“For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, to whom He said, ‘This is
the rest with which
You may cause the weary to rest,’ And,
‘This is the refreshing;’
Yet they would not hear.”—Isaiah 28:11-12
Yet they would not hear.”—Isaiah 28:11-12
Jesus
told his followers that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit and receive
power (Acts 1:5, 8). Acts 2 records the event
of the Holy Spirit filling Jesus’ followers and their speaking in other
tongues. Peter proclaimed that this
event was the fulfilling of Joel’s prophecy (2:28-32) which said, in part, “That I[God] will pour out of My Spirit on
all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall
see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My
maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall
prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven
above and signs in the earth beneath.” It was after they received the Holy Spirit
and spoke in tongues that the early disciples experienced divine encounters and it was through the Holy Spirit
that they were refreshed.
Peter
and John were going to the temple to prayer when a begging lame man was
completely healed because of a divine
encounter (Acts 3:1-10). Later,
Peter and John were arrested and jailed because the man was healed. The religious leaders demanded to know by
what power the healing took place, and another
divine encounter took place when Peter filled with the Holy Spirit answered
them. The religious leaders understood
that these men were uneducated so they were moved by the words by which they
spoke, plus the healed lame man was standing with them as a testimony. After they were threaten not to preach
anymore in the Name of Jesus, they were let go.
Peter and John reported back to their companions everything that had
happen. The congregation began
worshiping and praising God and they said, “‘Now
Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness
they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs
and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.’ And when they had prayed, the place where
they were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy
Spirit and they spoke the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4). Their refreshing experience resulted in the word of God spoken with
boldness. Jude wrote a letter “To all who are called, sanctified by God
the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ,” saying, “But you beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying
in the Holy Spirit” (Jude 20).
Waiting
before God in prayer will not only renew your strength, but it will also bring
a great refreshing to your
spirit. Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:16, “That he [God] would grant you, according to
the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the
inner man.” The words “renew” and refreshing” are similar in meaning.
Peter uses the word “refreshing”
to describe what occurs in the Presence of the Lord, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted
out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord”
(Acts 3:19). Notice in this verse the
expression “times of refreshing.” We do not get just one time of refreshing in our walk with God. We can have continual times of refreshing as we set aside time to
spend in God’s Presence, praying and worshiping Him in the Spirit. We must need these times of refreshing and renewal, or God would
not have provided them for us. Praying in tongues builds our faith and opens
our spirits to divine encounters and
refreshes us.
Prayer—Father,
as I pray in the spirit today, I am expecting experiences in Your presence that
You have just for me. I believer I shall
have an increase of divine encounters and experiences in Your glory. Even now, as I pray in the spirit, I am being
refreshed, in Jesus Name. Amen.
