Many people assume they know God because they have accepted many facts about God, without having been born again (Jn.3:3). Mostly, the reason is that they have not been willing to personally acknowledge themselves as sinners in God's eyes. Since Jesus came, first of all, to save us from our sins, if we can't admit we are sinners, we place ourselves outside of the Saviour (Mt.1:21). But among many who have been born again, comparatively few people have been 'baptised in the Holy Spirit'. Since the new birth is by the work of the Holy Spirit in them, and without having the Holy Spirit no one can be a Christian, they think that they already have the Holy Spirit and don't look for any further 'baptism' in the Spirit. But that is another thing Jesus came to do for us (Lk.3:16). This became possible after Jesus died and rose from the dead (Jn.7:39). Then He told the disciples to receive 'power' through the Holy Spirit (Ac.1:8).
Instead of serving God with this 'supernatural' anointing that comes from the Spirit, those who have not received it lean on their natural abilities. Even in reading the Bible, they use their own intelligence for understanding, instead of leaning on the Holy Spirit to reveal His truths to them, which He has inspired into those words. In this way, the cleverer and the more naturally talented people 'shine' in front of others, while those who are poor in spirit and who depend on God 'see' things of the kingdom of God (Mt.5:3).
On the other hand, many claim to have been baptised in the Spirit just to be accepted in such groups, without knowing the power of the Spirit or receiving His spiritual gifts. They make themselves utter sounds that imitate 'tongues' while speaking or praying to impress others. There are also others who go after 'power' so much that they are willing to receive power from even deceiving spirits.
Some Christians notice this excessive stress on emotional and miraculous experiences that lead many people to circumvent the instructions in the Bible, that they prefer to keep a safe distance from such. But they back off so much that they miss the genuine experience of the Holy Spirit themselves.
We must believe that if we ask our Father for good things, He will not deceive us by giving us imitations or harmful substitutes (Lk.11:11,13). If we are clear that our motive for asking for the Holy Spirit is to receive power to be His witnesses – through a life demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit as well as by serving Him through the use of His divine gifts – we can be sure that God will give us the genuine experience.
For example, the gift of speaking privately to God in a language without understanding the meaning ourselves is something that lifts us up from an ordinary relationship with God to another level of intimacy (1Co.14:2). The gift of prophecy will enable us to tell people what God wants them to hear (v.3), perhaps without even realising we are speaking for God to particular people.