Being filled with the Spirit of God is a continual experience that we must practice on a daily basis.
There are two ways that the Bible refers to being filled with the Holy Spirit. The first is the moment someone gets baptized in Holy Spirit.
The book of Acts uses the term “baptized in the Holy Spirit” and “filled with the Holy Spirit” interchangeably (Acts 1:4-5 and Acts 2:1-4). This is because the first time someone gets filled with the Holy Spirit it is referred to as the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
I have an entire article that explains this in more detail called Filled with the Holy Spirit: Does it Happen Once or Multiple Times?
But once a believer gets baptized in the Holy Spirit, they are then commanded in Ephesians 5 to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit.
“And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).
We also see this as an example throughout the entire book of Acts where the writer makes it a point to say something like “the believers were continually filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 13:52, 4:8, 13:9-10)
So as you can see, it is critical and beneficial to live a life of being continually filled with the Holy Spirit, but how do we go about doing this?
Here are 7 tips from the word of God to answer that question.
Knowing the Love of God for you
“…that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19)
As you can see from the scripture above, the more we grow in the understanding and knowledge of God’s love for us, the more we will be filled with Him.
And the reason is quite simple. The more we know His love for us, the more we develop a love for Him that truly will love Him with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength.
You see, it is impossible to love God without first seeing and receiving His love for you.
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)
And “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:8)
So if we put these two scriptures together we can come to the conclusion that anyone who has any capacity to love God and to love people, it is because they have first seen the love that God has for them.
This is so important to understand because the next few tips that I am going to mention will be impossible to do and they will quickly become works out of our own strength rather than out of His strength.
It is critical to first understand that we work from God’s love, not for God’s love.
The love of God causes us to love Him and others which is why the more that we understand this truth, the more filled with God we will become.
Spend time in secret prayer
The second tip is to spend time in the presence of the Holy Spirit by being with God in secret prayer.
Every New Testament person who lived filled with the Holy Spirit spent time with God in secret.
As mentioned earlier, we know that the Apostles were filled with Holy Spirit on a continual basis. We see this in Acts 4:8 and in Acts 13:9.
Acts 4 refers to Peter and Acts 13 refers to Paul. So what was one thing that both Peter and Paul both did regularly to remain filled with the Holy Spirit?
Well, we know that they definitely spent time with God alone.
We see this in Peter’s life on multiple occasions throughout the book of Acts. In fact, Peter probably prayed three times per day like King David did and like the Prophet Daniel did in the Old Testament. [Related article: Praying Three Times a Day (What the Bible Says)]
We can assume this because, in Acts 2:15, he prayed with the church at the third hour of the day (9 am). In Acts 3:1, “Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour” (3 pm). And in Acts 10:9, Peter went up to the housetop to pray at the sixth hour of the day (noon).
As for the apostle Paul, we know that he was extremely dedicated to prayer judging by how often the Bible mentions him praying and by judging how often he encourages other believers to devote themselves to prayer.
Sing praises often
“..be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:18-19).
In this passage, we see the apostle Paul exhorting the Ephesian believers to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Immediately after this, he explains how we can be filled with the Spirit of God.
And one way that he mentions is by singing praises to the Lord.
We actually see this often in the life of the apostle Paul.
“But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25)
“What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.” (1 Corinthians 14:15)
Notice also, that in Ephesians 5 Paul says that we ought to sing “spiritual songs” and then First Corinthians 14 he says that in his personal prayer life, he would “sing with the spirit”. These are referring to the same thing.
[Related article: Singing in the Spirit: What it is & How to do it]
Be thankful
The latter part of the passage in Ephesians 5, which was mentioned in the previous section, exhorts us to be thankful unto the Lord.
“Be filled with the Spirit…giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:18 & 20).
Being thankful to God for all things and at all times is a simple way to be filled with His Spirit.
The Bible also says that if we wish to abound in the Gospel and to have a fruitful walk with the Lord, then we are to express thankfulness to Him.
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.”
Speak in tongues often
Speaking in tongues is another great tool that we can use to remain filled with Holy Spirit.
Here are a couple of reasons why…
(1) When we speak in tongues we are praying in the Spirit.
The apostle Paul used the terms “praying in the Spirit” and “praying in tongues” interchangeably in 1 Corinthians 14.
“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.” (1 Corinthians 14:14-15)
[Related article that breaks this down much more in-depth: Praying in the Spirit vs. Tongues: What is the Difference?]
(2) When we speak in tongues we are edifying our inner man and building ourselves up on our most holy faith.
“He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.” (1 Corinthians 14:4)
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.” (Jude v.20)
And (3) when we speak in tongues we are aware of the Spirit.
When we speak in tongues the Bible makes it clear that we do not understand what we are saying, unless we receive a divine interpretation.
But this does not mean that our mind cannot benefit at least a little from speaking in tongues.
When we speak in tongues it places the things of God continually on our minds and it helps us remain aware of the things of the Spirit.
[Here are some other articles that I wrote on speaking in tongues: Is Speaking in Tongues for Everyone? (Biblical Answer) and How to receive the Holy Spirit and Speak in Tongues (Explained)].
Read the Word of God daily
The Bible says that “those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:5).
And that “the words that I (Jesus) speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).
So a key to walking in the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit of God is to set our mind on the word of God.
And this is impossible to do if we only read the Bible sometimes and do not decide to devote time to it on a daily basis.
The Bible is beyond clear that Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh (John 1:1), so if we want to be filled with Christ then we must be filled with His Word.
Freely you’ve received, freely give
Finally, my last tip to continually be filled with the Spirit of God is to allow the Holy Spirit to flow through you to touch others.
The Holy Spirit does not indwell us only for our sakes. Of course, this is one reason, but He also indwells us for the sake of others.
Jesus said, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
We are filled with the Spirit of God for a purpose and that is to be witnesses of Christ’s death, resurrection, and His promise return.
Jesus likened the filling of the Holy Spirit to a river in John 7:38-39.
“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
Rivers are not nasty ponds. They always flow through and out.
We are called to be channels and conduits of God’s river to a lost and dying world.
So if you want to be filled with the Spirit of God to overflowing then..
“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
I hope you all enjoyed this article. God bless you!
