Overcome Temptations (3) | Biblestudy4Starters

3. How to Overcome Temptations

What are temptations?

Genesis 3:1-15; 2 Samuel 11:1-27; Mark 7:20-23; Luke 16:13; Galatians 5:13-21, 6:7-10; Colossians 3:1-9; James 1:2-8,12-17; 4:4-12.

Moments when you are being drawn away from God’s will and/or enticed to sin. It can be by your thoughts, by your eyes, by the self-centered craving of your flesh. You are being lured to take the next step, that is to act it out, to behave badly or take a wrong action. This can start in your mind or by things you see caused by your enemies.

The Scriptures mention three main enemies: the devil and unclean spirits, the world system, and your old heart and nature which is the sinful part of your flesh. All these try to urge you to choose your own sinful way in disobedience to God.

Temptation in itself is not a sin, it is a part of our life’s journey. You only sin, if you decide to give in and do that what you are persuaded to do, while you know that it is not correct, or if you omit doing the good deed you know you should do.

How can and should we deal with temptation?

1. Short-term pleasure versus final outcome in eternity!

Psalm 23:1-6; 73:1-28; 2 Timothy 3:1-17.

The enemy sometimes can cause certain circumstances to trigger your wrong reaction, or seduce or lure you with an immediate, short-term pleasure, but he does not show you the consequences or outcome in guilt feelings, frustration, addiction, spiritual death and ultimately, eternal separation from God’s Kingdom. Frustrations in life often lead to addictions of all sorts, but thank God Jesus has come to set the captives free!

1 John 3:1-10; Revelation 21:6-8,22-27.

Realize that practicing sin, in other words willfully keep committing (the same) sin, in conscious disobedience to God makes us unfit for the Kingdom of heaven! This is different from occasionally making a misstep and being sorrowful about it.

But, if you cannot break away from a specific sin, ask your pastor or your spiritual leaders for guidance and ask them to pray for your deliverance.

Hence, always keep eternity in mind.

2. Pray in advance!

Matthew 6:13; 26:36-44; Luke 21:36; 22:31-32,40-46; Hebrews 10:19-23; James 1:13-16.

Jesus teaches us to regularly pray, “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” James explains that God cannot be tempted and neither will He tempt you, but He can allow these trials.

Often it is we ourselves that enter in these trials due to our thoughts, our own will and/or our fleshly lust. Before this happens, enter in God’s presence with boldness by the blood of Jesus and ask God to keep your thoughts, eyes and fleshly desires in check.

Jesus said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Up to three times Jesus went back to be in His Father’s presence to pray, and obtain strength to enable Him to go through the most terrible suffering and to carry the penalty and curse in our place.

3. Declare the Word!

Proverbs 18:21; 29:25; Matthew 4:1-11; 12:36-37; Luke 10:19; Romans 8:1-19,31-39; Ephesians 6:16-17; 1 Timothy 6:7-19; 1 John 3:9; 4:15-18.

Temptations most often start in your mind which is the real battlefield. For this reason, you must have the Word (Scripture) as a protective helmet for your thoughts.

Your mind is the primary battlefield and is like a huge agricultural field where all kinds of birds fly around and cross that field. Some of those birds will try to make a nest in some of the trees, but you need to make sure that it does not happen. In other words, as soon as you recognize a sinful, immoral or evil thought, you must immediately reject it and replace it with a positive thought or even better, if possible, declare out loud a relevant Scripture verse, just like our Lord Jesus did.

Each time Jesus was tempted by the devil He proclaimed, “It is written … It is written … for it is written …!”, see Matthew 4. Again, Jesus answers each satanic attack with the authority of God’s Word and arrests the enemy on the basis of the written truth of God. So, whenever you feel tempted, or maybe feel fearful or if doubt creeps in, or you feel a demonic presence, you also speak the Word boldly with authority!

Important Vitamin to Memorize:

Vitamin F2: “If God is FOR us, who can be against us?”

[Romans 8:31b]

Vitamin S1: "The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be SAFE."

[Proverbs 29:25]

4. The Holy Spirit is our Helper!

Matthew 5:20-30,44-48; 7:12-14; 18:3-4,21-22,29-34; John 14:16-17,26-27; Galatians 3:13-14; 5:22-25; Colossians 3:12-17; Hebrews 12:14-15,28-29.

