How to Receive the Holy Spirit

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There is a spiritual encounter or experience you need after salvation, it is called baptism of the Holy Spirit.  It is very important for you as a believer to receive the Holy Spirit if you are going to grow and mature in the ways of the Lord and become an effective Christian. You need to receive the Holy Spirit before you can get power from God to perform miracles, signs and wonders on the earth. Until you receive the Holy Spirit you can’t be able to live a holy and righteous life as a Christian. When you are born again, you become a primary target of the devil and his agents, you need to receive the Holy Spirit to be able to overcome all the attacks of the enemy.

Forget about your titles, money, academic qualifications, political office and the rest, there is absolutely nothing you can do as a Christian without the Holy Spirit.

 The need to receive the Holy Spirit as a believer in Christ cannot be over-emphasized.

The Bible says,

“For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence” Acts 1:5

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” Acts 1:8

Do you desire to receive the Holy Spirit but don’t know how to make it happen? This post is for you.  I will show you pragmatically,  how to receive the Holy Spirit into your life. Please read every line of this post very carefully, a supernatural encounter with the Holy Spirit awaits you as you read further.

What is Baptism of the Holy Spirit?

Baptism of the Holy Spirit does not mean to perform water baptism. The Holy Spirit baptism and water baptism are two different things. It is not that goose bump you feel in your body when you sing some spiritual songs. It is not the shouting and noise we hear in some Christian meetings. It is not the falling on the ground and breaking of chairs you might have witnessed in some churches during prayer sessions. So what does it really mean to be baptized with the Holy Spirit or to receive the Holy Spirit? The Bible says,

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all the flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit” Joel 2:28-29

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon a believer as a sign of spiritual empowerment for the purpose of effective Christian service. You receive the Holy Spirit when the Holy Spirit is poured out on you from God.

I want you to understand that receiving the Holy Spirit is for every believer. It is not for some selected Christians. It doesn’t matter if you are a man or woman, as long as you are a born again Christian, you can receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit baptism is not only for Pastors, every believer can receive the Holy Spirit.

Who is the Holy Spirit Baptizer?

This is one question that is usually asked by new believers. The answer to this question is Jesus Christ.

No pastor or servant of God can give you the Holy Spirit by his or her own strength or ability.

Jesus Christ is the Holy Spirit baptizer.

He is the only one who can baptize His children with the Holy Spirit. And He can do it directly with His own hands or use Holy Spirit anointed human channel.

I can still remember how I received the Holy Spirit. It was directly from the hands of the master Jesus Christ Himself.

No one prayed for me or laid hands on me to receive the Holy Spirit. That was many years ago in 2001.

After my salvation, I was very hungry to know God better and to receive power to serve Him. That hunger for His presence and power drove me to my knees to pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

 It was about getting dark that blessed night, my siblings had gone to the kitchen with my mother to cook diner and I was the only one left in the sitting room. The sitting room was dark as there was no light left with me there, so I began pray. Within few minutes into the prayer, the portal of heaven was opened, a glorious light came into the sitting room as though someone had switched on the light in the room, and I was overwhelmed with the presence and power of the blessed Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave me utterance.

John the Baptist said concerning Jesus Christ in Mark 1:8

“I indeed have baptized you with water; but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost”.

So it is not olive oil from Jerusalem or mustard seed from Judea or holy water from Samaria that gives the Holy Spirit baptism. It is not the coat of the preacher or his handkerchief that gives the Holy Spirit. It is Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit baptizer.

How to Receive the Holy Spirit

The way to receive the Holy Spirit is not too different from the way you received Jesus Christ into your life. Here is How to receive the Holy Spirit.

1. You must be born again

The church auditorium is for everybody but the Holy Spirit baptism is only for those who are born again and have received Jesus Christ as lord and personal savior. Until you are saved, you don’t qualify to receive the Holy Spirit. You must receive salvation before you can receive baptism of the Holy Spirit. You need to know and meet Jesus Christ first before you can know and meet the Holy Spirit. So if you want to receive the Holy Spirit, the first thing you need to do is to repent from your sins and give your life to Christ, if you have never done so. Once that is done you are ready for the next step. The bible says,

“As many that received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” John 1:12

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord” Acts 3:19

Your repentance from sin is what makes for your acceptance by the Holy Spirit. The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. For righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to anybody.  Jesus Christ saves.! Therefore, give your life to Christ and you will be on your way to receiving the Holy Spirit.

