Opening Thought

https://www.otakada.org/concerning-tongues-part-1-of-4-the-promise-of-the-father-the-promise-the-presence-the-power/

Many believers know about salvation. Many know about forgiveness. Many know about heaven. Yet fewer understand the greatness of the gift Jesus promised His Church after His resurrection — the abiding presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

This first part of the study is not merely about speaking in tongues. It is about the Promise of the Father. It is about Jesus returning to the Father so that the Holy Spirit could come and dwell inside every believer.

The Big Message

God is not withholding His Spirit from His people. The issue is not God’s unwillingness. The issue is often our lack of understanding, hunger, expectation, and receiving faith.

The Holy Spirit is not merely an influence. He is not simply a doctrine. He is not just a church experience. He is God Himself dwelling inside His people.

The believer was not designed to live dry, powerless, fearful, confused, or spiritually disconnected. The believer was designed to live filled, led, empowered, instructed, comforted, and overflowing.

1. God Has Already Provided What the Church Must Awaken To

Curry Blake begins by challenging the idea that God is always “restoring” something to the Church. His point is that God has already given everything necessary through Christ. The issue is not that God failed to give. The issue is that the Church often fails to awaken, receive, and walk in what has already been provided.

The Church has often moved from one extreme to another. Sometimes there is much teaching but little spiritual vitality. At other times there is much spiritual activity but little grounding in the Word. But God’s desire is balance: Word and Spirit together.

Reflection

Have I been waiting for God to give what He has already made available?

2. The Holy Spirit Is the Father’s Gift

Jesus presents the Holy Spirit as the Father’s gift to His children. This means God is not reluctant. He is not resisting. He is not withholding. The Father wants His children filled with His Spirit.

The problem is that many believers approach God as though He must be persuaded. But Jesus shows us a Father who is more willing to give than we are to receive.

Reflection

Do I see the Holy Spirit as a gift the Father wants me to receive, or as something difficult to obtain?

3. Receiving Is Not Passive

Curry Blake explains that the word “receive” carries the idea of taking hold, accepting, and owning what has been given. Receiving is not passive waiting. It is believing ownership.

Many wait for feelings. Many wait for dramatic manifestations. Many wait for someone else to make something happen. But faith receives because God has spoken.

Receiving the Holy Spirit requires confidence in the Father’s promise. You ask. You believe. You receive. Then you yield.

4. Rivers Were Meant to Flow

Jesus did not say one river. He said rivers. The Holy Spirit is not meant to remain hidden, silent, stagnant, or locked up inside the believer. He flows outward.

These rivers may flow through:

• Prayer and worship
• Intercession and spiritual burden-bearing
• Healing and deliverance
• Wisdom and revelation
• Boldness and witness
• Spiritual gifts
• Speaking in other tongues
• Ministry to others

The Christian life was designed to overflow. The Spirit comes into us so that He may flow out of us.

5. The Holy Spirit Lives in You

One of the greatest differences between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Under the Old Covenant, the Spirit came upon people for special assignments. Under the New Covenant, the Spirit comes to live within believers permanently.

This means the believer is never alone. Never abandoned. Never helpless. Never without divine assistance.

Reflection

Do I live like someone who carries God’s Spirit, or do I still behave as though I am spiritually alone?

6. Jesus Did Not Leave Us Comfortless

Jesus promised that He would send another Comforter — the Holy Spirit. The word Comforter also carries the meaning of Helper, Advocate, Counselor, Strengthener, and One called alongside to help.

This means the Holy Spirit is not only for church services. He is for daily life. He helps in prayer, decisions, ministry, weakness, confusion, persecution, temptation, and assignment.

The Spirit-filled life is not merely emotional excitement. It is divine assistance for everyday obedience.

7. Stir Up the Gift

Curry Blake emphasizes that believers can drift into spiritual cruise control. They still attend church. They still serve. They still pray occasionally. But inwardly, the fire is no longer being intentionally stirred.

Paul told Timothy to stir up the gift of God within him. The Holy Spirit does not need awakening. We do.

Praying in tongues is one of the practical ways believers stir up spiritual awareness, sensitivity, boldness, and inner strength.

8. Story and Experience from Curry Blake

Curry shares that after years of praying extensively in tongues, there were times when praying in tongues became so natural that he almost answered people in tongues when they spoke to him.

This was not loss of control. It was not confusion. It was not emotionalism. It was a sign of deep yieldedness and continual awareness of the Holy Spirit.

He describes praying in tongues while driving, while moving, under his breath, and during the normal flow of life. The point is not public display. The point is continual fellowship.

This teaches us that Spirit-filled living is not only an event. It becomes a lifestyle.

9. Historical Lessons

Curry also references historical examples such as John G. Lake and J. Roswell Flower. Some early Pentecostal leaders believed in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit before they personally experienced it. Some waited months or years.

His conclusion is that the delay was not because God was unwilling. Many times delay comes from uncertainty, wrong teaching, fear, lack of openness, or not knowing how to receive.

The biblical pattern is not endless waiting. The biblical pattern is asking, believing, receiving, and yielding.

10. What This Teaches About Tongues

Deep Reflection Questions

1. Do I truly believe the Holy Spirit lives in me?
2. What would change if I became conscious of His presence all day?
3. Have I drifted into spiritual autopilot?
4. Where have I relied on my own strength instead of the Helper?
5. Am I living from the river or merely visiting it occasionally?
6. Do I believe the Father is more willing to give than I am to receive?
7. Have wrong teachings, fear, or uncertainty hindered my receiving?
8. What daily practice can help me stir up the gift of God within me?

Practical Next Steps

• Set a daily prayer time for praying in the Spirit.
• Begin with 10–15 minutes and increase gradually.
• Pray softly under your breath during simple tasks when appropriate.
• Keep a journal of impressions, scriptures, burdens, and insights that come during or after prayer.
• Study Acts 1 and Acts 2 slowly and repeatedly.
• Share one lesson from this study with another believer.
• Do not chase manifestations. Focus on yielding to the Holy Spirit.