Day 4: Session 1 – Pastor Trina Hankins

With emphasis on the power of speaking, Pastor Trina Hankins’ message on Praying in the Spirit set the ball rolling on Day Four of WAFBEC 2016. Against the backdrop of Dodie Osteen’s miraculous healing from cancer of the liver through the words of her mouth, Pastor Trina explained that our speech (or the word that we utter) is the expression of the thoughts or intents of our hearts. In effect, our bodies are instruments of God as long as we yield to him, because then and only then can He transmit his message through us, just like musicians express their messages through their instruments.

She reminded the congregation that just as demon- possessed people act like demons, believers can be possessed or completely taken over by the Holy Spirit and act like God by speaking with tongues, praying, dancing, healing the sick and so on. The deeper we are yielded to God, the deeper we experience the measures of the Holy Spirit; from ankle-length to knee-length, then waist-length, until we are carried away in the flow, as Ezekiel 47:3-7 shows us. Acceleration, she maintains, requires yielding more to the Holy Spirit.

In Romans 6:13, Apostle Paul admonishes believers not to surrender “any part of yourselves to sin to be used for wicked purposes. Instead, give yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes.” Pastor Trina said that we cannot deny that the temptations are there, because the flesh is real. But more than that, we have the Holy Spirit who helps us to overcome. So, whenever we are tempted with things of the flesh like anger and jealousy or frustration, our work is to allow the Holy Spirit to act through us by yielding to Him to fill us.

According to Pastor Trina, we must not be satisfied with just being filled with the Holy Spirit; we ought to get drunk in the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). We must allow His manifestation flow through us unrestricted and unrestrained.

She listed some advantages that praying in tongues benefits the child of God as follows:

By praying in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:4).

Praying in tongues aids intercessory prayers (Romans 8:25-27).

When we pray in tongues, we are refreshed (Isaiah 28:11-12).

It gives us access to the power of resurrection (Romans 8:13).

It helps us to give thanks well. In the spirit, we are face-to-face with our Father (Romans 8:15).

While most of these truths are not new to some listeners, she admonished that it is not what is new, but what is true that sets us free. The benefits of praying in tongues are numerous because a door opens in the spirit when we pray in the spirit. Speaking in tongues is a flowing stream that should never be allowed to dry up.