I appreciate the peace. I'm on my way now Well, wait a minute God didn't give you that piece so that you can go about your day God gave you that piece so that you can go deeper in prayer without distraction peace is not the conclusion of prayer It's the very beginning of it So one thing is worship another thing is the prayer request and on that I mean go back with what I was saying I wanted to finish that thought on Mary and Martha I mean we have all of the different aspects of our Christianity that we know we ought to Fulfill and as far as obligations go like this is why I love what you said when you talked about abiding I listened to your message on abiding in the vine I thought it was a brilliant message in how you talked about our job isn't to bear fruit Our job is to abide and simply by abiding the fruit comes naturally that that was a brilliant Observation especially since that's what's being communicated in the scripture And so we're like Martha sometimes the Lord's there and we're trying to do so much for him That we forget to just be with him and so we have okay I need to pray and when I pray there's about a dozen different ways I've been told to pray that I have to play I got a worship. I have to make sure I'm not living in sin I have to break that sin cycle I have to become more like Jesus in my patience in my love in my character my nature I have to fulfill my ministry obligations and we get this long list of things and I tell people all the time Just give him the list and do that one thing which is fellowship with him So the prayer request is one thing worship is another that helps to clutter the declutter the mind I should say and then you know, so that's adoration that's supplication Confrontation that's spiritual warfare coming against the forces of darkness contrition. That's repentance. Forgive us our debts As we forgive our debtors That's one of the things that Jesus prayed and of course there are many different aspects of prayer But it all comes down to if you're gonna see if you would see me praying I would I would rather you see what's going on in my mind because most of the times I'm literally just lying on the floor face down with my hands like this and praying It all mostly takes place in the mind But I wish if you could see into my mind you would see my Choosing to focus on the truth rather than the things that are coming from all the different peripheral directions Choosing to focus on the fact that he's worthy of worship rather than the lie that tells me I'm not worthy of worshiping him Choosing to focus on this fact that he hears me rather than focusing on the lie that says but what if he doesn't? Choosing to focus on the fact that he's going to speak to me rather than focusing on the lie that says you won't be able to hear Him and choosing to say I'm with him rather than focusing on the distracting thought of well Why don't I feel him so it's all going to be the discipline of the mind and focusing it in the way you focus it as I said worship the prayer request the word you ground yourself in the word my goodness the word will Stabilize your mind especially when it comes to prayer and I'll tell you why the flesh fights you so hard Think about the fact that you can sing you can dance you can volunteer you can read the word But the moment you start to pray your flesh starts to squirm. Why is that? That's because prayer is the death of the flesh for every moment you are praying the flesh is becoming weaker And that's why there's such a battle when it comes to the prayer time But that's what you would see in my mind if you saw into my prayer room You would see me face down Sometimes just talking sometimes praying in tongues and sometimes singing out of key for the most part. It's all in the mind Wow Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. Thank you for giving us a glimpse into I believe I think it was Revan Hill Leonard Revan Hill He says if you want to know how great a man is, you know go and pray with him You know because there's something that happens every great man has a great prayer life, but it's not always Necessarily pacing back and forth yelling and screaming and bringing down sonals a lot of times people are in a solitude Or people are in quietness some people take walks some lay on the floor and but I really believe that one of the things that Every person has been given a privilege and that is to connect with the father now moving To word I want to shift the conversation toward praying in the Holy Spirit Praying in tongues. Do you see that there is a difference is praying in the Holy Spirit? The same thing as praying in tongues or can a person pray in the Holy Spirit without praying in tongues? There there is a there's a connection between the two at times But I would draw a very clear line of distinction between praying in the Holy Spirit and praying in tongues The Bible does not refer to praying in tongues as praying in the Holy Spirit Praying in the Holy Spirit is the deeper reality Praying in tongues is a form of praying in the Holy Spirit, but it's not the entirety of it. So Praying in the Holy Spirit as you study the scriptures quite simply this praying under the influence of with the guidance of and In the power of the Holy Spirit Praying in the Holy Spirit is when I pray in a way that aligns with the Holy Spirit's will and with his ways I think of Romans chapter 8 verse 26 that tells us about the prayers of the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit prays for you Those prayers the Bible says Pull us into alignment with God. So praying in the spirit is praying in sync with the spirit It's aligning yourself with what he's saying what he desires and those coming through you if I'm praying in the flesh I'm