A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

A History of Christian Doctrine
Bredesen suggested the following prayer for receiving the
Spirit: 296
Heavenly Father, I thank You for the promise of
Your Spirit. Jesus, You are my Savior. I trust You now
by grace through faith. You are the One who baptizes
with the Holy Spirit. I’m not waiting for any sign or
feeling to believe that You have baptized me with the
Holy Spirit. I receive Your gift. Thank You that I am
now a Spirit-filled child of God. Amen.
Nevertheless, many Charismatics do expect that the
typical Spirit-filled person will speak in tongues. For
them, speaking in tongues is still the most common manifestation
if not the uniform evidence. Thus Kilian
McDonnell was willing to speak of tongues and prophecy
as having a “privileged place,” present in the vast majority
of cases. 297 David Pawson considered the sign to be
“spontaneous spiritual speech”—tongues, prophecy, or
ecstatic praise. 298 John Wimber said that tongues and
prophecy are the “initiatory” gifts that should normally
accompany the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 299
Many Charismatics believe that they already received
the Spirit when they first confessed faith or were baptized
in water, and they do not consider the baptism of the Holy
Spirit to be a distinct experience theologically. Instead,
they speak of the “release” of the Spirit with miraculous
power in their lives. Others speak of multiple comings of
the Spirit in a person’s life. Kilian McDonnell explained,
“If the effects of the Spirit are not fully manifest [at initiation
or water baptism] . . . subsequent prayer for the
outpouring of the Spirit . . . is wholly appropriate.” 300
300