We are going to continue talking about change; to change is to become less of who we are and more of who Jesus is. Our desire is for all the people we come in contact with to experience Jesus when they are with us. We talked about being hungry for God as the basis for change then the Scriptures which is God’s Truth which sets us free. Now we will look into several Scriptures that show us how praying in the Spirit can produce change in us.

After Jesus rose from the dead He told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they were filled with the Holy Spirit. (Luke 24:49, I am going to send you what My Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.) About 120 disciples spent ten days in prayer and waiting for the Promise of the Father. Acts chapter two recalls what happened when the Spirit came upon the disciples. (Acts 2:1-4, When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.) One of the effects of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was that they all spoke in tongues or they prayed in the Spirit. The total value of the infilling of the Spirit is another subject. Peter preached to the onlookers that the Holy Spirit was “for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:39).

Paul encouraged others to pray in tongues. (I Cor. 14:18, I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.) The first thing we need to know is that when a disciple prays in tongues he or she is speaking to God not to other people. (I Cor. 14:2, For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit.) In that same verse Paul says tongues is speaking mysteries to God. Those mysteries are revelation knowledge that has been withheld by God up to that point. When we are praying in the Spirit we may be praying our future into existance, we may be praying for our pastor to preach the right messages. Often when I am reading the Bible I will come to a passage that I do not understand. At that point I pray in the Spirit so that my understanding will be enlightened to the meaning of those verses.

Another purpose of praying in the Spirit is personal upbuilding. (I Cor. 14:4, He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.) (Jude 20, But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.) This type of prayer charges up our spirits like you would charge a battery. Life is very draining, and we all need to be recharged all the time. Praying in tongues does just that, it refills us so that we can continue doing all the Lord has asked us to do. And to do it with His strength not our own. The stronger we are as leaders the greater value we will be to those we lead.

The last result of praying in the Spirit is found in Romans 8:26,27, In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. The Spirit knows God’s perfect will and we often do not. When we pray in tongues we are praying the mind of the Father or the perfect will of God for our lives or the lives of the people we are praying for.

When you pray in the Spirit for your national leaders you are praying God’s best for them. A disciple of Jesus never wants to pray his or her own will into the prayer. To pray in the Spirit removes our will and replaces it with the will of God. It is a perfect prayer. Add your love and your faith to praying in tongues and you will see beautiful results.

If you have any questions about this teaching letter, please be free to ask.

All of us at AGM wish you a joy-filled Christmas season.

Dr. Jim Burbank

This month we will continue teaching on the theme of change. The end result of change is being conformed to the image and likeness of Jesus. The world wants us conformed to itself.

Sometimes our families wants us to be more like them. Maybe even our church wants us to change to be more to their liking. But, we serve a Savior who has a perfect plan of changing us into His image so that we can be the very best person possible. God’s goal for our lives is always perfect, and only He knows what that perfection will look like.

After studying hunger and thirst as a basic change agent in the believer’s life, next comes the Scriptures. Hundreds of books have been written about the value of the Word of God in Christian’s lives. But still the fact remains, the Bible contains power to change lives. When you and I read and study and meditate and memorize the Scriptures we are putting that power into our lives and that power will create change.

God’s thoughts are greater than our thoughts (Is. 55:8-11, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”) and as we receive His thoughts ours will give way to His. When our thought life increases so will the rest of our actions. What a Christian thinks about will affects what he/she says and those new words will create an increase of God’s blessing for that person.

“The entrance of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” (Ps. 119:130).

“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” (Col. 3:16).

“And how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (II Tim. 3:15)

As Christians in the world today, we need the wisdom, the revelation, the insights into living that the Word of God contains. I want to encourage you to spend even more time looking into what your Father has to say to you through the Word.

Please write to me at teaching@agapeglobalmissions.org and let me know what you think about these brief teaching letters.

Last month we introduced the subject of change. Please send your comments so I can know what you are thinking. The goal of change is maturity which means the believer being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. (Rom. 8:29, “For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.“) The more mature a leader is the more likely he or she will accurately represent Jesus.

In our relationship with the Father, with Jesus and with the Holy Spirit the number one way to be always growing, always changing is developing a sincere hunger to know the Lord. “As the deer pants…. “ (Ps. 42:1). “My soul thirsts for you…” (Ps. 63:1). In my humble opinion being hungry for God is the key to life, for the believer and the unbeliever. God does not have an emotional need to be needed. He does know that He is the answer to the cry of every human heart. The Book of Judges ends by saying “everyone did as he saw fit.” (Judges 21:25). God’s people had stopped in their desire for the Lord and became the lord of their own lives. That is dangerous. As leaders we must is so filled with the fear of the Lord that we would not think about being filled with ourselves and empty of the Lord. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Prov. 9:10)

To the Apostle Paul everything else in life was worthless compared to knowing the Lord (Phil.3:10, “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death.”) Jesus defined eternal life in terms of knowing His Father (John 17:3, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.”) The only thing worth boasting in is knowing the Lord (Jer. 9:24, “But let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight.”) As a believer we are complete in Christ (Col.2:10, “And you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.”) Being hungry for God cannot add anything to that position but hunger does express the believer’s desire to know the Lord by experience not just by position.

When a leader gains new experience in his or her walk with the Lord that change will affect how the person leads and the impact it will have on the ones being led. A hungry leader will help create hungry followers.