A few months after I began my pursuit of God in 1989 I remember something unusual and wonderful happening. Walking around the city on a beautiful day I started praying in my mind. After a while I noticed that my words became more fluent and flowing. It felt like someone else was praying. But it was still me and my personality. Very strange but amazing! This was the Holy Spirit within carrying me along in a current of conversation.
Once I experienced this I realized the importance of the role of the Spirit in prayer. He leads us, energizes us and illuminates our hearts. He puts affection within us for Christ. The way we connect to God is through the Holy Spirit.
The reason I’m bringing this up early in our 100 day pursuit is because I want you to realize that real prayer—the kind that really engages with the living God—cannot happen without the Spirit. Ask for the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to teach you to pray. Consider this promise:
The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
—Romans 8:26
If you attempt to develop a prayer life without the Spirit’s help you’ll end up being very very frustrated. Or, even worse, you’ll be disciplined in the ritual of prayer and become a monster of self-righteousness. Yikes. Neither of these are good, right? We need the Holy Spirit!
The good news is that the Father is very willing to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask. Consider this promise from Jesus:
And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!
—Luke 11:9-13
The Father loves to give good things to His children! All that is required is this practice of asking and seeking and knocking. It’s not just a one time knock, but there’s a persistence to it. You know, like when kids keep badgering their parents for something. It’s a little like that. This posture of pleading is essential. To plead is to get low, to humble ourselves—and God gives grace to the humble!
There are a lot of different theological opinions about the Spirit, and churches disagree. I’m not going to get into all that but just encourage you to keep it simple. The important thing to know is that the Holy Spirit is a gift intended for you to help you. Jesus talked a lot about this in John 14-16 if you want to learn more. Here’s one of my favorite promises that Apostle Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost. Pay attention especially to the last sentence.
Now when they heard this [Peter’s Gospel message] they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" And Peter said to them, "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. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself."
—Acts 2:37-39
Some of you may believe in Christ but have not yet received the Spirit. Ask and keep asking until you receive. Others may technically have the Spirit but for various reasons are not experiencing the Spirit’s power. Ask and keep asking until you receive the power. And the truth is that all of us, even those with strong prayer lives, need more of the Spirit. The Bible says Jesus had the Spirit without measure. But we are weak and always in need of fresh infillings of the Spirit. I’ll share more on this soon, but just make sure you are depending on the Spirit to help you in these 100 days. Love you all, and thanks for joining me in this!
Pastor Scott