praying for my own benefit. I'm praying based on my will I'm praying based on my desires and dreams But to pray in the spirit is very simply to pray in a yielded manner now That's good praying in tongues is an expression of praying in the spirit in that it is a yielded way to pray But it's not the only means of praying in a surrendered manner I think of how Jesus prayed prayers of surrender all the time Yeah, Jesus never spoke in tongues now I've heard some cessation they say well well why did Jesus pray in tongues? I'm thinking Jesus didn't pray in tongues for the same reason that he never repented. He was perfect You see praying in tongues helps me when I pray Jesus didn't need any help praying Praying in tongues teaches me what to pray. Jesus didn't need to be taught what to pray So it didn't pray in tongues because he didn't need it because he was perfect the moment We reached that perfection. Okay, then you could stop praying in tongues Which is exactly what the Bible says when that which is perfect has come that which is in part shall be done away with But anyway, I digress getting back to this idea of praying in tongues This is an expression of the Holy Spirit's prayers through you by means of a spiritual gift So like praying in the Holy Spirit Building yourself up as the scripture says Romans 8 26 Those are not references to the gift of tongues rather those are references to the deeper spiritual realities Out of which the gift of tongues is expressed. So For example, we just I just told you about Romans chapter 8 verse 26 and 27 That talks about the fact that the Holy Spirit prays for you with groanings that cannot be expressed in words That's an amazing reality to the Holy Spirit prays for me. So he prays for me with groanings, right? this means that he prays for me with intensity and fervency and passion and love and He prays for me in a way that pulls me the Bible says or it pulls me into harmony with God's own will now watch this Romans 8 26 and 27 talks about the reality of the Holy Spirit praying for me First Corinthians chapter 14 verses 2 4 and 14 Talks about the reality of praying in tongues Being a manifestation of praying in alignment with the Holy Spirit and I believe it's first Corinthians 3 17 That says that he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him So tie all the threads of these scriptural truths together and that's where you find the full picture of what it means to Pray in tongues. I'll spell it out like this the Holy Spirit prays for me A B when I pray in tongues. I'm praying in my spirit C He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. So wait a minute. So when I pray in tongues I'm praying with the Holy Spirit praise and that's all it is. It's quite simple I pray in a way that's surrender. You see when I pray with my own understanding. I'm adding my own intention I'm adding my own desires I'm adding my own intellect to those sounds that are coming out of my mouth or those thoughts that are Flowing through my mind, but when I pray out loud in tongues I'm praying syllables and sounds that are empty of my own meaning and intention people often say Holy Spirit Please fill me and I believe heaven is saying he would if you weren't so full of yourself a spiritual dynamic is that the Holy Spirit feels in fact spirits feel that which is empty So the spiritual will always feel vacuums. Mm-hmm. And so when I pray in tongues I'm praying words that are vacuums. They have no intention of mine attached to them and therefore by faith I'm joining with the Holy Spirit to say I'm gonna pray these syllables and sounds you attach your meaning to them Mm-hmm, and therefore when I pray in tongues, the Holy Spirit is praying for me through me So good, that's so good. Thank you for differentiating that. What about people who you know So I grew up in a very traditional Pentecostal culture where you only spoke in tongues when the spirit fills you Meaning you wait for that very deep strong Thing come come upon you and only then you speak in tongues You can't speak in tongues at will now for most of us who are watching maybe this this is a very Elementary and we know the answer to that, but could you clarify a little bit more? Can a Christian pray in tongues at will or do we have to wait for the infilling to To come upon us and then we speak in tongues Well all spiritual gifts require some exercise of participation. I mean, there's nothing Spiritual that's done that doesn't require the exercise of free will. I mean I worship John 4 24 by the Spirit But I still have to choose to worship I overcome sin Galatians chapter 5 is a great chapter on how the Spirit helps in the struggle against the sin nature But I still have to choose to walk worthy of that or I have to choose to walk in step with the Holy Spirit I mean you talk about the gift of healing She's still got a lay hands the gift of prophecy. You still gonna speak Paul the Apostle devoted an entire chapter first Corinthians 14 Talking about how to control the gift Why would Paul the Apostle tell us control the gift that cannot be controlled? I mean Paul the Apostle said all the time I pray in tongues more than you also I think he knew what he was talking about But this idea that I can't control or I have no no no part in the exercise of the gift It's just not biblical and and if that were the case If it were the case, which it's not that I I cannot control the gift of speaking in tongues But that would be the only spiritual gift that that would be true about and then where then is the exercise of free will where then is Our choice in the matter So there's nothing in the scripture that indicates that the gift of tongues is something that cannot be controlled And this in fact is why many believers can't