Did the Apostle Paul receive the Holy Spirit?
Apostle Paul received the gift of the Holy Spirit when Ananias laid hands on him and prayed for His healing. Ananias said, “The Lord Jesus has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:17). Paul received the Holy Spirit’s gift at the same time the scales fell from his eyes. Paul greatly appreciated receiving his spirit language. During the following years as he discovered all the purposes and spiritual benefits of praying in tongues, he became so thankful that he spoke in tongues. It motivated him to emphatically declare to the Corinthian church, “I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all” (1 Cor. 14:18).
Paul wrote more about speaking in tongues than all the other authors of the books of the Bible. Paul’s abundance of speaking in tongues is what helped activate the spirit of wisdom and revelation within him, which empowered him to work miracles and be inspired to write fourteen of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament.
Speaking in tongues was good enough for Paul and the other apostles and saints of the New Testament Church, so it is good enough and important enough for each of us to receive and pray much in our spirit language. Praying in tongues cannot and will not make you operate in a ministry that God has not planned for you, but it can enlighten and empower you with all the wisdom and ability you will need to fulfill your calling. Seeing how the spirit language helped produce Paul’s powerfully successful life and ministry should be more than reason enough for us to want to receive the gift and pray in our spirit language longer and more often (see Acts 9:10–19).