John Graham Lake (March 18, 1870 – September 16, 1935), usually known as John G. Lake, was a businessman who became known for his ministry as a missionary, faith healer, and founder of the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa. He was influenced by the healing ministry of John Alexander Dowie, and he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit in 1907 in the wake of the Azusa Street Revival. (Wikipedia)
"At this time, in addition to my work as a minister of the gospel, I was engaged as manager of agents for a life insurance company. During the period of which I now speak, I preached practically every night. After our services, I was in the habit of joining a circle of friends who, like myself, were determined to pray through into God to where we could receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as we believed the early disciples had received it.
It was my belief that not only should my spirit ascend into a new consciousness of God’s presence, but that the evident and conscious power of God should come upon my life. In my consecration to God, again and again I said, “God, if You will baptize me in the Holy Spirit and give me the power of God, nothing shall be permitted to stand between me and a hundredfold obedience.”
I continued to meet with these friends almost every night for months. A blessed woman of God who was visiting in our city and was being entertained at my home, observing the anguish of my spirit, said to me one day, “Come aside and let us pray.” As we knelt she said, “As we pray, if God reveals any cause of hindrance to you why you do not receive the baptism of the Spirit, you will tell me, and if He reveals any cause to me, I will tell you.” We prayed, and no hindrance was revealed to either of us. Then she said, “We will obey the Word of God and the practice of the early church.” Laying her hands on my head, she beseeched God that I might receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
A deep calm settled upon me. In the afternoon, a brother minister called and invited me to accompany him to visit a lady who was sick. Arriving at the home, we found a lady in a wheelchair. All her joints were set with inflammatory rheumatism. She had been in this condition for ten years. While my friend was conversing with her, preparing her to be prayed with, in order that she might be healed, I sat in a deep chair on the opposite side of the large room.
My soul was crying out to God in a yearning too deep for words, when suddenly it seemed to me that I had passed under a shower of warm tropical rain, which was not falling upon me but falling through me. My spirit and soul and body, under this influence, were soothed into such a deep, still calm as I had never known. My brain, which had always been so active, became perfectly still. An awe of the presence of God settled over me. I knew it was God.
Some moments passed; I do not know how many. The Spirit said, “I have heard your prayers, I have seen your tears. You are now to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.” The seeming rain ceased, but it had left such a calm, such a quiet of God upon me as my words cannot tell. Then currents of power began to rush through my being from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet. These shocks of power increased in rapidity and voltage. As these currents of power would pass through me, they seemed to come upon my head, rush through my body and through my feet into the floor. This power was so great that my body began to vibrate intensely, so that I believe if I had not been sitting in such a deep, low chair, I might have fallen upon the floor.
An overwhelming consciousness of God’s presence possessed me. A new rush of power, taking hold of my very flesh, seemed to come from my feet and move upward. My throat and tongue began to move in a strange manner, and I found that I was unable to speak English. Presently, I began to speak in another language, one that I had never learned, by the power of the Spirit.
For years I had been a profound student of psychic phenomena and had observed among different bodies of Christian people various manifestations. Sometimes they would be of the Spirit of God, but other times they were purely psychic. I prayed, “Father, You know that I have witnessed many phases of psychic phenomena. Is this the power of God that is coursing through my being, or is it some characteristic of psychic manifestation? Is it real power, or do I just think it is power? Father, I want to know.”
God answered that heart cry in the following manner. At that instant, I observed my friend was motioning me to come and join him in prayer for the woman who was sick. In his absorption, he had not observed that anything had taken place in me. I arose to go to him but found my body was trembling so violently that I had great difficulty in walking across the room, and especially in controlling the trembling of my hands and arms. I was familiar with sick people, having ministered to them for so many years. I knew it would not be wise to thus lay my hands upon the sick woman, as I was likely to jar her.
It occurred to me that all that was necessary was to touch the tips of my fingers on the top of the patient’s head, and then the vibrations would not jar her. This I did. At once, the currents of holy power passed through my being, and I knew that it likewise passed through the one who was sick. She did not speak but apparently was amazed at the effect in her body. My friend, who had been talking to her, had been kneeling as he talked to her in his great earnestness. He arose, saying, “Let us pray that the Lord will now heal you.”
As he did so, he took her by the hand. At the instant their hands touched, a flash of dynamic power went through my person and through the sick woman, and as my friend held her hand, the shock of power passed through her hand into him. The rush of power into his person was so great that it caused him to fall on the floor. He looked up at me with joy and surprise and, springing to his feet, said, “Praise the Lord, John, Jesus has baptized you in the Holy Ghost!”
Then he took the crippled hand that had been set for so many years. The clenched hands opened, and the joints began to work—first the fingers, then the hand and wrist, then the elbow, shoulder, etc. These were the outward manifestations, but, oh, who could describe the thrills of joy inexpressible that were passing through my spirit? Who could comprehend the peace and presence of God that filled my soul?
The sanctifying power of the Spirit in my very flesh, subduing all my nature unto what I understood was the nature of Christ. The revelation of His will, the unspeakable tenderness that possessed me, a love for mankind such as I never had known—all were born within."
In Jesus,
Tyrone