receive the gift because they're waiting for the Holy Spirit to literally grab Their tongue and flop it up and down for them make a bunch of noise That's not gonna happen Because the Holy Spirit isn't going to overtake your free will think about this The free will is so sacred that God won't even intervene when people commit the most heinous of sins That God won't even intervene when people are doing the most horrid of things because there's something so sacred about the free will And in fact all of humans suffering and sin it all comes back down a free will There's a reason God won't violate that I think and I think it would be a highly immoral For the God who is all powerful to exercise or his control over or bully people out of their free will So there's something to be said of free will in all elements of our spiritual journey There's something to be said of free will as it has to do with every single spiritual gift every spiritual gift requires some type of Participation some type of exercise of free will the gift of tongues is no different Not only is there nothing in the scripture that indicates that it's completely outside of your control But the writing of 1st Corinthians 14 is the nail in the coffin that it is in fact something that you can control Otherwise, we wouldn't be commanded to do so plus Paul commences to be filled with the Holy Spirit He doesn't tell us to wait for the Holy Spirit to fill us and then he uses the example of being drunk It compares, you know, don't be drunk and you know when no alcoholic gets drunk by alcohol They drink they make the decision they open their mouth. That's it's the choice that they take and Gifts of the Holy Spirit including speaking in tongues require faith I remember for me it took me six months to receive the gift of tongues Partially was because I was waiting for the power to zap me and forgot to just control, you know My faculties and and you speak, you know, completely take over which later on I started to learn more and more and I realized That's that's a form of witchcraft when a spirit takes over and you completely lose control Like God actually the fruit of the spirit is self-control. It's not spirit control We see the spirit leads us spirit fills us spirit speaks to us He empowers us and not one instance where it says that he controls us where he you know It takes over us in the way that we completely go out of control Now for people that are watching right now who are struggling to receive The gift of the Holy Spirit you have some really honestly I think that from a lot of teachings that I've heard Concerning the baptism of the Holy Spirit and concerning the receiving of the gift of tongues You have I feel like one of the most clearest Teachings and I recommend your teachings many times a lot of people who are struggling with gift of tongues because I feel like you break it down One of my favorite Revelations that that I heard from you is even though it's so simple where Jesus said that those who believe in me They will have you know this water coming out from within them How the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not the rain from above, but it's the river from within and Pretty much you're not trying to get the water from over there The goal is pretty much. Hey, you just need to open this hose or open this faucet that you got inside because you already got the water And the baptism the Holy Spirit is not receiving how you how you say it is that it's the releasing of the Holy Spirit And you mentioned and I want you to kind of allude more to that is that there are before we talk about the receiving of the gift of Could you clarify the different types of tongues? That there are and what is the difference between them and the practice of them in the public setting as well? And I will and this this is probably right here seeing these three different expressions at the gift of tongues is probably what's going to bring The most clarity because you got to let the scripture speak for itself. I think like for example with With cessation ism which thanks the Lord that movement is losing steam by the day And more and more people are waking up to the fact that the reality is that the power of the Holy Ghost is very active it always has been and you know and the gift of tongues is for today so when it comes to What the scripture says about the gift of tongues what becomes apparent as you read is that there are various Expressions to the gift of speaking tongues. I'll show them to you now You won't see these terms in the Bible like you won't see the term trinity in the Bible But we of course know that trinity is is a foundational truth of scripture You will not see these terms in the scripture, but I'm using these terms to help Emboldened the distinctions between the expressions that the Bible shows us very clearly. That's good now number one You have the personal tongue Number two you have what I call the proof tongue and number three you have what I call the prophetic tongue now watch this first Corinthians 14 1 through 4 You'll see that Paul the Apostle talks about The fact that when you pray in tongues that you're strengthened personally now Many times people will misread Paul the apostle and they think that he's condemning the gift of speaking in tongues Not at all Paul the Apostle is not condemning the gift of tongues He's comparing the gift of tongues to the gift of prophecy. He's not saying that praying in tongues is bad He's saying that prophesying is better. Why because specifically in a church setting It's better to do something that edifies the entire group than it is to do something that edifies only the individual But in mentioning this truth Paul the Apostle reveals the fact that when you pray