A tlanta is a beautiful city, the heart and crown jewel of the South, but make no mistake, in August it’s hot and humid! And when you’re on Interstate 75 right in the middle of a massive traffic jam, with cars in front of you, cars behind you, and cars on every side as far as the eye can see, with the late afternoon sun shining overhead, it’s really hot!

So there we were: in Atlanta, in August, surrounded by all sizes and shapes of vehicles, inching along on Interstate 75. Our van felt like a sauna on wheels due to the humidity. And to make matters even worse, I was about to be late for my own crusade.

“Why aren’t we moving, Gene?” I inquired. “Where are all these people going?”

As we inched along, Gene Polino, my administrator and right-hand man, informed me that because of the miracle crusade and a pre-season football game the roads in downtown Atlanta were in complete gridlock.

We’re headed for the Omni Coliseum in downtown Atlanta where our miracle crusade was scheduled to begin at 7:00 P.M. Although the seating capacity of the

Omni is 18,500, all advance information indicated a good turnout tonight. Based on advance reservations for buses and groups, along with the choir, partners, ushers, guests, and general public estimates, we would need every seat and more. And from the traffic surrounding us, it was clear that many more are streaming to the coliseum than we had projected.

“How much longer, Gene?” I asked.

“It’s hard to say, but the traffic is moving along a little better now.”

“I hope so. It’s getting late.”

Gene saw that I was deep in thought, and as he does so often, he anticipated what I was thinking, “Pastor, Charlie said that the fire marshal is working with us to help us get as many people in as possible. We’ve done everything we can to prepare for the crowds.”

As we continued along the crowded freeway in the oven-like vehicle, the cellular phone rang—it was Charlie McCuen, my crusade coordinator.

“Hello, Charlie. What’s happening at the Omni?” I asked.

“Pastor, miracles are happening already! The place is packed and the power of God is everywhere! People are coming out of wheelchairs and the atmosphere is charged with God’s power inside and outside! We’ve never seen anything like it! The Holy Spirit is already at work, even before the service begins! God is doing something here far beyond anything we had prayed for! There is excitement in the air, Pastor! The service tonight is going to be awesome!”

“To God be all the glory, Charlie. We’ll be there in a few minutes. See you shortly.”

As I hung up the phone and thought about what Charlie had just said to me, the Lord reminded me of the scripture, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Eph. 3:20, 21).

I whispered a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord for His faithfulness. “Thank you, Lord, for what you are doing. This is truly Your doing, and not mine. Lord, you’re so wonderful and I love you so much.” I began to reflect on everything Charlie had said and was filled again with awe and wonder at God’s grace and mercy.

(As you read this book, dear reader, my prayer for you is that you will discover that “It’s not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit saith the Lord.” If you are hungry for the power of God, keep reading this book for in it I will share with you what I have learned from the Holy Spirit concerning His marvelous miracle- working power available to you and me.)

Gene interrupted my thoughts and said, “We’re almost there, now, Pastor. I can see the Omni up ahead.”

We drove in the back entrance to the coliseum and stopped. As the big door closed behind us, I got out of the van and made my way to the room which had been prepared for me. The television monitor was already on when I entered the room. I walked over to the monitor to turn up the volume. People were applauding and shouting everywhere! And there was a commotion in the wheelchair section! Miracles were happening! I could see them on the monitor! And I could feel God’s presence in such a strong way right there in my dressing room. It was glorious!

My eyes were glued to the monitor. I was amazed at the power of God that was being displayed even before the service began. It was exciting! Miracles were taking place before my eyes!

"‘What an awesome God we have,” I thought. As I continued to watch the monitor, I began to weep. I was overwhelmed by God’s love and faithfulness. I was amazed by what was happening! A close-up shot of several sections in the arena allowed me to look into the faces of the people. I beheld a variety of emotions on the faces, from laughter and excitement to tears of joy and adoration—but the one common emotion I saw depicted before me was hunger, hunger to experience the glorious touch of the Master.

