How to Be Filled with the Holy Spirit – Spare Tire Example

Sometimes we treat Jesus like a ‘spare tire’.  We take Him out of the trunk when we have a flat tire and run Him until the crisis is over but put Him back in the trunk afterwards. Or we can be treating Jesus like a hitchhiker. We let Him in the car with us but only let Him ride part of the way. Yet as our Lord and Savior, Jesus doesn’t want to remain a spare tire or a hitchhiker. He wants to drive the car. So we need to move over and confess this as sin and allow the Holy Spirit to empower us. “He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you” (John 16:14).

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You can appropriate the filling of the Holy Spirit right now if you:

1. Sincerely desire to be directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 5:6; John 7:37-39).

2. Confess your sins.  By faith thank God that He has forgiven all of your sins – past, present and future – because Christ died for you (Colossians 2:13-15; 1 John 1; 2:1-3; Hebrews 10:1-17).

3. Present every area of your life to God (Romans 12:1, 2).

4. By faith claim the fullness of the Holy Spirit, according to:

• His command – Be filled with the Spirit. “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).

• His promise – He will always answer when we pray according to His will. “And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14, 15).

How to pray in faith to be filled with the Holy Spirit:

We are filled with the Holy Spirit by faith alone. However, true prayer is one way of expressing your faith. The following is a suggested prayer:

“Dear Father, I need You. I acknowledge that I have been directing my own life and that, as a result, I have sinned against You. I thank You that You have forgiven my sins through Christ’s death on the cross for me. I now invite Christ to again take His place on the throne of my life. Fill me with the Holy Spirit as You commanded me to be filled, and as You promised in Your Word that You would do if I asked in faith. I now thank You for directing my life and for filling me with the Holy Spirit.”

Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? If so, bow in prayer and trust God to fill you with the Holy Spirit right now.

If you prayed this prayer, we would love to hear about it!

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