How Do You Receive the Holy Spirit?

In high school, I prayed to be able to speak in tongues. I thought I already had the Holy Spirit because that's what we were taught, and I never questioned it. But I knew I couldn't speak in tongues and that it was real. I'd witnessed it and I'd read about it in the Bible. I wanted that. I wanted to feel special, but more than that, I didn't want to feel like I was missing out on something. When I brought up to people who could speak in tongues that I wanted to be able to do that as well, they couldn't tell me how to have that in my life. It would take me until my first year of college, to have this ability and even then I couldn't have told you how it came about. I couldn't have told you how to have it for yourself. And I couldn't have told you, at that time, that the moment I was able to speak in tongues was when I actually received the Holy Spirit that the Bible talks about. But today.... today I can tell you how to receive the Holy Spirit. And when you receive the Spirit you will speak in tongues. Before you go on the defensive and insist you have the Spirit even though you don't speak in tongues or that not everyone who receives the Spirit will speak in tongues, take a deep breath and remember that the Bible is the authority on the subject and we need to line our lives up with it if we want a real relationship with Christ. Let's look at what the word says.

Let's recap.

The Old Testament prophesied that one day the people of God would be able to have the Spirit of God inside them. Before that, only certain people would have the Spirit put on them for specific purposes. 

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

Peter quotes this verse in Acts 2 when the men of Judea were questioning the speaking in tongues they were hearing.

Isaiah 28:11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. 12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

Paul quotes this verse in 1 Corinthians 14:21 regarding speaking in tongues.

The Bible has a lot of negative things to say about the human tongue. Because people can bless and curse with the same tongue and the Bible says no man can tame the tongue, it really makes sense that the sign of receiving the Holy Spirit is that God gives a way to tame the tongue and give us a language that we can't corrupt. The Old Testament prophesied...

Zephaniah 3:9 For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.

In John 3:8 and Mark 16:17 Jesus said that we must be born of water (full immersion baptism) and Spirit to be saved and that everyone born of the Spirit would speak in tongues. I've discussed the incorrect translating in John 3:8 in other posts, but the word translated "wind" is the exact same Greek word that everywhere else is translated Spirit and the word "sound" is everywhere else translated as voice or language. The Wycliffe Bible brings out the original Greek perfectly.

John 3:8 The Spirit breatheth where he will, and thou hearest his voice, but thou knowest not, from whence he cometh, nor whither he goeth; so is each man that is born of the Spirit.

The salvation accounts in Acts 2, 10-11, and 19 confirm this teaching that salvation requires turning from our way to God's (repentance), full immersion baptism with an idea of the truth by someone preaching the truth, and receiving the Holy Spirit with the evidence of tongues.

Acts 8 and 19 salvation accounts confirm that we don't receive the Holy Spirit automatically the moment we accept the word or are baptized. There is a definite moment where we go from being without the Spirit to having the Spirit. And when we receive the Spirit it will be with power and signs (speaking in tongues).

Romans 8:9 reminds us that no one belongs to Christ before the moment they have received his Spirit.

Still struggling with the requirement of salvation?

I've gone into more detail in a previous blog. I've gone into more detail about speaking in tongues and baptism as well.  What you need to take away from this entry though is that the Holy Spirit was a promise. And that it's for everyone, no longer just for some.

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

John 3:8 (Wycliffe Bible to bring out the original meaning which was discussed in an earlier blog) The Spirit breatheth where he will, and thou hearest his voice, but thou knowest not, from whence he cometh, nor whither he goeth; so is each man that is born of the Spirit.

Acts 2:21 (quoted from Joel 2:32) And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Keep it in context, Peter is explaining what they were seeing and hearing with 120 people speaking in new tongues. He's not saying you just have to pray or call on Jesus).

So how do you receive the Holy Spirit?

Notice I didn't say "how do you speak in tongues?".  You speak in tongues by the power of the Spirit. Speaking in tongues is the voice of the Spirit. When you receive the Spirit you will speak in tongues. With that in mind, I urge you to seek for the Holy Spirit. That's the life and power of God that you need. Seek for the Spirit. Seek to be given this promise, this undeserved gift. Don't seek after the language because that will come automatically. When a man and woman want to bring life in the world, their goal isn't to bring a cry, it's to have a baby. When they have a baby, the baby will cry. Same with us, we need new life. We need to be born again. We don't seek to cry, we seek that life and when we have that new life by the Spirit, we will cry out by that same Spirit.

But again, how? How do we receive the Spirit? I've touched on it before but let's hammer it in today.

John 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Let's look at John 7 for more clarification on the living water.

John 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

The living water Jesus  referred to in both of these passages is the Holy Spirit. He tells the woman at the well in chapter four that she could receive the gift of the Spirit by asking. Of course, it wasn't actually available at that time (because " the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified" but Jesus was letting this woman know that the promise was coming through him. 

Luke 11:5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? 7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. 8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. 9 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. 10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 11 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? 12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 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?

Once again Jesus says the Holy Spirit is given to those who ask Him. Sometimes you do have to be like the guy banging on the door for bread. Not everyone receives the Spirit the first time they pray (Take Acts for example). You have to keep asking until you know you've received it. And you know you've received because you have the Biblical evidence of speaking in new tongues.

