RECEIVING THE FULLNESS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT:
[That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the FULLNESS of GOD [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]! (Ephesians 3:19)
All of this information about the baptism in the Holy Spirit will be of very little value to us unless we go on to receive the FULLNESS of the HOLY SPIRIT into our life, as we are instructed to do in Ephesians 3:19.
We must first BE FILLED and then STAY FILLED. To BE FILLED, we must first HAVE A DESIRE.
If you remember, I had come to a place in my life where I knew I had to HAVE SOMETHING if I was to go on AS A CHRISTIAN. I was feeling rather DESPERATE the day I was BAPTIZED in the HOLY SPIRIT.
I personally believe that GOD often does not answer our FIRST CRIES because HE wants US to GET DESPERATE ENOUGH to be TOTALLY OPEN TO WHATEVER He wants to do in our life.
I gave an example earlier of a drowning person who was fighting and resisting the lifeguard's attempt to save them UNTIL they were TOO TIRED to FIGHT ANYMORE. I was like that drowning person. I had fought with LIFE so much I just did not have any "fight" left in me, but that actually worked to my advantage. I was at the bottom and had nowhere to go but up. I was READY for whatever the GREAT PHYSICIAN said I needed.
If a person is dying from disease or is experiencing so much pain they cannot endure it one more second, they will do whatever their doctor tells them to do---and usually without question. We need to get to the same point in our walk with God. He wants to "doctor" our souls, and we should be WILLING to WHATEVER PRESCRIPTION He gives us.
God's prescription for me at that time was the baptism in the HOLY SPIRIT, and I have been in A HEALING PROCESS EVER SINCE.
HAVE A DESIRE
"You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing" {Ps.145:16}
If you are hungry for MORE OF GOD IN YOUR LIFE, then you are a CANDIDATE TO RECEIVE THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Receiving the FULLNESS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT into OUR LIFE IS A HOLY THING, something to be reverenced and even feared in a respectful way. God does not endue us with HIS POWER JUST FOR FUN AND GAMES. HE IS A GOD OF PURPOSE. Everything He does in our life is for a purpose. Finding God's PURPOSE and ALLOWING HIM to EQUIP US for it should be the PRIMARY QUEST of our LIFE.
In my own life I have found that when I have STRONG DESIRE for SOMETHING, I usually GET IT. That's because WE are CREATED in SUCH A WAY that OUR DETERMINATION usually RISES TO MEET OUR DESIRES, and we do WHATEVER we NEED TO DO TO REACH THE DESIRED GOAL.
My husband, Dave, received the baptism in the HOLY SPIRIT ta the age of EIGHTEEN (18). The church he attended DID NOT TEACH SUCH THINGS, but he had come to A POINT IN HIS LIFE where he KNEW that HE WAS MISSING SOMETHING. Like me, he DID NOT KNOW what it was. But HIS DESIRE to have it had become SO STRONG that one day at work he went into the REST ROOM, entered one of the stalls, sat down and told GOD that HE WAS NOT GOING TO MOVE FROM THAT SPOT UNTIL HE GAVE HIM WHATEVER IT WAS HE WAS SEARCHING FOR. As he just sat there, GOD met him and he was FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. At the same time he RECEIVED A HEALING IN HIS EYES. He had previously NEEDED GLASSES, but after that EXPERIENCE with GOD he did not have to wear them for many years.
Dave's strong desire let GOD know what was important to him.
Our DESIRES tell a lot about who we REALLY are. They are connected with the central part of us, OUR WILL. What we want SPEAKS OF OUR CHARACTER. If we want MORE MONEY, that MAY MEAN we are GREEDY. If we want MORE POWER, that COULD MEAN we SEEK CONTROL. But if we want MORE OF GOD, that says SOMETHING SERIOUS about OUR HEART ATTITUDE. I believe GOD always FULFILLS THE DESIRES of those of US WHO WANT MORE OF HIM---HE WILL NOT LEAVE US HUNGRY ("Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart" Ps.37:4)
If you would like to have a DESIRE FOR MORE OF GOD, but in all HONESTY you cannot say that you do, then ask GOD to give you A DESIRE.Tell HIM YOUR DESIRE IS TO HAVE MORE DESIRE (MY GOD AND FATHER GIVE ME A DESIRE; THE DESIRE TO HAVE MORE OF YOU IN JESUS MIGHTY NAME. AMEN.)
I doubt that you are without desire. If you were not SEEKING MORE OF GOD, you probably would not have read this far in this book.
God will meet you where you are in JESUS NAME. AMEN. God met me in my automobile and He met Dave in the rest room at work. That does not SOUND VERY RELIGIOUS, does it? Many people think GOD could not POSSIBLY TOUCH THEM the way we have described in this book anywhere but in church. But God meets us where we are. WHEREVER HE FINDS A HUNGRY PERSON, HE COMES TO FEED THAT INDIVIDUAL.
God meets us in our imperfection and in our need and HE FILLS US with HIS SPIRIT to help us in EVERY WAY TO HAVE A FULL AND BLESSED LIFE. I encourage you to CRY OUT TO GOD RIGHT NOW, RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE thus "MY FATHER AND GOD, I WANT MORE OF YOU IN MY LIFE NOW THAN EVER THROUGH THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN JESUS MIGHTY NAME. AMEN."
I believe He will meet you where you are and will help you get to where you need to be.

COPIED FROM KNOWING GOD INTIMATELY BY JOYCE MEYER