As I continued to stare at the monitor, I thought, “I know better than anyone else here that they are not coming to see Benny Hinn. Why, I would not go hear Benny Hinn myself. I would not even walk across the street to hear me preach. I know better than anybody else here tonight that these people are not coming because I’m here; they’re coming because the Lord Jesus is here!”

The scripture from Isaiah came quickly to mind where God said, “I will not give My glory” (Isa. 48:11). I’ve learned over the years that’s one thing God will not share.

Some may ask, “What motivates someone to travel a great distance and come to a crusade hours early?”

For me the answer is easy, because it wasn’t that long ago that I, too, stood waiting to go into a service of Kathryn Kuhlman’s, believing and expecting to receive from God. It was hunger that drew me, a hunger I still

have today, and a longing to experience the glorious touch of His presence. I’m more hungry today than I have ever been. And that hunger and that longing to know Him and the glory of His presence only intensifies. The more I know Him, the more I want to know of Him.

Yes, I do identify with these wonderful people who attend our crusades, because I, like them, was so spiritually hungry that I thought nothing of traveling a great distance or arriving hours before the meeting began just to experience a visitation of God’s presence one more time.

The thousands who fill these auditoriums and stadiums around the world come from different backgrounds and have different needs, but they come united by one thing: a profound desire to be lost in the power and wonder of the work of the Holy Spirit.

You see, it seems like only yesterday when I, too, stood outside the doors of the First Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at 6:00 A.M. one morning in December of 1973, waiting for the doors to open for a service that would change my life completely.

If you have read Good Morning, Holy Spirit, you already know some of my story. A friend of mine by the name of Jim Poynter had invited me to travel with him by bus from our home in Toronto to Pittsburgh to a service by the famous healing evangelist Kathryn Kuhlman, and there we were that cold morning in Pittsburgh.

The image of that day is indelibly printed on my mind. The air was so crisp and cold, so cold, in fact, it almost hurt to breathe. The people around me were dressed in their warmest coats, heads protected by hats, feet covered with large boots. We stomped our feet,

Only

Yesterday

rubbed our hands together, pressed our arms tightly against our bodies to keep the cold, harsh wind out, even huddling together in groups, all in a futile attempt to get just a little warmer.

With great reluctance the night yielded to a steel- gray dawn that loomed menacingly over the city of steel. The light revealed the large buildings, blacktop, and concrete that surrounded the church on all sides, as if the city itself had grown up around the church much the way a corn field grows up around an Indiana farm house. The church itself looked at times like a cathedral and at other times like a fortress, with its ascending spires, elaborate edifice, and imposing doors. The light- colored stone of the church was stained a sooty black from pollution and age, giving the church an especially severe look.

Jim Poynter had told me a few things about Kathryn and her ministry—enough to convince me to go, but not enough to cause me to expect much to happen in her meeting.

Yet I was searching for something. In my heart I was starving, longing for more—and oh, how I needed it in those years.

You see, I was born and spent my childhood in the coastal city of Jaffa, Israel, where the rugged shore of the Holy Land meets the turquoise Mediterranean beneath cloudless sky and warming sun.

Along with my five brothers and two sisters, we grew up as part of an international family and experienced a multicultural childhood in this cosmopolitan city. It was exhilarating and at times confusing. My mother, Clem-

Tradition and Transition

ence, was of Armenian descent. My father, Costandi, came from a Greek family. I was christened in the Greek Orthodox Church, but attended a Catholic elementary school. I spoke French at school, Arabic in our home, and Hebrew in the community.

But I didn’t speak well. From earliest childhood, even the smallest amount of social pressure or emotional stress would bring on severe stuttering.

The other children made fun of me. My teachers thought I was a hopeless case. Worse yet, as the eldest son, I felt I was a tremendous disappointment to my entire family.

