Jesus promised that He would send the Holy Spirit to assist you. An “assistant” is someone who helps you get the job done!

“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever.” John 14:16

The word “Helper” is the Greek word “paracletos.” The Amplified Bible gives us the sevenfold meaning of the word “paracletos,” defining the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The term “paracletos” means that He was sent to be our comforter, counselor, helper, intercessor, advocate, strength, and support. The Holy Spirit is all of these, and He dwells within us!

The Holy Spirit was sent to be our Paracletos or Helper in the area of prayer. This means that He will help us pray to victory when we pray in tongues. He will do the work through us, but He won’t do the work in our place. The truth is, nowhere in the Bible will you find the Holy Spirit coming to do anything for you without you. Whatever area of life you’re talking about, He only comes to help you do it.

In the Acts of the Apostles, you never read that the Holy Spirit meets someone on the street and saves them. It’s always people, assisted by the Holy Spirit, who save others.

For example, in Acts 8, an angel told Philip to go down to Gaza. When Philip obeyed, he encountered an Ethiopian eunuch in a chariot reading the book of Isaiah. It was Philip who led this man to salvation, not the Holy Spirit or the angel. The Holy Spirit instructed Philip to go up to the man’s chariot and speak to him (see Acts 8:26-39). Philip was led and assisted by the Holy Spirit to save this man.

If the Holy Spirit saved people, there would be no need to send missionaries into the field. We could simply send the Holy Spirit and let Him act on the unsaved, preach the Gospel to them, and save them. But Jesus told the people of God to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature (Matthew 28:19). He didn’t tell the Holy Spirit to do it!

You also won’t read in the Acts of the Apostles that the Holy Spirit met someone on the street and healed them. But you will read cases where people were healed through the ministry of Spirit-filled believers who allowed the Holy Spirit to act through them! Finally, you won’t read in the Bible that the Holy Spirit went somewhere and filled believers with His Spirit all by Himself. But you will read that men, filled with the Holy Spirit, preached the Gospel and the Holy Spirit fell on the people. And you will read that others laid hands on believers, and the Holy Spirit filled them.

God works in accordance with His spiritual laws, and when we understand these laws, we can work with Him. That’s why the Bible calls us co-heirs or co-workers with Christ (Romans 8:17). We are God’s fellow workers (2 Corinthians 6:1). Jesus showed us a way to collaborate with Him: “And they [Jesus’ disciples] went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.” (Mark 16:20). The disciples went out to preach, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed what they said with miracles.

We work with Him, and He works with us! This is true in all areas of our lives, especially in the realm of prayer!

This text is an excerpt from the book “The Power of Speaking in Tongues: Everything you want to know about Speaking in Tongues” written by Kenneth Erwin Hagin.

We invite you to read the following article “Spiritual refreshment.”