Another way temptation comes is in our human interaction testing our character and attitude.

If we are not careful, we could react in a disrespectful or bad manner or behave badly towards our loved ones, our family members or other persons, if things do not go as we expect, or because of certain words that the other speaks, or due to a misunderstanding.

Important to know!

We will only be able to overcome temptation and sin with the help of the Holy Ghost!

Therefore, be sure to ask your heavenly Father each day to have the Holy Spirit fill you with His character and personality.

Yes, His fruit of the Spirit: [Galatians 5:22-23]

Divine love and compassion (also for the lost souls)
Inner joy of the Lord
Shalom (which includes peace, well-being, completeness, harmony and forgiveness)
Humbleness of mind (meekness, humility)
Gentleness (loving-kindness)
Goodness
Faithfulness (includes faith that will not fail, persevering faith)
Patience
Self-control
Holiness and sanctification (of our mind [thoughts], our eyes [what we see and visualize], our ears [what we listen to, gossip?], tongue/mouth [what we speak], spirit, soul and body [our body, emotions, will, intellect needs to be in submission to our spirit, which is led by the Holy Spirit) and a
Forgiving heart (forgiving everybody even our enemies, which can only be by His grace and ability).

Remember, forgiving the other is a crucial decision that will first of all, set you free from bondage and torment!

Important Vitamin to Memorize:

Vitamin F3: “But the FRUIT of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

[Galatians 5:22-23]

5. Don’t focus on the negative, but transform your mind through the powerful and positive Word of God!

Psalm 23:1-6; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:15-20; Philippians 4:6-9; James 4:7-17; Proverbs 23:7a; 2 Corinthians 10:3-6; Hebrews 4:12-16; 10:23; Ephesians 6:16-17.

In your thinking process you will have a moment of decision which can lead to a certain action. Do not focus on your failure(s) or sin(s) you may have committed; this would make your problem greater than it should be. Know that God is much greater than any problem you might have!
One proven way to overcome a vicious circle of negative and doubtful thoughts, which can draw you downward, is for you to decide to substitute those thoughts with good ones out of God’s Word and to declare the Word boldly like Jesus did.
Do not forget: faith originates from God, but doubt is an arrow from the enemy, so reject his lies.
Moreover, know that once you are born-again your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost who lives in you! "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s." [1 Corinthians 6:19-20] See also the next Vitamin M1. Therefore, make sure to renew your thought system by studying the Word and by meditating on the Scriptures. Good input always results in good output and the best input for your mind is the Word of God, which in itself has to power and ability to transform you.
Hence, think positive (saturate your mind with Scripture), speak positive (decree God’s promises), act positive (let the fear of the Lord and God’s love guide you) and expect positive results (visualize your answer and victory)!
As you continue to do this, you will be transformed as Proverbs 23:7 states: “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”
The more you dwell on God’s promises and His commandments, the more you will be able to brush off the enemy’s attacks from your mind, as 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 and Hebrews 4:12-16; 5:8-9 illustrate. Ephesians 6:17 talks about putting on an impenetrable helmet for your mind, that is when you consistently memorize and meditate on His Word and declare His Word boldly.
The more the Word is absorbed in your heart, the easier fear and/or doubt is overcome and disappears. As each day passes by, you will certainly become stronger and stronger in the Lord.

Important Vitamin to Memorize:

Vitamin M1: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your MIND, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

[Romans 12:1-2]

6. Abide in Christ!

Proverbs 18:10; Matthew 7:21-24; John 15:1-14; Philippians 1:6.

Abiding in Christ is your decision to be faithful to your undivided choice in making Lord Jesus the Center of your life. That means that you walk in obedience to His Word and His commandments. You seek what pleases Him and long to demonstrate your love to Him with all your heart, with all your will, mind and emotions, with all your strength, yes, with your spirit, soul and body.

It is an intimate relationship with Christ Jesus daily living in His Presence. Being aware that He knows all your thoughts, your emotions, your actions. Being open to His directions and guidance. You could pray, ‘Precious Jesus by Your Holy Spirit, You think, You speak and You act in and through me. Let Holy Spirit’s character and personality fill me till overflowing.’ Do not be afraid to honestly open up the secret corners of your heart, as He already knows all, so why not just tell Him about your feelings, even your sinful thoughts, so He can erase these from your subconscious mind and even heal any past trauma.