in tongues, you are also Edified personally strengthened personally you can't get around the fact that the Bible says a Person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally and then of course the the the the cessationist will say Oh, but one who speaks the word of prophecy strengthens the entire church or not even the cessations But really those who opposed to get the tongues as well Right there you'll see that that's where people jump on it. They say oh, but he says that speaking in tongues is better Yeah, but he didn't say he says that prophecy is better. Yes, he did say prophecy is better But he didn't say speaking in tongues was bad And what we do see here is the fact that praying in tongues strengthens you personally now watch this That's the personal tongue number two. We see the proof tongue This is found in Acts chapter 2 verses 4 through 6 and everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other Languages as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability at that time There were about Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem when they heard the loud noise Everyone came running and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers so I've done some study on this in Specifically looking for the answer to the question was it that they were speaking those actual languages were they actually speaking those languages or Was the Holy Spirit by supernatural intervention? Interpreting the gift of tongues on the listener's end and the Bible doesn't tell us whether or not the believers Were speaking in those languages or they were hearing them the people were hearing them in their languages I know some translations word it certain ways, but other translations word it other ways and when it comes down to it This is a historical account simply talking about the fact that the people heard their own languages So we don't really know for sure whether or not This was something that was happening on the speaker's end or the listener's end All we do know is that as they were praying with this gift of tongues that there was some supernatural Element being proven to the listener. So that's the proof tongue This is the tongue that's spoken aloud that's heard as other languages And this is the one where people will say that's the only gift the tongues That's all there is or this couldn't be the case because we just read in 1st Corinthians Or we reference 1st Corinthians 14 1 through 4 that talks about the fact that when you pray in tongues That no man can understand you no one understands you but God well That's definitely not describing an earthly language that that right there That is like the nail in the coffin on that particular world view that to get the tongues is only earthly language 1st Corinthians 14 1 through 4 again right there. We see it It's not possible for some people to understand or anyone to understand that personal expression of the gift of tongues So that's personal then we see proof and then we see prophetic which is mentioned here in 1st Corinthians 14 26 to 28 and the prophetic expression of the gift of tongues is exercised in the assembly of believers who've gathered for the purpose of being edified and the way this would look in a church service as an individual Will stand up praying tongues allowed and then another individual will stand up and interpret that which was being spoken That's the prophetic tongue so personal tongue edifies me proof tongue is proof to the listener the unbeliever and the prophetic tongue Is used in the church now watch this I want I want to embolden the distinctions here and let's really close the case here Let's let's let's solidify this you will see these three Expressions described in their function in three different ways entirely all throughout scripture. I'll prove it to you That's let's embolden these distinctions more so I've already shown you the personal tongue proof tongue prophetic tongue These don't look like the same gift to me Though they are the same gift. They don't look like the same expressions. I should say now watch this Look at the benefit of them Let's just break it down here benefit In benefit the personal tongue benefits the individual that's first Corinthians 14 for The prophetic tongue benefits the church first Corinthians 12 7 and 14 26 The proof tongue benefits the unbeliever. That's first Corinthians chapter 14 verse 22 and watch this So there's the differences in benefit. We also see differences in interpretation Requirements watch this now the personal tongue Requires no interpretation or interpreter in order to be beneficial to the individual That's first Corinthians 14 for The prophetic tongue requires an interpreter in order to benefit the church. That's first Corinthians 14 26 The proof tongue requires no interpreter for the interpretation to be understood by the unbeliever Wait a minute. Who was interpreting in the book of acts chapter 2? Different interpretation requirement. So interpretation requirements are different for the personal the prophetic and the proof I'll give you one more line of distinction here. How it's understood The personal tongue is understood by no one but god and that is definitely the case as we see it's right there in the bible First Corinthians 14 2 On the other hand the prophetic tongue is understood by the church with the aid of an interpreter That's first Corinthians 14 27 and finally the proof tongue is super naturally understood by the unbeliever And that's acts chapter 2 verse 8. So these are the three different expressions of the gift of speaking in tongues The confusion can be clarified once you see these different expressions because now when you read Paul the apostle putting restrictions on the gift You see that