2. You Need a Hunger and Thirst of the Soul

If you want to receive the Holy Spirit, you need a burning desire and hunger in your heart for the Holy Spirit. Until your hunger to receive the Holy Spirit becomes greater than your hunger for your daily food, you are not ready to receive the Holy Spirit. Whatever you don’t desire, you don’t deserve. Your expectation determines your experience. So get hungry for His presence if you want to receive Him. When you are genuinely hungry to receive the Holy Spirit, it will show. You don’t need to tell anyone that you are hungry for the Holy Spirit. When you are genuinely hungry for the Spirit, even the Holy Spirit will know it. One thing about hunger is that it is has no respect for gender, age or skin color. When hunger comes, every other activity is suspended until you are satisfied. Have you been in the church for many years yet not being filled with the Holy Spirit? This is your season. God wants to pour out His Spirit upon your life now like never before. Just turn on your hunger for the Spirit of God and the rest will be a testimony. The bible says,

“For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring” Isaiah 44:3

“Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters” Isaiah 55:1

3. Pray and Ask God to give you the Holy Spirit

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If you desire to receive the Holy Spirit, you need to turn your desire into prayer. Holy Ghost visitation is always preceded by prayer invitation. If there is no invitation through prayer, there will be no visitation. That’s because the Holy Spirit is a gentle Spirit. He will never force his way into your life. He respects your choice and decisions. Until you ask for the Holy Spirit, you won’t receive Him. It’s only when you seek Him through prayer that you will find Him. The Holy Spirit does not strive with mortals. The bible says,

“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?” Luke 11:13

The Holy Spirit is freely given to them that ask for Him. Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find.

4. Receive the Holy Spirit by Faith

Without faith you cannot receive anything from God. Faith gives us access into our inheritance in Christ. Everything we receive from God in the Spirit realm only gets to our hands in the physical through faith. Faith is believing and accepting that you have what God says that you have, and therefore acting that way. You don’t believe with your brain, you believe with your heart. It may not make sense to your brain or reason, but faith doesn’t walk by sight or feelings. You don’t need to feel anything. Faith is not a feeling. It is a conviction. After you have prayed and asked for the Holy Spirit, the next thing is to receive Him in your heart by faith. At this point you need to open your mouth and begin to declare your faith that you have received Him. As you express your faith with your mouth, you will experience an overwhelming power of His presence and automatically you will burst out in other tongues as you give God thanks and glory. Believing is a choice. Refuse to doubt what you already have. Choose to believe. What you believe is what you receive. The bible says,

“Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” Mark 11:24

Biblical Methods or Channels through which we can Receive the Holy Spirit.

There is one viral video that I watched where one agent of darkness in the form of a clergyman told his church members while he was preaching to remove their clothes and underwears for the Holy Spirit to enter into their bodies. That is very Satanic and diabolical. You don’t need to strip yourself to your underwears in the public before the Holy Spirit can enter into your body. The Holy Spirit can enter into your body even if you are wearing all the clothes you have on your body. You don’t need to drink poison or eat grass like a goat to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Don’t allow any satanic agent to deceive you in the name of ministering the Holy Spirit to you. Anyone asking you to go and bath naked in the river to receive the Holy Spirit is only trying to initiate you into the kingdom of darkness. Any man wearing white garment who is asking you to come and sleep with him for you to receive the Holy Spirit is only planning to rape you. Please be wise and know the truth for yourself. You don’t need to dehumanize yourself or commit any sacrilege before you can receive the Holy Spirit.  To receive the Holy Spirit is very easy. Please don’t make a mountain out of a molehill concerning the whole stuff.

 2 major biblical methods or channels through which the Holy Spirit can be ministered to a believer are:

(A)  By the laying of hands

“And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them, and they spake with tongues and prophesied” Acts 19:6

Believers can receive the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands by the Apostles and anointed servants of God who are carriers of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is contagious and transferable. The human vessel carrying the Holy Spirit can release Him to others by laying hands on their heads. Note whenever a believer receives the Holy Spirit, one authentic proof that will credit that encounter is speaking in tongues. You don’t need to learn how to speak in tongues as some people do. Fake speaking in tongues carries no spiritual power. You don’t need to imitate others who speak it. It is wrong to do that. It is the Holy Spirit that gives the believer the utterance and ability to speak in tongues. Only that which is from above is above all.

(B) By breathing or blowing of the wind with the mouth

“And when he had said, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost” John 20:22

Another biblical method a human vessel who is a carrier of the Holy Spirit can minister or release the Holy Spirit to another believer is by breathing or blowing on the one who wants to receive the Holy Spirit. The breathing or blowing of the mouth should go together with a command of faith- receive the Holy Ghost! When this is done properly, the result is usually positive.

Conclusion
Receiving the Holy Spirit is very crucial for every believer in Christ. And Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon a believer. When you receive the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God comes to live and dwell in you and your body becomes His temple. Then He will speak through your mouth, walk with your legs and see through your eyes. Jesus Christ is the Holy Spirit baptizer, not the pastor or any spiritual material. It’s very easy to receive the Holy Spirit. Just get born again, desire to receive Him, pray and ask God for the Holy Spirit and receive Him by faith. God bless you.

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