My Holy Spirit Baptism Story

This year's Pentecost falls on 23 May 2021. 

Few weeks ago, a beloved brother in Christ has asked us to share our story of how we first got baptized in the Holy Spirit and how has the Holy Spirit helped us in our walk with God. 


So I tried to recall my Holy Spirit baptism experience. And I realized that there was nothing spectacular with my baptism moment. There was no burning temperature, no vision, no outburst of emotion or anything like that at all. 😅 Although my baptism is supernatural (all Holy Spirit infilling is supernatural), it was quite a very ordinary experience. 


I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit at a church camp, shortly after I accepted Christ while I was in university. 

I had desired it - to speak in tongues - although at the time, I hadn't truly understand what the baptism of the Holy Spirit really meant beyond the ability to pray in tongues, where the Holy Spirit will help us to pray.

That was all I knew. That all believers should be water baptized (as we are baptized into Jesus' death, Romans 6:3-4). That all believers should be baptized in the Holy Spirit and pray in tongues (Read book of Acts). 

Source: Internet

When I started speaking in tongues at the church camp after the pastor prayed for us to receive the Holy Spirit, I felt like I was imitating (or trying to imitate) others' tongues, sounding much like my friends who were more mature Christians than I am. 

And I remember thinking to myself - Is this what baptism of the Holy Spirit is? Is this how it looks like? (Remember that apart from me speaking a few syllabus of tongues, I did not feel or see or hear any other sensation. Much less feeling like I was endued with power from on high.😅)


Of course, over time, as I grew in the Lord, I experienced and benefited from this baptism in so many ways, just as the Bible teaches. 

From receiving revelations from the Bible (like light bulb moments!) to being built up in my spirit while praying in tongues to being swept over by the love of God as I worship or pray in tongues to being prompted by the Holy Spirit in countless situations. And so much more that I couldn't possibly list each down. The Holy Spirit is our helper indeed! 


But the most impactful encounters (for me) were times when I was 'recharged' while praying in the Spirit. 

Often it happened during my low points in my walk with God, when I felt lost, depressed, or just needed to come back to God. 

Whether I went for altar call seeking for prayer, or in my private desperate cry to God, I would be so fed up of the state I was in and God would meet me where I was. It was in such times that the Holy Spirit recharges me, like a power source charges a battery. I would be so lost in praying and worshiping in tongue, my husband jokingly described it as losing control of my tongue. 😂 

I myself would like to call it as being fully immersed in the Spirit, a yielded, recharging and liberating experience.

Each time, I would emerge refreshed, with a newness not just in my spirit but in my soul too.  


But it hasn't always been like this.

For me, speaking in tongues was a struggle in the beginning. 

For the first months, I remember having to fight against my logical mind and my urge to control myself. I had to deliberately let go and yield my mind and tongue. 

And then some time after that, I started developing this wrong thought - what if my tongue is of the enemy and not the Lord? "How sure are you that you are praying in the Spirit? You are just imitating the sounds that others are making. It is not the Holy Spirit making intercession for you with groanings." 

Each time I would pray in the spirit, these thoughts would appear suddenly. 

I really have no idea where this concept of 'tongue may be from the enemy' came by but it hindered my praying in tongues for quite some time.

Yet deep down I yearned to experience that complete immersion in the Spirit. I yearned to be filled with the Holy Spirit. 


Praise God He did not leave me struggling for long. 

Years after, the Holy Spirit revealed to me truths from the scripture and assured me that all good gifts come from God. And just like that, I was freed.


I believe the enemy sowed a wrong, tormenting thought in my mind back then about my praying in tongues because he knows if he can stop those recharging moments I would have in the Spirit, then I might live my life on a flat battery most of the times. And flat batteries have no power! We are not meant to live that way. 

And what's more, I would not have reaped the benefits of being baptized in the Spirit. 

Even as now, I am still not reaping the full power of the infilling of the Holy Spirit. I only have a measure of the Spirit even though my Father wants me to have the full measure of the Spirit to the overflow. I believe and know there is more!


Beloved in Christ, I don't know if you have experienced such misleading ideas like I had. 

But I want you to know that nothing can be further from the truth! Because the gift of the Holy Spirit comes from our Abba Father. And He (the Holy Spirit) is our helper. We need Him! 

If you have not been baptized and infilled with the Holy Spirit, ask the Father for it. He will give it freely. 

If you have already been baptized with the Holy Spirit, praise the Lord! But don't stay stagnant. We need the fullness of the Holy Spirit. I know I do. 

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