he's not putting restrictions on every gift or expression of the gift I should say he's putting restrictions on the prophetic expression the one that's being used in the public assembly of believers Otherwise when the holy spirit fell in the book of acts chapter 2 People would stand up and say wait a minute. This is out of order acts chapter 2 verse 4 We would have seen that it also happened in acts chapter 19 verse 6 Nobody stood up and scolded the group of believers Telling them the holy spirit Is grieved by you the holy spirit didn't pull back and demand that they wait until a later moment to pray In tongues. Why would the holy spirit pour out a gift collectively that was only meant to be used individually Why would the holy spirit pour out a gift publicly that was only meant to be used privately We have to look at the scripture as a whole and we have to stop locking on to just individual verses That are used completely out of context and without consideration For the entirety of the teaching of the gift of speaking in tongues. Wow. Wow. Come on If you guys are receiving this This is incredible probably one of the best explanations concerning different types of tongues and their use and their benefit If this is helping anybody Hey, could you drop number one in the chat make sure that you share this broadcast For those people that have confusion concerning this who have questions concerning this and let somebody know We have just a few more moments that we're going to spend Especially for those of you who are trying to receive this gift or you have a struggle to receive this gift This is going to be your moment right now. I really believe the next few moments that god is going to use The things that are going to be said to help unlock that gift I think that clearing that confusion already sets a good foundation when it comes to receiving the gift of tongues Um, I know david in your book. You also go through the four r's On receiving the gift of tongues. I remember when I was studying and I got this revelation how In the book of ax chapter two the apostles when the holy spirit came upon them That the bible says that he filled them in the house that they were sitting Like it really like I used to think this is they were all praying for 10 days Or these days that they were waiting so they were under knees pressing in because you know like I watched these videos and these movies about what the apostles were doing But the bible says actually that when the holy spirit came upon them they were in a sitting Sitting pose meaning they were relaxed. They were not even under knees from what we see is they were sitting They were pretty much in the house I don't know if they were having a conversation or what what was going on Whether they had a prayer and the holy spirit just came up on them And I believe so many people put so much striving and so much stress In trying to get this gift of tongues without realizing that in receiving this gift All they have to do is just release the very gift of the holy spirit that they already have Could you speak into that? How can somebody receive the gift of speaking in tongues? Well, first you have to request And simply ask for that particular expression Then you have to realize this is the bigger step and probably the hardest one is you have to realize That he's given it to you Now some might quote first grant the ends chapter 12 Where the bible asks rhetorically do all have this gift or that gift to all speak in tongues? But remember in first grant the ends chapter 12 We're clued into what paul the apostle is writing about specifically in verse 7 When paul the apostle talks about the fact that these particular gifts are used for the benefit of others But that's not what we're talking about here because again first grant the ends chapter 14 verses 2 and 4 Talks about the personal effect the gift of speaking in tongues can have on the individual paul the apostle was talking about public expressions of public graces for ministry otherwise Could all believers pray for miracles? I mean he asked do all have the gift of miracles? Well No, so does that mean god is only going to do miracles for a select group of believers He also asked do all have gifts of healing So does that mean that god is only going to heal through the the believers with the gift of healing? That's not what it means because we see in mark chapter 16, which by the way is most certainly Absolutely positively a part of the bible, you know that that last portion of mark 16 There's this myth i'm just going to go off on a tangent here And it's become popular because it basically it's become one scholar quoting another scholar quoting another scholar And they kind of just Accepted this idea that oh well scholarship believes that that was actually attached later when you really look into it You'll find that everybody says that Mostly because everybody says that but if you do a little bit of a digger Deeper study on that you're going to find that in fact That portion of scripture is a reference that's meant to be in there wasn't there originally But again, I digress wasn't prepared to talk about that But why would paul the apostle right do all have gifts of healing? And then mark 16 promised that those who believe the gospel would go lay hands on the sick It's because there's a distinction between a public expression of ministry grace And a personal use of a gift in everyday life. So you look at first Corinthians 12 These are all public ministries to be used in the public church setting Otherwise we not all believers can pray for miracles not all believers can believe for healing not all believers can You know have faith. I mean that's just nonsensical to believe that it's not even consistent with