At times you may feel as if you have been ‘contaminated’ by that which another person might have told you. If this is the case, you may want to pray something like: 'Lord, thank You for cleansing me through Your Word and by Your holy blood from every stain and filth, everything that sticks to me, in Jesus’ Almighty Name. Hallelujah, my spirit, soul and body are clean'.

If you ever had contact with the occult [1], even if you thought it was a joke, you should confess it as a sin, you have given the enemy a legal right to demonize [2] you, in other words afflict and influence you. You may also have had some dream or nightmare. If it was a sin you committed in your dream, you should confess it as it might be something you have not fully dealt with.

[1] Occult practices include witchcraft, tarot card reading and fortunetelling, consulting mediums to get answers from the dead. Read also Leviticus 19:26 and Deuteronomy 18:9-13.

[2] A born-again Christian cannot be demon-possessed, but he or she can have areas in which unclean spirit(s) can attack or influence his/her character and/or behavior.

You may want to declare, 'I renounce this sin and break with any foothold or generational legal right of my ancestors and/or any door I myself had opened, get out and never return in the Almighty Name of Jesus Christ! I am bought and paid by the Holy Blood of Jesus, I belong to my Lord Jesus! Praise God, I am free, thank You for filling me to overflowing with your Holy Spirit.'

7. Run away from sin!

Genesis 39:1-13; Acts 5:29-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-18,19-20; 10:11-13.

In other circumstances, if your flesh is under attack, you do best to follow Joseph’s example: avoid the places, things and persons that will tempt you, especially, when you are alone or weak.

Also, after a great victory or moment of success in life be cautious not to fall into sin.

Joseph ran away when Potiphar’s wife lured him to have sex with her, and so must we. Remember, “your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s”, writes Paul to the Corinthians.

You are not weak if you shun sin, on the contrary, you are bold in the eyes of God for sin is a deadly poison.

Moreover, never think you are strong enough in your own strength; you need and will have to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is He who gives you grace and strength to overcome.

8. Be not deceived!

Matthew 24:4-5,24-31; John 10:7-11; 14:6; Acts 4:12; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; Hebrews 9:27; 12:2-14; 1 John 4:1-4; 5:12; 2 John 7-11.

Watch out for false prophets who will try to bring you another gospel and/or to fool you that there are many ways to God. Jesus is very clear in stating, “I am the Door … I am the Good Shepherd ...”

And in another occasion, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” [John 14:6]

Christ Jesus once came as a humble little baby, but this time He will return as the King of kings and the Lord of lords! Jesus is the Son of the living God. In fact, where Jesus is, is heaven.

Simply stated: Real and abundant life starts and ends with Jesus. Without Him, everything is and would be in vain.

Nowadays we even hear so-called ministers calling sinful and filthy acts good and acceptable, and calling the good as bad. Each and every one will one day have to give an account of his/her words and deeds before the throne of God.

9. Persevere with your eyes on Jesus!

2 Timothy 2:1-4,10-15; Matthew 10:22,28,32,38-39; 22:36-40; Mark 13:13; Luke 12:4-5; Acts 7:54-60; Romans 10:8-10; Philippians 1:20-21; 2 Corinthians 11:22-31; Hebrews 12:2; Revelation 12:11.

Temptation can also come to try to get you to deny Jesus. Persevere in your faith and walk with God, stand strong in your confession of Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and know that we walk at the edge of eternity. Jesus emphasized it several times to persevere to the end. We are “good soldiers of Jesus Christ”.

As a soldier in the army of your country, you know that you could lose your life in battle. In like manner, as believers and followers of Jesus this could also happen to us. In many countries born-again Christians are martyred and killed for being a follower of Jesus. We see this happening more and more, as Jesus predicted.

Do not fear them that can only kill your body, but fear Almighty God who has the authority after death and who can send a soul to hell.

Also, rest assured that God is certainly able just like He did with Stephen to give you grace and strength by the power of the Holy Spirit to persevere in those final minutes or seconds. Let us therefore walk in holiness trusting our faithful Author and Finisher of our faith.

