Baptism of the Holy Spirit

This is one my favorite sessions of the entire Freedom Prayer Conference.

Just before ascending to heaven, Jesus very clearly told His disciples to stay in Jerusalem until they experienced the baptism in the Spirit. He described baptism in the Spirit as a gift from the Father had promised to give them.

John 20:22 “Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

We need the Spirit’s power in order to demonstrate and maintain both a transformed life and a supernatural ministry that together serve to advance the Gospel message to the world. We need to be saturated with the Holy Spirit so that His extraordinary character can come to the foreground of our lives and help us to live in such a way that God is continually glorified.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). None of these characteristics originate in us. They come from the Spirit of God.

Likewise, we need the power of the Holy Spirit to live out the dumanis - power. We cannot be transformed on our own but need saturation of the Holy Spirit.

How does this baptism in the Holy Spirit actually occur?

First, Scripture is not formulaic in its approach; it does not outline a single, step-by-step process. As an obvious starting point, though, the Scripture does point first to submitting to the lordship of Jesus Christ. There is no point or opportunity to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit if we have not embraced Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Additionally, on more than one occasion the Holy Spirit is poured out when another believer lays hands on and prays for the recipient.

Though this is certainly not seen as an absolute, or the only way to be baptized with the Spirit, it is commonly described. Most important, though, in Luke 11:13 (NLT)Jesus says the Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask. In verses 9-10 of that passage, Jesus tells us how to ask. "And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened."

Continue to pursue Him!

In Acts chapter 1, we find a demonstration of this principle. The text tells us that once the disciples knew that God wanted to give them this second experience, this baptism in the Spirit, they didn’t leave Jerusalem and go their separate ways, but instead joined together and devoted themselves to seeking the Father and praying for this gift until it was received. For them, it took ten days!

Jesus told us that when we pray, we should believe that we have already received from Him, even while we are asking (Mark 11:24 “I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.”

Based on this principle, here is one possible outline for receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit. We encourage you to find a member of the prayer team and ask them to lay hands on you and pray.

Understand that we must first give our lives over to Jesus. Confess Him as your Lord and Savior, turn from your sins, trust in His grace, and devote yourself completely to Him.

Understand that Jesus wants to baptize us with the Holy Spirit in order to fill us with Christlike character and to give us power to be witnesses for Him in this world.

Ask the Lord Jesus to baptize you in the Holy Spirit.

Choose to believe and receive by faith this promised gift of God.

Expect both immediate and ongoing, long-term transformation.

Anticipate speaking in tongues and choose to do so as the Spirit enables you.

Expect and seek additional spiritual gifts, biblical manifestations of the Spirit’s power.