scripture So again in first Corinthians 12 paul is very specifically talking about public expressions of ministry grace to be used In the public church setting now he's not saying that The personal prayer language is limited to a select view. That's not even close to what he's saying In fact, he writes. I wish you would all pray in tongues Earnestly desire the spiritual gifts earnestly desire speaking in tongues earnestly desire these expressions of the holy spirit Why would paul the apostle Write something in scripture that was contrary to the will of the holy spirit And why would the holy spirit allow for that contradiction to be recorded in the scripture in Instructive writing from an apostle Unless it was something that he desired so We understand that the gift of speaking in tongues that personal prayer language is for every Believer you've got to realize that and that was deposited the moment you received the holy spirit And the holy spirit was received Romans 8 9 the very moment you were saved So it's not a matter of receiving the gift but releasing that gift so good It's not a matter of getting the gift but allowing that gift to be expressed in you john 7 38 Out of your innermost being will flow rivers of living water It's allowing that flood from within to overwhelm you the word baptism means to be Overwhelmed submerged overcome filled within and surrounded by water And so it is with the holy spirit's influence when that influence deep within us Is released to be manifested in the outer shells if you will of who we are that's when you have expressions of the spirit So it begins in my spirit that gift deposited that function that ability to posit at the moment of salvation And it only comes when I release it so request it Realize it that you have it and then relax I'd say one of the biggest barriers to receiving the gift of tongues is ego and I don't mean pride I mean just getting in your own way In example, you'll go to pray and the first thing you think is that's not me. That's not me That's not me or what if for some superstitious reason I'm asking god the holy spirit for the gift of tongues and for some reason It's it's a demonic tongue It's just not going to happen if you're asking in the name of jesus The lord wouldn't allow something like that And so that gift will be deposited it has been deposited you have to realize that and then relax Stop overthinking stop questioning everything and then just release it You surrender the syllables and the sounds and the holy spirit will fill it with meaning The problem comes when we overthink it and go well, that's just me. Well, yeah, it is just you It's partially just you but so is every other spiritual gift. That's just me laying hands. Yes, but it's god healing Well, that's just me making those noises Yes, but it's the holy spirit praying through you by faith Adding his own intention and meaning to the words that you've surrendered to him So good so good david, uh, you shared a story and i'm gonna repeat that story about the alphabet I've used that story ever since I heard you sharing it and That story has helped so many people to receive the gift of tongues. It's it's and i'm going to paraphrase it one One father was teaching a girl how to pray and he was guiding her and she was repeating after him and Finally, he decided to let her pray on her own and then you know, he overheard her Praying the alphabet a b c d e f g and so forth and so, you know, he was pretty You know kind of confused why is she praying the alphabet instead of praying the prayers that he taught her and then when he asked her Concerning why is she praying the alphabet and she said something so profound She said that i'm giving god the letters and i'm believing that he will rearrange it as he wants it You know, and that's really that's what praying in tongues is is that you you requested You realize that you have the holy spirit living inside of you You relax You release those sounds by faith because it requires everything that we have in the kingdom of god The currency is faith god doesn't operate through bitcoin god doesn't operate through cash up of vemo or paypal God only has one currency through which Everything is received and everything is traveled every spiritual gift including salvation and that is faith And same thing with back. I feel like when it comes to salvation We know that we receive it by faith when it comes to all other things We feel like we have to have some other currency some other thing and it requires faith There's an there's an amount of faith that you have to release And the devil will lie to you and say like oh you're making that stuff up That was the devil and everything and you have to reject that Reject that fear reject that lie and just trust that Jesus says if we ask for bread He will not give us a snake and so and then as you release that and we're gonna pray for those of you Who are struggling with that toward the end and just just a minute or two We're gonna pray for you to begin to release that In Jesus name David. I don't know I've seen that majority of people and I want you to see correct me if I'm wrong People who walk in the anointing and in the supernatural they seem to say that Praying in the Holy Spirit or praying in tongues tongues is one of the key Ingrediences to help them grow in the anointing and almost every person who is against speaking in tongues Rarely sees any miraculous Unconsistent level operating through their life. And so would you say the speaking in tongues is like a gateway Into other spiritual manifestations of the Holy Spirit Absolutely positively without a doubt and and it's and it's not just the overwhelming evidence in scripture For example, Paul the apostle saying I speak in tongues