Jesus loves you so much that He gave His life for you personally, even if you were the only one on earth. He died a cruel death at the Cross to give you everlasting life. The question now is, ‘What will you do for Him?’ We love Jesus, and our enemies, because He first loved us. [Matthew 7:12; Mark 12:29-31; Luke 6:27-31,32-36]

10. Join a Bible-faithful church!

Matthew 6:24,33; 18:19-20; John 13:12-17; Hebrews 10:25.

Do not be double minded, but have God as your top priority in your life. Decide to be a true follower of Christ Jesus and declare that you are an overcomer in the Name of Jesus, knowing that God is on your side and His Holy Spirit is in you!

Furthermore, do not forget to seek a faithful born-again, Bible trusting, follower of Jesus Christ to mentor you and to join a Bible-based, Christ Jesus centered, Holy Spirit led, love in action church in which you can grow strong in the Lord.

Important Vitamin to Memorize:

Step by step you are becoming stronger and stronger in the Lord knowing that Jesus loves you dearly and desires the very best for you!

Vitamin C3: “being CONFIDENT of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will COMPLETE it until the day of Jesus Christ;”

[Philippians 1:6]

After discussing "How can and should we deal with temptation?", we now continue with some other foundational principles.

What is the Baptism by and in the Holy Spirit?

1. Baptism BY the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ:
When you receive Jesus in your heart and life as your Savior and Lord, Jesus sends His Holy Spirit, who is the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, to stay with and in you. [Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:29-34]

You are then adopted and become a special member of the Body of Christ with Lord Jesus as the Head.

“Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

"For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body -whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free- and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.” [1 Corinthians 12:3,12-14]

You have become one of God’s born-again children in a loving relationship of growth with your heavenly Father. “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” [Ephesians 1:3-7,13]

2. Baptism IN the Holy Ghost with speaking in other tongues:

This is similar to the experience of the disciples on the day of Pentecost with the evidence of speaking in unknown tongues. This Baptism has to do with our Lord Jesus Immersing, submerging you, yes Filling you to Overflowing with the Holy Spirit to empower you for His service. [Acts 1:8]

Dr. Luke, a physician and writer of the Book of Acts and the Gospel of Luke in Chapter 3 verse 16 states that Jesus is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire. [Mark 16:17; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 1:4-5,8]

One can be Baptized in the Holy Spirit after or at one’s conversion, that is when you earnestly repent from your sins and become born-again through saving faith in God.

This usually occurs when one is obedient and asks to be filled with the Holy Ghost. [Acts 5:32; Ephesians 5:18] One of the signs of this Baptism in God's Spirit is that one starts to speak in God's Supernatural Language that is unknown tongues. [Acts 2:1-4,33,38; 10:44-46; 11:15-17; 19:5-6]

Holy Spirit-filled believers receive boldness to speak the Word of God [Acts 4:29-31], to be a witness of Jesus Christ and when necessary and led by the Holy Ghost to demonstrate God's power by healing the sick and casting out demons. [Acts 3:1-10; 5:12-16; 8:5-7; 9:10-20; 26:14-18]

Why speak and pray in God's Supernatural Language?

1) Apostle Paul thanks God that he prayed in tongues more than all the

believers in Corinth:

1 Corinthians 14:18: Paul knew the importance and the power of this kind of prayer.

2) Praying with our spirit, in other words in unknown tongues, is praying

to God in mysteries:

1 Corinthians 14:2; Revelation 8:3: This prayer between God and you is hidden; Satan and his demons cannot follow nor understand this; our prayers take a secret, fast-track route to God.

3) Praying with our spirit allows us to experience God's closeness:

John 14:16,26; 16:7: The Father and the Lord Jesus love us so much that they send us the Comforter, that is the precious Holy Spirit; He will be with us and even in us.

4) The more we pray in other tongues, the less negative or impure

thoughts can nest in our minds, as the mind is kept in check -and disabled to some extent- enabling our heart and eyes to remain focused on Jesus:

1 Corinthians 14:14, AMPC: my mind remains unfruitful, unproductive.
Proverbs 23:7: “for as he thinks in his heart, so is he”.
Psalm 37:4: “delight yourself in the LORD.”
Hebrews 12:1-2: “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, ...”

