Paul prays that God "may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self." (Ephesians 3: 16).
What do you know about the Holy and Awesome Spirit? At the lowest point in my life, a true, reliable and credible person told me that all that I "needed is the Holy Spirit." Although I did not see how a holy spirit could resolve all the urgent and real world issues that I faced at the time, I listened because of the authenticity of the witness. At a book fair a couple of months earlier, I purchased a hefty book with the unglamorous title "HOLY SPIRIT" and left it in my book case to gather dust. Call it coincidence or Providence.
After the encounter with destiny that I label today: "All you need is the Holy Spirit", I devoured the Holy Spirit book. About ten years prior to this event, I invested heavily in self development literature of the kind of: THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING, THE RICHEST MAN IN BABYLON, HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE, THINK AND GROW RICH, etc.
I discovered that the HOLY SPIRIT book promises everything the popular psychology literature is selling. The self development literature genre is still very popular today and sells $ billions every year. People are searching for meaning, peace and happiness but are looking in the wrong places.
After reading the HOLY SPIRIT, I made a 9-day Novena. On the 9th and final day, I followed to the letter the instructions of the slim booklet I bought for the Novena. Voilà! That was how the Holy Spirit which I received in Confirmation as a careless teenager was activated in me.
Paul continued to pray for the Ephesians "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." (Ephesians 3: 17). This reminded me of what happened to me after the Holy Spirit Novena. I declared by faith that I had received the Holy Spirit. It was confirmed minutes later from a text from the Book of Wisdom:
"I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded and the spirit of Wisdom came to me." (Wisdom 7: 7).
I have never doubted this experience. After the encounter with the Holy Spirit, I was filled with incredible joy and peace that lasted for months. I thought it would last forever. Peter asked Jesus to allow them stay on the Mount of Transfiguration forever. It never happened. There is work to be done. (Matthew 17: 4).
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