more than you all Well, how would he know that? There had to be some type of evidence that he saw manifested in order for him to make such a statement There was something he was seeing in their lives That was missing that he had in his Not only do we see the overwhelming biblical evidence for this, but we also see it Anecdotally in the people who are actually being used in miraculous ways They they will all tell you Speaking in tongues is key. In fact, it's probably one of the common denominators Among any ministry that believes in the power of the Holy Spirit in full operation today Is that gift of speaking in tongues? And I found that even people Who who are are much more reserved even with other elements of the the expressions of the Holy Spirit's power Will still say things like well, you know, I do pray in tongues. They'll say but I do it privately You know, and so they believe in speaking in tongues, but they're much more reserved about it But they still pray in tongues. So that's that's very telling even even the most critical of certain moves of the Holy Spirit Embrace this gift. Of course, there are some way off on the extremist fringe side who rejected as A gift of the Holy Spirit for today But, you know, we're talking about the majority of Of middle of the road christianity like centered centered, you know, not, you know, there's some there's obviously extremes in all movements on both sides I'm not trying to attack anyone individual But you know, there's extreme views everywhere and one of those extremist views is that, you know, tongues is absolutely not for today And I'll but right in the middle where You see the the the primary Expressions or I should say action points like Churches that are heavily involved in in helping to see the drug addicted go free the alcoholic go free The homeless being taken care of the the people being fed mission work and church planting and The the majority of that group believes in the gift of speaking in tongues and practices it in one form or another And that's very telling We see again, not only the biblical evidence, but we see that right before our very eyes again small slivers of Of any group that, you know, reject the gift of tongues, but but we're talking about again majority of christianity worldwide so That right there, I would say I've seen it and I think the reason it works is because Whatever strengthens my spirit weakens my flesh And if it's my spirit praying if my spirit's being strengthened when I pray in tongues Well, a strengthened spirit is just going to really affect every aspect of my walk with God Not just the spiritual gifts my preaching my understanding of the word my character all of it It literally affects all of it every element of your spirituality is affected when you pray Because speaking in tongues directly edifies your spirit. So good. That's so good. Do you believe that? Speaking in tongues also helps us to hear from the Holy Spirit more clearly Or versus when people don't pray in the Holy Spirit I absolutely I mean that comes back down to the fact that whatever strengthens my spirit weakens my flesh And the fact that speaking in tongues strengthens my spirit and I think that's a strange way of wording it I mean strengthens my spirit. I know the bible uses lingo like that But that's that's lingo to help us understand. It's almost like a parable that that type of phrasing Really what the bible is teaching Is not that your spirit is growing Is that the influence of the spirit man is growing so so good Your spirit is complete and eternal and one with God your spirit doesn't grow and shrink But the influence of the spirit in your life is what is either intensified or weakened depending upon how you respond to What God has said and so if i'm praying in tongues and my spirit is being strengthened Well, now i'm just hearing the Holy Spirit with much more clarity not because of of of some, you know Um, how shall I say the superstitious reason or mysterious reason is very clear that speaking in tongues Strengthens my spirit So my spirit is strengthened or the influence of the spirit is strengthened in my life Of course, i'm going to hear the Holy Spirit with much more clarity I want to encourage every person that is watching or rewatching listening on the podcast to begin to Prioritize if you don't find time in your prayer to pray in the Holy Spirit. It's been personally my personal challenge in of recent to spend quality time of just praying in the Holy Spirit Um, I know pastors who actually put a timer And they just 20 minutes non-stop and to the point where you know first few minutes sometimes your mind can wonder But your spirit is praying your spirit is connected and your spirit then afterwards You know everything else subsides and then your your flesh and your soul begins to be quiet And then you're you have that that knowing that deeper connection to God that is built on spiritual Intimacy instead of just emotional because emotional hype and you know like I felt those things are good But it's it's different when it's on the level of the spirit and one of the ways that we can do that is by praying in the Holy Spirit David would you pray for people that are watching Who are desiring to speak in tongues? Would you just pray for them and maybe give them any instruction that you would have any final instruction They just would you pray for them right now? I really believe that God's going to use this prayer to help people to release those syllables and to speak in tongues There's nothing I have that you don't The presence of the Holy Spirit that same power Dwells in you The anointing rests in your life period The key is to surrender to the point to where what is in my spirit Overwhelms and affects the other