5) Often, we do not know what exactly or how to pray:

Romans 8:26-28: The Holy Spirit comes to our aid and helps us; He knows exactly what is needed and especially intercedes for the saints.

6) Praying with the spirit builds your faith and opens the door to the

supernatural such as: salvation of souls, healing, deliverance, provision, Divine guidance and insight:

1 Corinthians 14:4: edifies or builds us up.
Jude 20: praying in the Holy Spirit strengthens our holy faith, which goes along with Romans 10:17.
Romans 10:17: faith grows by hearing and speaking the powerful Word of God.
Mark 16:17: in Jesus' Name, believers will, among other things, cast out demons, speak in new tongues and heal the sick; this is what none other than King Jesus says.

7) By speaking in tongues, we control our tongue and speak life into

others:

Proverbs 18:21: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue".
James 1:26: If you cannot control your tongue, you have been deceived and your faith is in vain or ”useless”.

8) By the fire of supernatural tongues we can penetrate the heavenly

realms, but also pluck souls out of darkness by melting away the scales from their eyes:

Acts 2:3,4: The Holy Spirit came down accompanied by “tongues like fire”.
James 3:6: “the tongue also is a fire”, our words can effectively be fire in the heavenly realms, but let our words not be with cursing, but let us speak and share words of life to others.
Jude 23: pluck the souls "out of the fire", that is praying for people to be saved from hell.

9) Our body, the temple, can also benefit by being restored and built

up (edified):

1 Corinthians 6:15-20: your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit;
1 Corinthians 14:4: Strong's G3618 -edifies- oikodomeō: “to build a house, to repair, restore, to promote growth in Christian wisdom, affection, grace, virtue, holiness, blessedness“, the first part points to restoring our house, which is our body.
Isaiah 28:11-12: "For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, to whom He said, "This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest", and, “This is the refreshing”, God will speak to His people in other tongues and you will experience His rest; by speaking in other tongues you will be set free from stress and be reenergized.

Does speaking in tongues make us better than someone else?

No ... never, it is simply about doing His will in humble surrender.
If we think we are more than another, we are wrong and God's Spirit is not in us, after all pride comes before a fall.
But it would be a shame if we did not desire this, because much more could be done in the Kingdom of God.
After all, it was not without reason that Jesus says the believers will speak with new tongues [Mark 16:17], and Paul also encourages us in 1 Corinthians 14 to build ourselves up with the spirit and to direct ourselves to God.

Can it come from the devil if we ask for that gift from God?

Absolutely not, as you will ask this gift from your heavenly Father and Lord Jesus.

Matthew 7:7: ask and it will be given to you.
Matthew 7:9-10: a father shall not give his son a stone for bread, nor a serpent for a fish.
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” [Luke 11:13]
1 John 5:13-15: when will God certainly hear our request, when it is according to the will of God: “if we ask anything according to His will”.
God is faithful and trustworthy and is certain to fill you with His Spirit if you ask Him [Ephesians 5:18: “be filled with the Spirit”].
Be assured that He has filled you with His Spirit with or without unknown tongues, hallelujah.
As soon as you are filled and you have received the gift of other tongues, even if it is one strange sound, word or a few (incomprehensible) words, be grateful to God.
Do not listen to the enemy's false accusations and do not doubt, your heavenly Father is trustworthy your tongue is from God; continue to use/pray those few supernatural words regularly, and soon enough you will receive more.

How can we be Baptized IN the Holy Spirit and receive this gift of speaking/praying in unknown tongues?

Jesus specifically told His disciples to wait for the Holy Ghost to come upon them, “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high." "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”” [Luke 24:49]

“Endued” - endyō has to do with being clothed with, "to sink into clothing, put on, clothe one's self". You will be immersed, clothed, yes, anointed by the Spirit of God with tongues of fire.

"Power" - dynamis stands for: "inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth power for performing miracles."

This Clothing/Covering with the Holy Ghost is accompanied by speaking in unknown/other tongues. Once you are Filled with the Holy Spirit, He will empower you to be a powerful witness, to pray effectively, to humbly serve in Agape love, and to only desire to exalt King Jesus who deserves all the glory forever and ever.