And even though my father was a fine man who loved me, he said things that wounded me to the core. “Out of all my boys,” he used to say, “you are the one who will never make anything of yourself.” Now please don’t misunderstand, my father was a wonderful man, kind and generous, and I loved him—but that’s what he said, and worst of all, I believed him!

Can you imagine how that wounded me? As my sense of self-worth withered, I withdrew from the world and those around me. I avoided being rejected by the children at school in any way I could. I still have vivid memories of hiding in a far corner of the playground day after day while the other children played. I did whatever I could to avoid rejection.

Although I was very young, I immersed myself in religious devotion to the Catholic faith as this was the only thing that brought me any solace. Many were the hours I spent kneeling on familiar stone floors, reciting the Hail Mary, the Apostle’s Creed or the Lord’s Prayer. I gave myself to prayer and study and to be-

coming a good student. Everything attached to my Catholic education became my focus. I spent so much time at the convent where I attended school that I practically lived there. But this didn’t take away the empty, lonely feelings—it only camouflaged them, but not for long.

Throughout my childhood in Israel the threat of war was constant. I can vaguely remember my parents talking about it at times. But in 1967 the threat became a reality with the “Six-Day War.” Don’t think because of its brevity that those days were easy to live through; I assure you, they weren’t. I can remember running to school the day the news broke out that the war had begun. As I look back now, I realize that the war was quick and decisive, but the build up to war was long and bitter, and full of anxiety. Israel’s neighbors joined hands against her, expelled the UN peace keepers, and massed troops—particularly in the Sinai. Public and private diplomacy were employed—to no avail. The whole experience was terrifying.

Beginning

A New The next year, 1968, we emigrated to Canada. Up to this time I had only known life in warm, sunny Israel and felt secure in the religious life of the Catholic schools. Yet, I was suddenly uprooted from my somewhat predictable lifestyle and thrust into a world of unknowns. I had to adjust to something I wasn’t accustomed to or prepared for. I moved to a new country, not knowing what awaited me.

The move couldn’t have been more difficult for me, for in moving to Toronto, I had to adapt to a new conti-

nent, a new country, a new culture, and even a new climate. Suddenly I was faced with a new language, new surroundings, a new home, and different clothing to help me cope with the months of cold and snow. I was confronted with a new school and all the courses associated with my new culture. Suddenly, I was studying about a new form of government and learning about new holidays and traditions in a new society. Everything was so different!

Needless to say, the move to Toronto only increased my sense of loneliness and alienation. But God had a much better future for me than a past, much better than I had expected, for it was in Canada that I was born again. It was in this new country that I came into a relationship with Christ Jesus. Like Paul I said, “I count it all but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.” God brought me all the way to Toronto so I could find His Son and changed my life forever.

The Ultimate For it was in February 1972 when some

fellow students at Georges Vanier High School invited me to a morning prayer meeting. For the first time, I saw people

praying and praising God with real power and joy. I

began to feel the same sensation I had experienced when

as a child of 11 years of age I saw the Lord Jesus in a vision. That day is still so vivid in my mind ... I can still remember feeling a powerful current like electricity rushing through my entire body.

I can still remember with vivid clarity the majestic appearance of the Master in that vision of the night, wearing a robe so white it glowed, and the crimson red mantle that draped it. And His eyes—they seemed to

pierce right through me, embracing me with a love that is indescribable—and a smile that I shall never forget. And as He stood there, looking straight at me with His arms outstretched toward me, I saw the nail prints in His hands, and I knew it was the Lord. For it was in that experience that I knew there was a plan for my life.

And that day as I watched those students in 1972, hands uplifted, praying and praising God, not understanding everything I saw, yet I felt the same sensation and the same joy and the same love I felt that night I saw the Lord. And the only words I could utter were, “Come in, Lord Jesus, come in, Lord Jesus.”

New Hope Becoming a “born-again” Christian for Me brought new hope to my life, but it didn’t make things any easier for me at home. Almost immediately, my family began to ridicule and belittle me. To someone from the Middle East, breaking tradition is almost an unpardonable sin, and they felt my conversion had brought shame on the entire family.