aspects of my being So it's not reigned from above. You're not praying. God send it send it send it It's a flood from within John 7 38 release it release it release it And that releasing is not going to come by force if you probably the reason you're frustrated that you haven't been able to speak in tongues Is because you're probably waiting for some euphoric overtaking of your physical being or When you do pray in tongues, you're lying to yourself and saying that's just me. That's just me It is partially you But it's also the Holy Spirit is not just you just like anything else That's spiritual in our lives. It's a partnership. It's the yielding of the wheel So that you might receive the power And so as I pray for you right now, I'm going to pray ask the Holy Spirit to touch your life in a fresh way and so forth I want you to choose to release the syllables and sounds. I call it the language of surrender Leave it to the Holy Spirit To unlock such immense power Behind such a simple childlike act Just release the sounds you say, well, I might look silly. No, you'll definitely look silly To those who aren't spiritual. There is no understanding of spiritual things. We do look silly. That's okay But I want you to release it anyway Begin to speak out and I'm not going to pray in tongues on the microphone because I don't want you to think that you're just mimicking We're going to leave no room for this now I have no problem praying in tongues publicly if you see me do many times But just for the sake of this moment I just want you to release those syllables and sounds father By the Holy Spirit give them the strength and the grace to release that gift And I want you right now begin praying begin letting it out Don't say hallelujah. Hallelujah. Don't say amen. Amen. Don't say thank you. Jesus. Thank you Jesus Release the syllables and sounds go ahead right there Get over the ego get over the second guessing Get over the pride get over the overthinking Let the Holy Spirit pray for you through you just release those sounds right now Some of you are doing it right now for the first time ever And now that you're doing it you're saying well, that's just me or that might be the enemy or this is no No, release it go go go and you'll find that there's a moment That then the influence of the Holy Spirit partners with you Just keep releasing by faith right now right now right now release those syllables Release those sounds release that surrendered sound release those surrendered words Just leave them empty Give give them expressions empty of your own Intention and will and allow him to fill those right now right now right now in the name of jesus I thank you lord That the Holy Spirit is being yielded to I give you the glory and the praise and the honor I love you jesus thank you for this gift. Thank you for this gift In jesus name Thank you jesus amen amen amen David thank you for sharing your heart and it's been an hour and a half. Thank you for sharing This revelation. Yeah, it's been uh, it's been an hour and a half already an hour and 33 minutes We appreciate you everybody who's appreciating david for taking his time Show your appreciation in the chat david could you tell us a little bit more about Where people can find you and especially this book if people want if people want to get this book Tell us a little bit more about this book and as well as where people can get it Okay, so two things If you're interested in receiving more teaching like this first of all I say this to anybody watching on encounter tv side. Make sure you're subscribed to vlad sovchuk And if you haven't done so already Subscribe to encounter tv and click that notification bell when you do I release teachings on the holy spirit prayers spiritual warfare faith evangelism miracles ministry It's jesus centered bible based spirit field And if you enjoy ministry like that, you'll love encounter tv Make sure you subscribe to the youtube channel and you can get this book praying in the holy spirit by just going to amazon Go to amazon.com And just type in my name david digo hernandez. So that's david and then di ga hernandez And it'll be one of the first ones that come up. There's other books on the holy spirit But this is where I taught out of mostly tonight Praying in the holy spirit And this is a book that was was written in uh In deep places of prayer and study and we we go not only do we cover that we cover There's lots of things in there like um, I didn't get to cover tonight. Um, did paul Discourage believers from praying in tongues. Um, here's another myth praying in tongues should not be practiced in public I covered that myth Tongues is an earthly language not a heavenly one. We go deeper into that The gift of tongues is not for every believer that is totally dispelled The spiritual gifts are no longer in operation as a whole section on cessationism and cessationism I don't know passion. Glad you find that cessationism is actually a pretty easy takedown Once people start to see the scriptures. Um, and it's not just that talk about the power Fasting very detailed teaching on fasting This is what it means to be in prayer and surrender to the holy spirit the three realms of man There's nothing too new ag. It just literally means The three components of your personal being How to fast and pray What is the baptism with the holy spirit the language of the holy spirit? Receiving your prayer language all of that and so much more I try when I write a book I try not to go too long winded on any one thing It's boom boom boom information after information after information revelation after revelation and great stories in there So um, so those two things subscribe to encounter tv and look for that book. Just type in my name on amazon