Things that could be holding you back and what to do about them.

Giving up - Some people receive right away when they pray for the Spirit. Some have to pray a couple times or a couple days, or like in my case, a couple of years. But everyone who keeps seeking will find. "He who hungers and thirsts after righteousness shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6).  The number one reason people don't receive is because they've stopped asking. If you keep asking, like Luke 11 says, you will receive. What should asking look like? Praying out loud. That simple. Tongues is an audible language so you need to be praying out loud for your tongue to change. If it helps, you can repeat 'hallelujah". It's not a magic formula but it is the highest form of praise and it gives you something to say out loud so that you don't have to occupy your mind with what to pray next. If you've been praying for a while and haven't received give that a shot. If you feel yourself tripping over words then keep going, don't stop and force yourself to pray in English because it's possible that you're very close at that moment.

Fear/Lack of Faith - I've heard people make the argument that there are false tongues or that they're afraid it's not of God. First of all, the Bible makes no mention of false tongues. Secondly, Jesus said in Luke 11 that if you being evil know how to give GOOD GIFTS to your children, how much more will the Father give the Holy Spirit to those asking Him? He's not going to allow you to receive something evil when you're praying for a good promise. Trust Him. And lastly, when you receive the Spirit and speak in tongues and continue to be able to speak in tongues whenever you want, you will KNOW you aren't making it up.  If you're struggling with belief don't be afraid to pray about that too. Ask God to reveal the truth to you. Let Him know you're struggling to understand and believe His words about salvation and the Holy Spirit. The Lord will show you and give you that measure of faith that you need. 

Lack of Repentance - Repentance doesn't mean to be sorry, it literally means to change your mind. It's the idea of "I was going this way but I'm going to stop thinking what I think, stop believing what I believe, stop heading the way my life is heading, turn around, and do things God's way.". Repentance is required for salvation. You can't have salvation on your own terms. You can't have this idea that you can be saved by a sinner's prayers and asking Jesus into your heart when those things aren't in the Bible. You can't pick and choose what Bible verses apply to you based on preference. Repentance is turning away from all of that and deciding you're going to trust God's word. Not having a repentant, humble heart can prevent people from receiving the Spirit or may it take longer to receive than it needs to. If 

Unforgiveness - There's plenty in the Bible that talks about how if we don't forgive others God won't forgive us.  Some of us have had real hurt in our lives. Some of us have been through trauma and in the natural it would make no sense for us to forgive. But we must keep in mind that sin is sin. Spiritually speaking, everyone who is separated from God is on the same level. If we want God to grant us forgiveness for our sins then we need to be willing to forgive others for theirs, even the really terrible ones.  If forgiveness is a struggle I encourage you to pray about that too. The Lord wants to help you forgive. The Lord wants to heal those hurting places that have a hard time letting go. Ask Him to heal your heart and mind. Ask Him to help you forgive. And at the same time, keep praying for the Spirit and trusting that God is faithful.

Doing things the same way - Huh? The salvation accounts in the Bible are all similar and yet different. They all have the same components of repentance, baptism, and receiving the Spirit but they all show examples of people receiving in different times in different circumstances. On the day of Pentecost the 120 were just praying together when the Spirit was poured out. They were just all in a room praying like Jesus told them to do in Acts 1. In Acts 10-11, Cornelius and his family received in the middle of Peter preaching to them in their house after the angel had told him "Send for Peter who will tell you words by which you will be saved". After they received they were commanded to be baptized. Acts 19 the 12 learners of Ephesus received after Paul explained the Holy Spirit and the truth to them and baptized them again. They'd already been baptized once before but not with a knowledge of the truth. Paul laid hands on them and prayed when they received. Then you have Acts 8, which doesn't mention speaking in tongues but we know they did because 1. That's what Jesus said would happen and 2. That's what all the other salvation accounts confirm. We also can see clearly that whatever did happen to them was obvious to onlookers and that it was so powerful that Simon the sorcerer wanted to buy the ability to impart the Holy Spirit with the laying on of hands. But what I really want to point out in Acts 8 is that it specifically says they had been baptized but hadn't received the Spirit yet. Disciples were sent back to them to pray with them again. 

If you've been praying on your own and haven't received then try switching it up and finding someone who is already spirit-filled and having them pray with you. Try going to a church meeting where the true gospel is preached and go ask them to pray with you to receive the Spirit, Maybe get baptized if you haven't been baptized since hearing the truth. Maybe get away from home or your friends or family and find a new place to pray. I know people who prayed for months at home and didn't receive until they left home for a weekend to spend time with a group of spirit-filled people. Our normal environment can be a big distraction sometimes. We're surrounded by noisy neighbors, piles of laundry, homework, and a to-do list. Setting all that aside and finding a quiet place can do wonders.

Have you already received the Holy Spirit? Make sure you're using it daily and feel free to share with me below how you received. I'd love to hear your testimony.

Having a hard time finding a church that preaches the same Gospel as Jesus or who will baptize you or pray with you for the Spirit? We'd love to have you join us anywhere worldwide for a Revival Fellowship meeting. Reach out to me to find the closest one to you. I'm always happy to pray with you as well.