A) The Scriptures show us that the Holy Spirit can come down from heaven, as He did on the day of Pentecost. In like manner, the household of Cornelius experienced this Overflow. [Acts 2:4; 10:1-48] Hence, some will immediately at their conversion be Baptized in the Holy Ghost and speak in unknown tongues.

B) But this can also occur at another moment while you are waiting in His Presence and asking with child-like faith to be Filled with the Holy Spirit.

If you have not yet received this Infilling or Baptism in the Holy Ghost and you have already started your journey with the Lord, maybe you can go through these steps and see whether you have complied with these requirements:

Repent and be baptized. [Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38]
Be hungry and thirsty for the Holy Spirit to Fill you till overflowing. [John 7:37-39; Matthew 5:6; Acts 1:4-5]
Ask Lord Jesus in faith and thank Him for His faithfulness, as He is the Giver of the Holy Ghost. Can Father God or King Jesus lie? Never, never, never! So here is what our Blessed Lord says, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” [Luke 11:9-13; other Bible verses: Matthew 3:11; Matthew 7:9-11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:29-33; James 1:6]

Step 1: Inhale and Drink:

Now humbly ask God for this gift and thank the Lord Jesus for filling you with His Holy Spirit; this is, as it were, breathing in or drinking of the Spirit of God. Once you have child-like asked for the Baptism in the Spirit of God, and knowing that God is faithful and true to His Promise; Inhale and/or drink as it were the abundance of the Holy Spirit as Jesus promised, “whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” [John 4:14; other verses: John 7:38-39; Mark 11:24; Romans 8:32]

Step 2: Exhale and Speak:

Now speak in faith the sounds/strange words that come to your heart and mind, you don't have to be ashamed of it; this is the breathing out (the fountain of water) of the Holy Spirit, uttering unknown language/tongues.

Jesus says, "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." [Matthew 24:34c] While submitting your tongue to the Holy Spirit and glorifying God utter the unknown words that the Spirit of God gives you to speak. [Psalm 39:1-3; Proverbs 12:14; 13:2; 18:21; James 1:26; 3:2-10] Remember, it is you who speak this Supernatural Language. [Acts 2:4; 19:5-6]

Reminders

Realize, it cannot be understood by the mind, it requires childlike faith.
Know that it is you who should speak, yet inspired by the Spirit of God. As Acts 2:4; 19:6 declares, “and they,” the believers, “spoke with tongues”; if you wait for the Spirit of God to speak through you, you will have to wait a long time, the Holy Spirit inspires but it is you who speak.
The evil one may tell you that you are faking it or that what you are saying is something dirty or bad, don't listen to him; that/those first unknown word/s is/are enough; with time your vocabulary of tongues will grow.
True prayer in tongues will never have you seek to exalt yourself or seek glory, for the fruit of God's Spirit is love and humility, and only seeks to give God the glory and honor.
It is primarily about Christ's compassion for the lost and for our brothers and sisters, after all God's Spirit of holiness intercedes for the saints (Romans 8:27,34; Ephesians 6:18-19) and does not want one soul to perish, and neither do we. (2 Peter 3:9)

C) Another way to be Baptized in -Filled with- the Holy Spirit is by the laying on of hands by God’s servants. [Acts 1:8; 8:12-19; 9:10-20; 19:1-6]
If it really doesn't work for you having gone through the above steps, ask the spiritual leadership of your church to pray with you with the laying on of hands; however, before you do the latter, check whether you have already been baptized by immersion, see especially Acts 19:5-6.

At first, you might just receive a few unknown words granted by the Holy Spirit.
As you faithfully seek more from the Lord, you will grow in fellowship with Jesus, and before you know it, you may receive the gift of tongues [1 Corinthians 12:4,10-11] which are an extensive version of this Supernatural Language. The latter is usually for His ministry to empower you to be an effective witness with compassion for the lost, to strengthen your faith, to pray mysteries in the Spirit for our brethren in Christ, while sharing Agape love (selfless Divine love, as one of the fruit of the Spirit) for Jesus to be glorified.
Once again, the sign or evidence of being Filled with the Holy Ghost -Baptized IN the Holy Spirit- is the speaking in unknown tongues. [Joel 2:8-9; Acts 2:4,16; 10:44-46; 19:6]
If this is nothing for you, you could still be used mightily by God, just like Billy Graham who led millions to faith in Christ Jesus, and as far as known never spoke in tongues. As written in 1 Corinthians 12:30, "Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak in tongues?" The answer is no, but if you long for God to use you in a Supernatural manner, that would be wonderful.
Walking in Supernatural miracles are often catalyzed/induced by praying in your Supernatural language in the Presence of Lord Jesus.
Finally, if you do desire to speak in tongues and you have not received it yet, you might need to fast specifically to receive your breakthrough. However, do realize that God does not do anything without a purpose. In the end it is all about God's purpose and His will who He wants to grant a specific gift. [1 Corinthians 12:8-11]

What is it about laying on of hands?

