Much has been taught and preached on this subject, some for and some against. The main objection that most have is how can we get more of God, when we already received all of Him at salvation? My answer is that it is not really about you getting more of God; instead, it is about God getting more of you.
Most people who struggle with doctrines about the baptism of the Spirit will agree that they could use more surrender in their lives. Now I am not saying that one group of Christians might be better than another. That would be foolishness. Nor am I saying that one group is more submitted. In reality we all need to give more of ourselves to God. That is the reason for this entire book. But, the baptism of the Spirit occurs when someone just comes to God with the desire to give more of themselves to God. Whether or not they actually do is between them and the Lord.
If you are such a person, and I believe that you are, then there are some things you can do to cause this encounter to happen easily. Realize that everyone is different so God deals with everyone differently. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is for every believer, but every believer receives from God differently. In my case, I was seeking God for the baptism an entire year before I received it. I have come to the conclusion that the factor that determines when you receive is almost always one of faith. Since I became a pastor, I have found it easy and fast to help others receive the baptism, once I began focusing on the seeker’s faith.
Just like the struggle to hear God, you must believe that God loves you enough to baptize you with His Spirit, and that He wants to baptize you. As I will discuss later, The Lord told me that the Holy Spirit is God’s expression of love. So, those who have been baptized with the Spirit of God have received a manifestation of God’s deep love for them.
Before you begin, you must settle in your heart if you believe that God loves you enough to fill you with His Spirit. Notice that this question you are asking yourself bears a striking resemblance to the intimacy of marriage. I am not being vulgar here. The Lord prayed in John 17 that we would be one with God just as He and the Father were one. Paul tells us that we are to be married to Christ receiving the fruit of intimacy (Romans 7:4). This descriptive language is to show just how deep the intimacy is that God desires to have with us. If you are part of the Bride and a son then the answer is a definitive, “Yes, He does love me enough.” But if you only view yourself as a servant or hired hand, then you might be struggling with this question. I have found that it is often older men, who have grown accustomed to shame, that struggle with the idea of God loving them. You must settle this issue, before you can stand in faith.
If you have friends who are filled with the Spirit, ask them to help. If you feel more comfortable being ministered to, then doing this by yourself, then seek out a Godly minister who is also filled with the Spirit and follow his lead. I will outline what you should do if you are doing this alone or even with some friends. Please realize that you do not need another person to give you the baptism, it is Jesus who baptizes and He has already released the Spirit of God to you.
- After you have cleared your conscience through prayer and have dealt with the fear listed above then you are ready. Begin by creating an anointed atmosphere, put on some good Christian worship music that has allowed you to feel the presence of God. If you don’t have any, ask a friend to loan you some (please don’t pirate). You might not have ever felt the presence of God before or understand what the anointing feels like. You are looking for the music to stir emotions, causing you to feel God’s love and causing you to feel drawn towards Him.
- Now ask the Holy Spirit to come and fill the room with His presence. If you have friends over to help, they should start praying in tongues and/or interceding. Open your heart up to feel new things and begin to worship. If you have a friend who has a good ability to sense the presence of God then ask them to lay hands on you when they feel the time is right. If not, then you will lay hands on yourself.
- When you start to feel the presence of God in the room, then you know that you are ready to receive. Lay a hand on your heart and say, “In the name of Jesus, receive the Holy Spirit.”
- Immediately open your mouth and by faith begin to speak in tongues. You will have to resist the urge to be fearful and second guess yourself, or try to continue speaking in English. But, trust that if you can feel the presence of God, and if you have settled in your heart that He does loves you, then He will fill you and He is filling you. Do not doubt, speak.
If you find that nothing seems to happen, do not fret. Seek the help of a local minister. It could be that you have unresolved issues in your heart. Those issues could be fears of rejection, judgments or unforgiveness toward others, or feelings of unworthiness. Do not fret. Jesus said, “Seek and you will find, knock and it will be open to you.” He will fill you; He wants to fill you. As I said earlier, it was a year before I was filled. In that year The Lord did some amazing things within my heart.