Opening the Gates of Heaven Perry Stone

century has not studied the subject in detail and certainly has not examined the spiritual renewals and awakenings occurring throughout history. T HE R EASON FOR T ONGUES S PEAKING I will not spend page after page attempting to convince a skeptic that the gift of the Holy Spirit accompanied by the prayer language of the Spirit is available today. Instead I will give you the biblical reason for this gift. After the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost, Peter called the manifestation the “gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). The Greek word for “gift” is the word dorea , and means a free gift, alluding to a spiritual or supernatural gift. Later, in 1 Corinthians 12:1–7, Paul mentions the gifts of the Spirit, using the Greek word charisma , a word commonly used for God’s special endowment of power and operation of the Spirit upon believers (1 Cor. 1:7; 12:4, 9, 28). It was Christ who promised that another Comforter would be sent to assist believers (John 14:16; 16:7). This Comforter is the Holy Spirit and was sent on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1–4). Christ predicted that believers would speak with “new tongues” (Mark 16:17), and this manifestation occurred throughout the New Testament when believers were filled with the Spirit (Acts 2:1–4; Acts 10:46; Acts 19:6).