How to Have the Holy Spirit

Acts 2:38 

“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

A lot of people think that you can say the sinner's prayer. Then a few weeks later you are baptized. Then at some point later you get the Holy Spirit fully. I believe the moment you are baptized, you get the Holy Spirit. There can be waves of getting more of the Holy Spirit. There are many instances in the Old and New Testament where people were filled with the Holy Spirit in order to do something big. 

It is not that you get part of the Holy Spirit and you are half saved. Then you are baptized in the Holy Spirit, and then you are really saved. It can get confusing though. If you read through Acts, it is hard to figure out how it all progresses. It is meant to be a one day process. You believe in Jesus, get baptized and the Holy Spirit comes into your heart to help you. Baptism isn't always necessary but it helps. 

You do not have to speak in tongues to prove that you have the Holy Spirit. If you have the Holy Spirit, you simply know. You feel different. You have more peace and hope and joy. For me the best way to describe it was like a light bulb turned on. That makes sense since the Holy Spirit is said to lead us into all truth. 

You finally see all that you didn't see before. You see that you were created to serve God. You see finally that your life is not just about you. You see finally that you owe God for sending Jesus to save you, and you want to pay him back if you can, somehow. You get a fire for God for the first time where you want to tell everyone about God, whether they want to hear about him or not. You become more submissive to your parents or whoever is in authority over you. You naturally want to do the right things and not the wrong things anymore. You have a strong desire to read the Bible and to really understand it. And you want to pray a lot. If all that hasn't happened to you say this prayer, "Jesus I believe in you. Holy Spirit please come into my heart. God I want to follow you for the rest of my life."