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Empowerment Through the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

By Jim Kilmer

Where do I get the power? Who says I need it? You do if you have any one of the following:

  • An interest in the most joyous experience in your life
  • A desire to see something happen; to see fruits from your ministry
  • A desire to find solutions to seemingly impossible situations
  • A sense of uneasiness
  • A longing for dramatic moving of the Holy Spirit on the hearts of others
  • A sense that you are doing great
  • A hunger and thirst for a heaven-like blessing
  • A sense that you are failing in your ministry
  • Not seeing souls converted through your ministry
  • Emptiness in your life
  • An overwhelming onslaught of tangled human predicaments in the lives of your people
  • A sense of helplessness in the face of so many difficulties in the lives of others
  • No passionate hunger for the conversion of the lost
  • A waning sense of spiritual vigor
  • A desire to see more souls converted
  • A hidden hunger of the soul that you cannot explain
  • Desire for victory over sin

Where do I start? Recognize that:

  • Before fullness comes emptiness
  • Before filling comes hunger and thirst for righteousness
  • Before fullness of joy comes agony of surrender
  • The Holy Spirit comes into empty vessels
  • Before profound closeness sometimes comes loneliness and distance from God
  • God only lets you experience suffering if He is planning an extra blessing for you
  • You may need to start with a good physical rest before you can rest in Jesus

Results of the Filling (Baptism) of the Holy Spirit:

  • Renewal of best of past spiritual blessings (e.g. Your first acceptance of Jesus, Your baptism), the sweetest spiritual days of your life (e.g. Wedding, Birth of a child, Baptism of a child, Communion), and the joy of seeing others baptized
  • Deep experience of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance
  • Solid sense of security in the Lord. No desire for personal glory, No defensiveness under attack, Desire for personal success and/or gain is laid aside, Only what is done for Jesus counts, You belong to God and He to you and that is more than enough to satisfy all your needs
  • Baptism of assurance and love (Romans 8:16)
  • Strong compassion for those in need, especially the lost
  • Spirit of love and intercession for the lost
  • Renewed sense of spiritual life
  • Words that break through the crust of worldliness and indifference in reaching the lost
  • Power to reach the lost
  • Comfort of sins forgiven
  • Sense of the presence of Jesus
  • Vision of the cross
  • Deep insight into scripture
  • Answered prayer
  • Holy Spirit intercession through you for others

How do I Experience the Baptism of the Holy Spirit?

  • Spend time in prayer and ask specifically for it.
  • Recognize uneasiness and reluctance as part of the spiritual battle.
  • Read John 14-17. Notice the promises concerning the Holy Spirit.
  • Read the promise of Jesus in Luke 11:13.
  • Ask for the Lord to send His Spirit to give you a conviction of sin in your life.
  • Meditation on scripture, the Ten Commandments for example.
  • Pray Psalm 139:23,24.
  • This will no doubt be different at different times. He will only reveal as much as you can bear and place upon Jesus your sin bearer.
  • You may recognize your uneasiness in His presence, your longing for success, your emptiness and lack of compassion as a falling short.
  • He will often give you a vision of Jesus in contrast to your earthly desires and thinking. You will see His absolute unselfishness, kindness, compassion, tender mercy, righteousness, peace, goodness
  • Like Peter you may cry out "depart from me for I am a sinful man."
  • Like Isaiah you may cry out "woe is me".
  • If you don't have any recognition of your need, recognize this as a need in itself.
  • Confess your sins and place them on the sin bearer.
  • Meditate on the manner in which each sin expresses hostility to His tender, compassionate, loving nature. E.g. I see my focus on building a kingdom for myself; He wore a crown of thorns. I am concerned about personal success; He had no place to lay His head.
  • The agony and emptiness may intensify as you see that all of your best efforts have been for self rather than to glorify Him. You may see that you have been quite content to try to get Him to work for you for your own glory.
  • Recognize the agony and emptiness as a friend leading you to the fountain of blessing. Let the Spirit do His work. Let Him wring out your heart with confession till it is empty.
  • Confess your unbelief.
  • If you have sinned against others go to that person and be reconciled.
  • If others have sinned against you and you need to speak to them, do so.
  • Perhaps you need to take someone to the courts of heaven in your mind and pour out your case against them and hear what the Lord has to say. Let Him take away the anger through a revelation of the cross.
  • Then claim the promises of sins forgiven.
  • For His sake you are accepted in the Beloved.
  • By faith he says of you, "This is my beloved son (daughter) in whom I am well pleased."
  • Then ask Him to fill your life with His Spirit, of unselfishness, kindness, and ministry.
  • Ask Him to show you some simple way in which you can reflect His love.
  • Ask Him to help you be conscious of His presence before you and in you.
  • Ask Him for a vision of direction for your life -- what He would do in your shoes?
  • Ask Him for people that you should intercede for in prayer.
  • Ask the Holy Spirit to intercede through you for those He brings to mind.
  • Think of how Jesus longs for the lost, how precious your children are to you. Ask Him to inhabit your prayer and intercede for His church, His ministers, governments, those who don't know the right hand from the left
  • Pray the Lord's prayer with meditation on each part.
  • Ask Him for a message for the people.
  • Ask for some portion of scripture that will answer a need.
  • Memorize and meditate on scripture.
  • Pray with the same longing for words to bring home the message with power; for illustrations to make it clear for His sake and the sake of the people. Confess your sin in standing in the way of the lost through vain human words. Ask for a fire from on High. "Speak with my words unto them." "Except You go with me Lord, I will not go up."
  • Begin speaking the message in prayer pouring out your heart to God. Tell Him what the people really need to understand. Ask Him what He would say if He were in your place.
"Do not neglect secret prayer, for it is the soul of religion. With earnest, fervent prayer, plead for purity of soul. Plead as earnestly, as eagerly, as you would for your mortal life, were it at stake. Remain before God until unutterable longings are begotten within you for salvation, and the sweet evidence is obtained of pardoned sin." T-1 p. 163