How to be Filled with the Holy Spirit by A. W. Tozer

How to be Filled with the Holy Spirit by A. W. Tozer. Despite Francis Chan's contention that the Holy Spirit is the forgotten God, I haven't had any trouble finding many books on the Holy Spirit, including this by one of my favorite authors, the late and great A. W. Tozer. 

It's a short work, only 64 pages, with practical steps for cultivating a relationship with the Holy Spirit. Tozer begins by saying,

The Holy Spirit is often thought of as a beneficent wind that blows across the Church. If you think of the Holy Spirit as being literally a wind, a breath, then you think of Him as nonpersonal and nonindividual. But the Holy Spirit has will and intelligence and feeling and knowledge and sympathy and ability to love and see and think and hear and speak and desire the same as any person has. Many of us have grown up on the theology that accepts the Holy Spirit as a Person, and even as a divine Person, but for some reason it never did us any good. We are as empty as ever, we are as joyless as ever, we are as far from peace as ever, we are as weak as ever.

Throughout the remaining pages, Tozer does several things. Among them, he asks the believer if he truly wants to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Why might we not? Because if we want to live self-centered lives, rather than God-centered lives, there is no room in our hearts for the Holy Spirit. He says,

"He will not permit you to indulge self-confidence. Self-love, self-confidence, self-righteousness, self-admiration, self-aggrandizement and self-pity are under the interdiction of God Almighty, and He cannot send His mighty Spirit to possess the heart where these things are."

For those who still want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, Tozer then outlines six steps to help us to cultivate this holy, supernatural relationship.