Part 2: How to Get Empowered With God's Power Today
While the salvation message is very clear, some may wonder how to begin. Everyone’s process of salvation begins when they are born again of water (full immersion water baptism) and the Holy Spirit (being filled with the Holy Spirit), but how does someone seek God for the Holy Spirit anointing? The answer is very simple: pray.
There is no precise prerequisite to being born again of the Holy Spirit. Some people experience the anointing while being prayed for by others who are part of the Body of Christ (have themselves repented, been baptized in water and with the Holy Spirit, and are following the Lord’s will). Other people receive the Holy Spirit as they pray to God in solitude. Yet others experience the infilling of the Spirit as they come up out of the waters of baptism and seek the Lord at that point. We even know some people who have been baptized with the Holy Spirit as they’ve spoken to God while riding their motorbikes or driving their cars on the way home from a fellowship meeting, or when they’ve come across a particularly breathtaking patch of scenery, for example.
Receiving the Holy Spirit seems to depend on – quite simply yet very powerfully – the following:
1) The state of your heart – its desire to be obedient to Jesus, recognizing that you don’t line up to God’s standards and that you need Jesus’ help (the Holy Spirit is described as – among other things – the “Helper”). This is repentance. Sin (transgression against the righteousness of God) is the first thing you need to be convinced about if you’re going to come to the Savior (the name Jesus means “God saves”). If you don’t believe you’re a sinner, you’ll never believe in a Savior because you don’t think you need one to save you from the consequences of anything you’ve ever said, felt, or done.
In recognizing your sin, you also recognize the perfect goodness (or righteousness) of God and that when sin comes face to face with such purity, there is judgment – the inevitability of judgment when every detail of your entire life will be revisited before your Creator. To think of this and then desire an escape is healthy for you because then you will be open to what God has offered as the way out of such a dreaded dilemma. This is when you will be open to the precious message, “Jesus died for you so your sins may be forgiven, and you can claim Jesus as your Savior by being born again of water and the Holy Spirit.” (Note: Even if you’ve been filled with the Holy Spirit upon repentance, it’s still critical that you be baptized by full immersion in water. See below for more information.)
2) Actively asking for the Holy Spirit, or appealing earnestly to God. God didn’t create mankind as robots, pre-programmed to love and follow Him. He created us to possess free will whereby we freely make our own decisions, for only when we choose (fully of our own accord) to love God is it then true love.
Neither does God force the Holy Spirit upon us once we come to learn of Him. The Holy Spirit is God’s gift to us – if we want it. Some might sit tight and say, “I’m scared. I don’t want this. I want to be in charge of my life. I don’t want to obey anything or anyone other than my own desires and my own understanding.” If they do this, they’re creating a restrictive barrier that closes them to the experience. However, if they realize the Holy Spirit is pure holiness and He will only impart goodness – causing them to know miraculous love, joy, peace, and power, they will eagerly receive God’s life-transforming gift with humble gratitude. Scripture says the following:
Acts 5:32, “And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.”
Luke 11:9-13, “And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”
If you have never before sought the Lord for the infilling of the Holy Spirit, the best place to start is down on your knees. Determine to pray to God diligently and zealously until you experience that for which you hunger and thirst:
Hebrews 11:6, “…he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
The only people who “never” (or at least not yet) receive the Holy Spirit are those who 1) never ask or 2) give up asking. It is God’s promise. God yearns to fill all people with His power and glory, to see His Word come to be written on their hearts and minds:
2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us–ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
1 Timothy 2:4, “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
Hebrews 10:16, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;”
However, God wants to see people first come to Him with all sincerity and humility. He wants to test their obedience, to see how serious they are about responding to Truth and following the ways of His Son:
Matthew 10:38, “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.”
Ephesians 1:12-14, “That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest” (down payment) “of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”
God requires us to make the first move, and if we seek Him with a whole heart and with determination not to give up, He will reward us with His precious gift. Some people receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit the first time they ever ask, yet for others, it takes longer. God does not withhold His Spirit from us; only our efforts (or lack of) and state of heart can stand in the way. If you have sought the Lord for the Holy Spirit before, still without result, then search yourself; examine your thoughts and feelings. Perhaps there is something you need to “give over” to God before you are prepared to receive His gift:
Mark 8:35, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.”
John 12:25, “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.”
It’s also important to note that people who have previously sought after the Holy Spirit anointing, without result, may have been:
1) Praying for the wrong thing. For example, praying for the gift of speaking in tongues instead of simply the salvation power of the Holy Spirit (which incorporates all the gifts – extraordinary abilities – of the Holy Spirit).
2) Praying for the Holy Spirit as an “added extra” and not as a necessity for salvation. For instance, they believe they were saved when they were water baptized and/or “gave their heart to Christ,” and now they are simply praying for the Holy Spirit because it’s a “good thing to have.”
We find that these people have their prayers answered after they come to understand and accept the truth of the full biblical salvation message. At that point, they’re able to pray for the infilling of the Holy Spirit with complete humility.