How To Receive The Fullness of the Holy Spirit
Pastor Scott McDermott
It is not uncommon to hear the question: How can I receive the fullness of God’s Spirit in my life? Well, there is not one special way. You can receive it alone or in a group. You can have someone pray for you, or you can simply ask God to fill you. As we will see in our study of Acts, the fullness of the Spirit comes in a variety of contexts and through a variety of methods.
However, I have assembled a few basic guidelines to keep in mind as you seek God.
1. Be sincere in asking God to fill you with the Spirit. God loves the heart cry of the humble. There is no need to work up emotion to make something happen with God.
2. Ask God to show you any barriers that exist in your life that may keep you from receiving his fullness. There may be areas in your life where you have been resistant to him in the past, or even discounted his working. Or perhaps there are patterns in your life that you know are displeasing to God. As the Lord shows you these, confess them to him, renounce them and ask God to forgive you. God is always faithful and just to forgive us our sins (1 John 1.9)
Here is what this prayer might sound like:
"Lord, forgive me for getting involved in (name the sin). I acknowledge that this has been wrong for my life and that it has created a barrier between us. I renounce its authority over my life, Lord. I renounce all the works of the devil. Forgive me for allowing this in my life. Wash the sin away and make me clean. Thank you for taking this from my life. Lord, fill me and empower me with your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name. Amen."
3. Wait expectantly. Waiting is good, but waiting expectantly is better. When you ask God to fill you, believe that God intends to do that. Jesus prepared his disciples to pray this way when he taught them about God’s faithfulness in responding to such a request. As he said in Luke 11:
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for(ref1) a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (ref 2)
In Luke 11, asking, seeking and knocking are continuous actions. Jesus expects us to continuously ask for the empowering of the Spirit. Whenever we ask, we create an opportunity for God to bless us with his Spirit. So when you pray, pray expectantly.
4. Surrender your life more deeply to God. Prayers of empowering only come as we surrender all of our life God.
5. Don’t just focus on receiving, but also focus on releasing.
It was not uncommon in the early church for people to speak in a spiritual language as the Holy Spirit came upon them. All I am asking now is for you to be open to what God may want to do in you. Have you ever experienced something so great and wonderful you couldn’t find words to adequately express what you wanted to say? That is what this spiritual language is. This may happen to you as you pray this prayer. Unknown words may come to your mind, or sounds of syllables that seem foreign to you. If it does, allow the words to form in your mouth and just release them unto the Lord. Allow the Holy Spirit to enable you to pray. However, if you do not experience this release, don’t worry about that. Perhaps God will inspire you to worship him, or sing songs to him, or pour out your heart in a fresh way unto God. Just keep yourself open to God.
Ref 1:Some manuscripts for bread, will give him a stone; or if he asks for
Ref 2: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.) (Lk 11:9-13). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