Once as I witnessed to my family, my father slapped my face and said, “You mention the name of the Lord Jesus one more time and you’ll wish you hadn’t.” For almost two years after that, my father and I seldom spoke. He even ignored me at the dinner table, and although his approval was important to me, we had no real relationship.

At 21 years of age, my life seemed like it was in shambles. I had very few friends, and my relationship with my family was strained to the breaking point. I

had no career and no real purpose or prospects for my life.

But I did have the Lord, and an abiding faith in the supernatural power of God, and a desperate longing to experience His wonder-working touch upon my broken life.

The Power Could Jim Poynter’s invitation to attend a

Kathryn Kuhlman service be that opportunity? His invitation couldn’t have come at a better time.

Our journey to Pittsburgh was difficult. A snowstorm turned the seven-hour bus ride from Toronto to Pittsburgh into a trip twice that long. But the delay was providential. During that long ride, Jim and the others on the bus inspired me with stories of miracles from some of Miss Kuhlman’s past services. Within me a sense of excitement and enthusiasm began to build. By the time we arrived at our hotel, it was one o’clock in the morning.

We wouldn’t have long to sleep, Jim said. We must be at the church by six A.M. if we wanted to get a good seat.

This lady evangelist must be something special, I thought, if people will get up before dawn and wait in the freezing cold to get into her meetings!

When we arrived at the First Presbyterian Church, hundreds of people were already waiting in the darkness. Some had even brought their sleeping bags and slept on the front steps. I was small enough to slip through the crowd closer to the church doors, pulling Jim along behind me.

As we waited in the cold, something began to happen inside of me. The stories Jim had told during the bus ride, the excitement of the growing crowd, the incredible testimonies I overheard from people around me—all began to build a sense of expectancy in my own heart. I noticed I was trembling but dismissed it from my mind because I was so cold waiting in the winter air.

With every conversation, my faith grew stronger. Today, I thought, on the other side of those doors, I will meet God . The anticipation was nearly unbearable.

About an hour before the service, the crowd had grown so large we scarcely had room to breathe. “Benny,” Jim said, “when those doors open, run as fast as you can.”

“Why?” I asked, still trembling.

“They’ll run right over you,” he replied.

When the moment came, I dashed down the aisle toward the front of the church—with the crowd hard on my heels. The front pew was reserved, but Jim and I found excellent seats on the third row.

As I took my seat, my body was still shaking. By this time I had been trembling uncontrollably for two hours while I waited outside. I was glad to get into the warm sanctuary. But as I waited for the service to begin, even though the sanctuary was warm and comfortable, I continued to shake. At first the experience frightened me, but the longer it continued, the more pleasant it became. What } s happening to me, I thought. Is this the power of God?

One hour later, almost out of nowhere, a radiant redhead wearing a yellow chiffon dress walked onto the platform. It was Kathryn Kuhlman, wearing the biggest smile I had ever seen.

Filled to Overflowing

From the moment she welcomed the Holy Spirit to the meeting, an atmosphere of pure exhilaration permeated that auditorium. As she led the people into worship, singing “How Great Thou Art,” we entered into the very presence of God, and began to sing from the depths of our souls

Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee,

How great Thou art, how great Thou art.

Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee,

How great Thou art, how great Thou art.

As we continued, Miss Kuhlman led us in “Jesus, Jesus, There’s Just Something About That Name” and “He’s the Savior of My Soul.” My hands were lifted to heaven, tears streaming down my cheeks, I worshiped God from the depths of my being, something I had never experienced before as a Christian.

It was at that moment that I became so aware of my faults and failures and felt so unworthy of God’s blessing. “Dear Lord Jesus,” I prayed, “Please have mercy on me.”

Then, as clear as any voice I have ever heard, I heard Him speak these words to my heart: “My mercy is abundant on you.” And at that moment I experienced such a closeness with the Lord beyond anything I had ever known, an experience that continues to this very day to impact my life.