For healing and deliverance, for sharing a blessing, for passing an anointing or for ministry.

When we study the New Testament, we see Jesus touching the leper, the blind, the sick, and they are healed. Can you imagine all the people were afraid to come near a leper, but Jesus lovingly touched that leprous person, and he was healed at once. A woman suffering for 12 years, in faith, touched His clothes and was immediately healed by the healing virtue and power that flows from Jesus. [Matthew 8:1-3,14-15; 9:18-22; Mark 1:40-42; 8:22–25; Luke 4:40-41; 6:17-19]
Jesus also authorizes His followers to lay hands on the sick so that the sick can be healed. “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” [read Mark 16:15-20]
The aforementioned can be done, because Jesus delegates His authority to His disciples, “Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” This delegated authority by Jesus is granted to the obedient servant of God and is a legitimate right to execute God's will, in which the Holy Spirit comes into action, "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you." "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?" [Matthew 12:28; Hebrews 1:14] Sometimes even God's angels will intervene.
In any case, Jesus confirms His word by adding, “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” [Luke 9:1-2; 10:19]
In other instances, Jesus heals and/or delivers those afflicted simply by speaking His Word of Authority, and the evil and foul spirits must obey and are then cast out. [Exodus 15:26-27; Psalm 107:20; Isaiah 53:5; Matthew 8:16-17; Mark 3:1-5; Luke 4:31-39]
In the Old Testament we see Moses laying his hands on Joshua to pass on the anointing, who was to follow in his footsteps and lead the Israelites to the promised land. [Numbers 27:18]
In Acts 13:1-5 the church leaders also laid hands on Paul and Barnabas before they went to evangelize the world.
We can also bless our family members and others by laying our hands on them, just like Jacob (later called Israel) did. [Genesis 48:14-16]
To sum up, why lay hands? Because we follow the instructions given by our Lord Jesus in faith and obedience to the Scriptures, but we must have the conviction of the Holy Spirit, if this is something we are allowed to do. Discernment of the Holy Ghost is required, as it is not always necessary or even wise to lay hands on a person. Sometimes we can simply speak the Word of faith, another time we should suggest that person to study the Word, and often we will have those who are actively in the ministry to have them pray with laying on of hands. [1 Timothy 5:22]

Important Vitamin to Memorize:

The following is Jesus’ Golden Love Rule in conformity with God’s character and nature:

Vitamin D1: “And just as you want men to DO to you, you also DO to them likewise.”

[Luke 6:31]

QUESTIONS On Chapter 3: How to Overcome Temptations

If you don’t know the answer, return to the text of that specific question and reread/restudy the relevant Bible verses until you grasp it.

“For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

[1 John 3:8b]

Answer these questions in your own words.

1. What are temptations?

2. How should we deal with temptation?

3. Short-term pleasure versus final outcome in eternity:

4. Pray in advance:

5. Declare the Word:

6. Vitamin F2: Romans 8:31b:

7. Vitamin S1: Proverbs 29:25:

8. The Holy Spirit is our Helper, in what sense?

9. Vitamin F3: Galatians 5:22-23:
10. Don’t focus on the negative, but transform your mind through the positive Word:

11. Vitamin M1: Romans 12:1-2:

12. Abide in Christ:

13. Run away from sin:

14. Be not deceived:

15. Persevere with your eyes on Jesus:

16. Join a Bible-faithful church:

17. Vitamin C3: Philippians 1:6:

18. What is the Baptism by and in the Holy Spirit?

19. Why speak and pray in God's supernatural language?

20. How can we be baptized IN the Holy Spirit?

21. What is it about laying on of hands?

22. Vitamin D1: Luke 6:31: