Being filled with the Holy Ghost is undoubtedly one of the most powerful habits of the highly effective Intercessor.
The Bible says, "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." Eph. 5:18 (NIV)
I'm told that the original Greek verb which is translated "be filled" is in the present continuous tense, meaning the command "to be filled" really means to keep being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Here are some of the related areas of being continually filled with the Holy Spirit:
1) Receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit – Obviously we've got to start at the beginning; you can't KEEP being filled if you never had the initial experience of becoming filled in the first place!
Since the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost He has never stopped being poured out. He is constantly being poured out so that anyone who has received Jesus Christ as his or her savior can step under that flow and become immediately filled!
Ac 10:45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
The bible does NOT require any special waiting or preparation to be filled with the Holy Spirit except that you are a Christian. Receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit is an act of faith that can be experienced anytime, anywhere by anyone who is saved!
It is as simple as asking and receiving! A sample prayer might go something like this:
Dear Father, You said that if I ask you for your Holy Spirit you will give me your Holy Spirit and You cannot lie. Thank you for filling me with your Holy Spirit right now Lord! Holy Spirit, I believe in You and I receive your infilling now in Jesus name. Amen!
This prayer is based partly on the scripture below.
Lk 11: 11-14 Which one of you fathers would give your hungry child a snake if the child asked for a fish? Which one of you would give your child a scorpion if the child asked for an egg? As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks. (CEV)
What is most important is what you do next! The scriptures declare in Rom 10: 9-10 that you must confess AND believe in order to receive, whether it's salvation or the baptism of the Holy Spirit the PRINCIPLE remains the same! Confess AND believe!
So during your prayer and after you have finished praying you MUST be and remain in an attitude of faithful expectancy. You must be completely assured that what you have just asked for is being given to you right there and then!
Then you simply open your heart (spirit) and receive it! It is an act of your will! That's why Jesus asked the lame man "WILL YOU BE HEALED ???" Now I'm asking you the same thing, "WILL YOU RECEIVE THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ???" It's up to YOU - Will you or won't you receive?
Ac 8:17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. Ac 19: 2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?
The emphasis is always on YOU receiving NOT on God giving the Holy Spirit!
The Holy Spirit was given once 2,000 years ago and He was never taken back – So it's up to you to receive!
2 ) Praying with Tongues – The ability to pray in tongues is the initial evidence that manifests when you first become filled with the Holy Spirit! There are many other manifestations of being filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues is just the first one that usually shows up!
There are nine gifts of the Spirit in total and each of them is a manifestation of the Spirit.
The ability to pray with tongues is given to everyone who is filled with the Holy Spirit, some people may be filled and not speak in tongues simply because they were never properly instructed as to how they should go about it.
You will find that there is a lot of controversy about praying in tongues largely because a lot of people misunderstand this ability. And on a deeper level because the enemy is threatened by anyone who does, so he stirs up Christians to waste time arguing over this issue instead of coming together in order to wage a united campaign against him!
Know this about the devil: He attacks anything he fears!
Has he been relentlessly attacking you? Well, now you know why! My point is, however, that he has been attacking the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the charismatic gifts from day one … literally! The first Christians to be filled with the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues on the day of Pentecost were accused of being drunkards and the attack hasn't stopped since!
Praying in tongues is a means to activating the nine gifts of the Spirit and stimulating your spiritual senses to flow more powerfully and accurately.
Praying in tongues is the act of one intelligent spirit (Yours) speaking directly to another intelligent Spirit (God) without the need for any mental interpretation … THAT'S ALL!
3) Walking in Love – This is the most important manifestation of being filled with the Holy Spirit! People generally don't care if you can speak with tongues or prophecy! But they will take notice if you show them that you care about them as a person.
They will be impressed if you sacrifice something important to you in order to bless a stranger – that's true love! And that's the most striking evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit of God! It's called character and it stands out!
It is said that more souls are won to the Lord by selfless displays of love than by many sermons preached.
So, there we have it, being filled with the Holy Ghost allows the power of God to flow through you in a more concentrated and focused fashion giving you the ability to have a far greater impact and effect in the spirit realm.
And this is what being a highly effective Intercessor is all about – Being able to impact and affect the spirit realm to the extent that we see the manifest results in the physical realm. More power to you!
