Mike Murdock - The Holy Spirit Handbook

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
The Holy Spirit Handbook .
ISBN 978-1563946523
Copyright 1990 by MIKE MURDOCK
All publishing rights belong exclusively to Wisdom International
Publisher/Editor: Deborah Murdock Johnson
Published by The Wisdom Center 4051 Denton Hwy. Ft. Worth, Texas 76117 USA 1-817-759-BOOK 1-817-759-0300
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My life changed dramatically on July 13, 1994.

It happened on a Wednesday morning. I had gone to bed at 5:00 a.m. after working all night long on a very special project. Two hours later, at 7:00 a.m., I was awakened suddenly and completely. An unexplainable, undeniable and awesome Presence was in my room.

Something more powerful than anything I had ever experienced...like an invisible emotional current was pulling me from my bedroom toward my Secret Place. (This is my private prayer room in a small complex next to my house.) Now, I did not really call it The Secret Place at that time. It was simply my Prayer Room. But, that day was to change my understanding of God forever.

Because of the overwhelming and compelling urge to enter into intercession and go to The Secret Place, I thought that perhaps my father had suddenly passed on to be with the Lord. You see, my 81-year-old father is the greatest intercessor I have known in my lifetime. When I think of my dad, I think of him on his knees, with his hands raised, eyes closed and praying in the Spirit. It was normal for him to spend six to ten hours a day in his personal and private prayer room. Throughout my entire life, I have never heard my father curse, lie or say a single word that could not be placed on the front of any newspaper in the world. That has always impressed me. He walks with God. Well, I had asked the Lord for many years to put his Mantle of Prayer over my life.

When this incredible, unexplainable and compelling surging current began to draw me toward The Secret Place, I thought the Mantle was being transferred that morning. But, I couldnt feel any real sorrow had he really passed away. There was incredible calm and peace.

So, my second thought was, Someone must be praying for me. You see, my entire ministry is held up daily by hundreds of people who call my name to God. I need their prayers, their intercession and their spiritual support more than any finances or even words of encouragement. I have built my entire ministry on Matthew 18:18-19, and the Prayer of Agreement. Somehow, from my childhood I received unshakable faith that when two people would pray for something in the will of God, every demon in hell had to submit to this penetrating power. God answers prayer. Quite simply.

When I travel, I often ask the audiences to remember Mike Murdock in prayer every day. In fact, every time you walk into a grocery store and see a little bag of M & Mslet that be a reminder to call the name of Mike Murdock in prayer. Everyone always laughs aloud, but they get the point. And, many have told me over the years that every time they see a little bag of M & M candy, they immediately remember to call my name in prayer. So, I thought that somebody had just interceded and had a breakthrough in prayer for my life because of the overwhelming atmosphere and Presence in my room.

My third thought was more dramatic:

Could this be the burning bush experience I had wanted from the Lord my entire lifetime? Ive always admired ministers who experience visitations from angels. Wow! I have begged God in my early years to please let me see an angel, talk to an angel. That seemed to be something so remarkable and life changing. I will never forget having supper with the late Roland Buck who had remarkable encounters with angels. But, these kinds of visitations never happened to me.

Yet, I have always believed that God can give you dramatic encounters that create an unshakable, unmovable confidence in His Assignment for your life something that no man can ever make you doubt. He did it for the Apostle Paul, when his name was Saul, on the Damascus road. He did it for Peter when He sent an angel in to the prison while the church prayed for him. He did it for Moses. The burning bush episode was never doubted, even when people were complaining around him many years later.

God is a dramatic God.

God is an emotional God.

God creates unforgettable encounters.

Normally, upon awakening, I would punch play on the tape recorder beside my bed or in my bathroom. I always listen to Scriptures being read while I dress. (Nothing on earth is as important as The Word of God being spoken into your mind, heart and life...every single day. Nothing. )

But, this surging, invisible and compelling current was overpowering me. Literally, I felt that time was of such essenceI didnt take time to even turn on the Scripture tape.

I grabbed my clothes. Pulling them on, I took my Bible and rushed out the door. I bounded down the concrete steps beside my swimming pool and crossed the driveway over to the little guest house complex next door. (I had turned it into private offices for myself, away from the ministry offices.)

It was the most dramatic day of my lifetime.

I fell in love with The Holy Spirit...as a Person. Not an experience. Not feeling His power surge through me. Rather, beholding His countenance, His glory, and finding Him to be the Best Friend I would ever have in my life.

Now, I am not merely a religious man with religious experiences. Neither am I a novice in the things of God.

My father and mother were married 63 years. She recently went to be with the Lord. My dad has been a pastor and minister for 62 years or so. I am the third child of a proven, established and precious man of God. Seven children are in our family today. My father is an intercessor. I was raised in a non-stop, continuous atmosphere of praise, worship and continuous prayer life. In my own mind, I remember seeing my father more on his knees than I ever saw him off his knees.

He always had a private room for prayer. Though some of us children had to pile up in one bedroom, Daddy always had his separate room for prayer. (It never occurred to me to question it. That was an accepted habit in our household. Daddy was always in his Prayer Room.)

Now, I also had a powerful and unforgettable encounter with The Holy Spirit at the age of ten. Many call it the baptism of The Holy Spirit. It was at the altar in Franklin, Louisiana, that I was encouraged by a lady evangelist and her husband, Paul and Alice Cormier, to pursue the baptism. This was basically considered to be an overwhelming encounter with The Holy Spirit that was accompanied by an unknown prayer language.

I will never forget it. It was real, wonderful and genuine. Great joy entered my heart. And I was so thrilled that I could tell everyone at the church, at last, I had experienced the baptism. Then, several years later, about the age of 15 or 16, I experienced another mighty and unforgettable baptism in The Holy Spirit in Beaumont, Texas. This happened on the platform when a wonderful man of God, Harry Hodge, prayed over my life on the platform at the church called Sabine Tabernacle.