By Sidharth Mohandas
Repentance
The first requirement to receive the Spirit is repentance. As said earlier in the foundational series, the call to repentance is simply a call to a changed mentality (Acts 2:38). To those of you who are seeking Abba for the baptism in the Holy Spirit, this is God’s first instruction to you: change your mindset from one of legalism to one of grace. You cannot receive the Holy Spirit by your own merits. The Holy Spirit is exactly what He is called, a gift from Abba, and not a loan (Acts 2:38). Your access to this promise is simply because of what Jesus did for you on the Cross, period. The faster you adopt this mindset, the easier you can receive Him.
Thirst
Jesus stood and cried out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whosoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, rivers of living water shall flow from within him. By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” (John 7:37-39)
It moves my heart to see how Jesus “cried in a loud voice“; it shows us how important what He was saying really is. This promise is to those of you who believe in Jesus. However, the condition Jesus has put forth is not “if anyone believes…” (even though faith is a prerequisite to receiving the Spirit), it is “if anyone is thirsty…”.
Sadly, there are many Christians today who believe, but are not thirsty. Beloved, the only thing that can bring us closer to God is thirst. Being satisfied in the Spirit is one of the most dangerous things for a Christian. The Bible teaches that we are to be covetous in the realm of the Spirit–not settling for anything less than the best (1 Cor 12:31).
Believe and Ask
God often brings this thirst in us by drawing our attention to how Jesus and His disciples ministered while they were on the earth. They healed the sick, they raised the dead, they cleansed the lepers, and they cast out demons…. A person who is confronted with their actions can respond in three different ways: One, believe that the works of the Spirit do not take place like they did in Biblical times, and reach no one. Two, believe that the works of the Spirit still continue like in Biblical times, but exclude him or herself from it. Or three, believe that the works of the Spirit still continue today, and want to see it working in their personal life. They are willing to give anything to see God’s power reach the multitudes through them. If you are in the last category, you are truly thirsty.
Just like children, we should ask for milk when we are thirsty. Jesus said, “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread will give him a stone; or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him scorpions? 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?” (Luke 11:11-13)
It would be contrary to Christ’s teaching to think that one must not ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit, and that one automatically receives this gift when they believe. From the above passage, we realize that belief or faith is a prerequisite to asking. I have had people ask me how I knew what I had experienced was of God. My answer to them is simple, “I asked my Abba, and I have faith He will not give me a snake or scorpion”. A child asks his father for food, having faith in his dad that he would not give him something that would harm him. Therefore, ask Abba in all faith. Be open to Him and receive.
You may ask, “Haven’t people received the Spirit without asking?” Yes, they have. I know a lot of people who have. God by His free and sovereign grace has given His Spirit even to those who did not ask. However, it would be wrong to take on an attitude that says, “If God wants to baptize me in the Spirit, let Him do it”.
Scripture assures us: This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him. (1 John 5:14-15) Have you asked? Has He heard? If He has, then you have what you asked of Him. Your response? Give thanks!
With this I end this series on the baptism in the Spirit. If you have any doubt (make sure you ask me these doubts after you read what I have shared up to now), feel free to ask me using the comment section.
The point that you had made about ‘asking’ and believing that God won’t give us something harmful is a very important one.
All too often people take God’s blessing and assume it to be something other than what it is simply because they do not understand the nature of it.
For example, one might pray for growth in Christ. God may grant his request by allowing something to happen within his life to incur a sense of discomfort–to teach him what it means to rely more on God and thus grow in Jesus Christ…
Nevertheless, that person might become angry with God for letting him go through such an ordeal, and even accuse Him of not caring about his needs. Of course, he may also assume that God is angry with him, while all along failing to see that God isn’t angry at all; rather, He just simply gave him what he had asked for.
Hence, the problem isn’t with God not granting his request; instead, the problem is with the person who just didn’t like the package that God’s answer came in.
SIMPLY PUT, THIS IS IT, no pastor will pour the Holy Ghost\’s anointing into you but the Holy Spirit Himself when you follow these processes
1 Repentance of sin
2 Thirst For the annointing
3 Believe & Ask for the annointing
Godbless you Sidhart
May God bless us with the gift of repentance and thirst that we might be filled!
Sid .That was a nice post..But lemme know something.
After the initial Baptism of the Holy Spirit in a believer do that person again keep on asking for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit continously..Or is it just that we require Holy Ghost’s guidance in our life? In the Old testament we read, Lord has poured down His Spirit upon his people on a need-basis whenever required. But after Jesus’ ascension we have the continual fellowship with the Spirit.
So the basic question that I was putting across is that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is only a one time event or
not.
Hi Preeji,
Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a single event like baptism in water. However, there are successive infillings.
Sidharth
Very well explained.