The service continued for more than three hours, and I had never before witnessed such miracles. Tumors and arthritis disappeared. The deaf regained their hearing. People discarded their wheelchairs and crutches.

14 Welcome, Holy Spirit

Hundreds streamed forward to the platform to tell how the Master had touched their lives.

As I sat there, my face wet with tears, I knew the Master had touched me too. I had come to the meeting psychologically scarred and emotionally crippled. But now I was transformed by His spirit, filled with a peace and joy that surpassed all understanding.

The Keys to Power

That day in Pittsburgh, a thirsty young man was filled to overflowing with the spirit of life. I was transformed in a moment by His touch, never to be the same again.

I see that same thirst and that same longing in the eyes of the people who attend our crusades.

A Passion for His Power

That longing is very important. In fact it’s the first key when it comes to experiencing the work of the Holy Spirit: You must have a passion for His power. You must have a starvation in your heart that causes you to search and search until you experience in your own life the miracles recorded in the Bible, the very same miracles that are available today.

As we open our hearts to the Holy Spirit, He will pour His presence out upon our thirsty souls like torrential rains upon the parched earth. His presence will become so real and so tangible. Broken lives are healed because of this presence and lives are changed forever.

Here’s one of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned about the work of the Holy Spirit: He manifests His presence and power to those who yearn for His touch

upon their lives. Spiritual thirst draws His anointing like a siphon draws fluid from a full container to an empty one.

That is why the Lord promised through the prophet Isaiah when He said, “I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring” (Isa. 44:3, emphasis added).

Many people are spiritually empty, their lives barren and dry. But only those who are truly thirsty for His presence will be filled to overflowing. Only those who yearn to know the Lord and who yield to Him in faith will experience His power and His work in their life.

An Understanding of His Personhood

The second key in experiencing the work of the Holy Spirit in many ways is even more important: You must understand that the Holy Spirit is a person. He’s not a force or an influence. He is a person, and only when we understand that can we appropriate His work.

While the Scripture plainly tells us that the Holy Spirit is a real Person with an intellect, emotion, and will, many Christians live their lives as if He were a force instead of a Person. They will never advance beyond a certain level in their Christian life until they truly come to grips with the fact that the Holy Spirit thinks, feels, communicates, perceives, and responds. He gives and receives love. He grieves when He has been wounded.

The Holy Spirit is so beautiful, so precious, so gentle, and so loving. But it wasn’t until that memorable meeting in Pittsburgh that I truly realized that He is a person Who wants to relate to me.

Right in the middle of that 1973 service, Kathryn Kuhlman stopped speaking and a hush fell over the auditorium.

Bowing her head, she began to weep. For several minutes, the only sound in that building was her deep sobbing. (Years later, her staff told me that nothing like that had ever happened in her meetings, before or after that service.) As she wept, I was glued to her every move, my hands clenched on the pew in front of me.

When she lifted her head I could see the Fire in her eyes. “Please don’t grieve the Holy Spirit,” she pleaded, her voice quaking with emotion. “Don’t wound the One I love. He’s more real than anything in this world. He’s more real to me than you are.”

Then Miss Kuhlman described the extraordinary relationship that had developed between the Holy Spirit and herself. He was her intimate Friend and constant Companion, as well as the Source of God’s power in her life.

I’d never heard anyone speak of the Holy Spirit in this way. As a new Christian I had a confused, clouded image of the Holy Spirit. I knew about His gifts, but I did not really know Him.

Until I attended that meeting in Pittsburgh, no one had ever fully explained to me that the Holy Spirit is a Person I could truly know. I had never heard Him described as someone’s intimate and beloved Companion.

As Miss Kuhlman talked about the Holy Spirit, an inexplicable longing gripped my heart. That was it! That was the secret, I had to know the Person. I've got to know Him, I cried to myself.

Returning to Toronto on the chartered bus, I was

The Most Wonderful Person

still overwhelmed by the experience. Little did I realize what was in store for me back home.

I was physically exhausted when I got home, but still so excited I could hardly sleep. As I lay on my bed, I felt as though someone was pulling me off the mattress and onto my knees.

Kneeling in the darkness, I said the words that had been stirring in my heart all day. “Holy Spirit,” I said, “Kathryn Kuhlman says you are her companion. I don’t think I really know You. Before today I thought I did, but after this morning’s meeting, I realize I really don’t know You.”

Like a little child, I said: “Precious Holy Spirit, I want to know You. Can I meet You? Can I really meet You?” I knew I had met God in faith in the Lord Jesus and that He had changed my life. But could I really know the Holy Spirit like Kathryn Kuhlman did?

Nothing happened for ten long minutes. No angels, no trumpets, no majestic voices. Disappointed, I started to climb back into bed.

Suddenly every atom of my body began trembling, and I felt a wonderful warmth envelop my body as though someone had wrapped me in a thick blanket. An incredible sensation of ecstasy flooded my being. A love so indescribable began to flood my soul. I didn’t understand what was happening to me, yet I knew deep within my being God’s plan for my life had begun to unfold.

The experience was so glorious that I wasn’t sure if I was in heaven, Pittsburgh, or Toronto. When I finally opened my eyes, still tingling with the power of God, I

Can I Meet You?

looked around and discovered I was still in my bedroom in Toronto.

The next morning, the first words I uttered, not knowing why, were “Good morning, Holy Spirit.”

Instantly, His presence filled my room, enveloping me in a heavenly warmth once again. For the next eight hours, my Bible was open as the Holy Spirit taught me about Himself from God’s Word.

When I asked why He had come, He led me to the words of Paul: “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God” (1 Cor. 2:12).

He also showed me why I could never understand the deep things of God without His help: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God” (1 Cor. 2:9,10).

That morning, the Holy Spirit became as real to me as anyone I’ve ever known. At daybreak every day after that, as soon as I said “Good morning” to Him, He was there by my side, helping me understand the Bible, helping me pray, and enabling me to draw closer to my precious Savior and my wonderful heavenly Father.

I sensed His presence everywhere I went, but my bedroom was our special meeting place. I would race home from work and dash up the stairs to spend time alone again with Him.

There were times when that fellowship was so great that the Holy Spirit would say to me, “Please don’t leave, stay with Me, even if it’s just five more minutes.”

It wasn’t long after that I began preaching the gospel and was completely healed of my stuttering, all because of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. One by one, the members of my family gave their hearts to the Lord as they saw the wonderful things the Lord was doing in my life.

From that day to this, the Holy Spirit has been my constant Companion and my mighty Helper. There isn’t a time when I walk on the platform to minister to the thousands in the crusades we hold that I don’t whisper, “Holy Spirit, walk out with me. This is Your service, not mine.”

When the Spirit Comes

Without question, the reason so many wonderful miracles take place in these great crusades is because of the work of the Holy Spirit, and you only begin to understand His work when you begin to understand His per- sonhood.

The Holy Spirit wants to anoint you with His power, to give you victory over temptation, to instruct you in God’s Word, to fill you with wisdom and revelation, and to equip you for ministry. But above all, He longs to have fellowship with you and to bring you into the very presence of God Almighty.

And it is the Holy Spirit Who makes the Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus, so real in our hearts and lives. That’s why the apostle Paul so earnestly wanted the believers to experience “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” (2 Cor. 13:14 Niv). For the more we know Him, the more we know the Father and the Son. And the Holy Spirit never exalts Himself but always glorifies and magnifies the Lord Jesus.

The Lord Jesus said of the Holy Spirit: “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14). The Holy Spirit does not seek His own glory, nor does He want to draw attention to Himself, but to Jesus.

How rich are these truths! How marvelous is the mystery of the Trinity! When I speak of such things, my mind instantly goes back to the ancient Nicene Creed which I learned as a child at the College de Frere, in Jaffa, Israel. It sums up so majestically my understanding of the Trinity:

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible;

And in one Lord Jesus, the Son of God, the Only-Begotten, begotten of the Father before all worlds, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father; by Whom all things were made: Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man; And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried; The third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; Whose Kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the Ressurrection of the dead and the Life of the world to come. Amen.

This same Holy Spirit longs to reveal Jesus to you and empower you to love Him with all your heart, soul, and strength. But for that to happen, you must welcome Him into your life.

There is no greater way to express our love to the Lord than to surrender to His Holy Spirit every day. In fact, it is absolutely essential if you are to know the person of the Holy Spirit intimately and experience His work profoundly. But surrender is only possible through prayer and brokenness before the Lord.

People often ask me, “Can everyone experience the Holy Spirit like you do? Can everyone see the Holy Spirit do the things that you’ve experienced?” The answer is absolutely yes! There is no special gift involved, only brokenness and surrender. So the question is not, “Do I have the gift?” The question is, “Can I surrender all to Him?”

Here’s how the process begins. As you get to know the Lord, it is then that He begins to manifest Himself and His love to you. And a fellowship begins that grows and intensifies until you get to the place where you will say, “Lord Jesus, I give You my life, my mind, my heart, my dreams, my emotions, my thoughts; I give them all to You. I surrender spirit, soul and body. Do with me as You will.”

Surrender to the Blessed Holy Spirit

And as you surrender to Him, it is then that the Holy Spirit begins to teach you, not just about yourself, but about all that the Father has for you (John 14:26). It is then that He imparts to you His strength and His living faith. For as Isaiah declared, “In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength” (Isa. 30:15).

Everything about the Word of God now becomes stronger, and everything about prayer now becomes richer. A passage of Scripture you have read 10,000 times becomes more powerful than ever because of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Your communion with God is richer than you’ve ever known, all because of the presence of the Holy Spirit. And a peace will come and a tranquillity will come into your life, and for the first time you will understand what the Lord Jesus meant when He said, “My peace I give unto you.” All that becomes yours because of the Holy Spirit.

A Welcome Guest

Dennis Bennett, the Episcopal priest who helped introduce charismatic renewal into the mainline denominations, often compared the Holy Spirit to a guest who comes to your home:

While you are in the kitchen preparing refreshments, Bennett said, your guest sits quietly in your living room waiting for you to come and talk with Him. He doesn’t barge into your kitchen and say, “I am waiting for you.” Instead, he may wait for hours until you sit down and talk with him. He is a total Gentleman and does not force Himself on anyone.

The Holy Spirit is just such a Gentleman. He will not intrude into our lives or force His presence upon us. But He will stay ever so close to those who desire His company.

We need to welcome the Holy Spirit into every area of our daily lives by allowing Him to do His work in us and through us—at home, on the job, in school, at church, wherever we are. His wonderful presence should grace our prayer closets, our Bible studies, our worship, and our relationships with other people.

He longs to become your closest Companion and Helper. But it’s up to you to extend the invitation. He is waiting for you to say, “Welcome, Holy Spirit.”

From the earliest days of my ministry I have dreamed of placing this book in your hands.

Good Morning, Holy Spirit introduced you to the person of the Holy Spirit. Now you are about to discover the remarkable work of the Holy Spirit.

Now what any person does flows from and reflects who they are. In fact, we can’t truly appreciate a person’s work until we understand who they are. The same is true of the Holy Spirit. The better you understand who He is as a Person, the more you’ll be able to understand, experience, and appropriate His work.

So this is how we’re going to begin. We’re going to look at who He is, what He’s done in history, and what He wants to do today.

This book is going to help you understand His person and appropriate His power. And I pray as you read the following pages of this book, He will empower you with His presence and His power and reveal to you “It is not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit.” And when you have read the Final page of this book, you will say, “Welcome, Holy Spirit.”

Come with Me on a Journey

CHAPTER

Contents

A New Day Dawning