A spring is evidence of an underground reservoir called an aquifer. They work together. A spring does not exist without the aquifer. The aquifer is its source. This is the same in our spiritual world. Every child of God is a channel through whom the Holy Spirit, linked to Jesus, brings about Father’s will in our lives. How does this work?
The Holy Spirit within every Christian is evidence of His link to God. He is the third part of the Trinity. God the Father knows the mind of the Holy Spirit because He is part of Him. This makes Romans 8:27 all the more exciting. “The Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.” (NLT) The previous verse, 26, tells us that when we don’t know what to pray, “the Holy Spirit prays for us.” He prays in accordance with God’s own will for our lives.
We have all been in situations when we can’t guess what God’s will is for us. We truly want to do what He says to do, but as much as we ponder and pray, we come to no concrete conclusion. We seem to be without direction. Take heart in the reminder of the Holy Spirit representing us to the Father. When we come before God in prayer, and we don’t know for what we should pray, turn to the Holy Spirit. Thank Him for His presence in your life. Give praises to the Father for His provision. Give thanks to Jesus the Son for assuring us we would never be alone, because the Holy Spirit would always be with us to comfort, instruct, and guide.
When you don’t know how to pray, the most important thing to do is make certain your heart is leaning toward your Heavenly Father. When your focus and desire is for the perfect will of God to be done in your life, it is then the Holy Spirit speaks those desires to Father on your behalf, and Father’s will is then made perfect in you. I love the verse in Psalm 37:4 that promises that very thing, “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desire.” When you are meditating upon the things of God, looking faithfully into His Word, seeking His ways, desiring that His will be done, He takes note that your longing is for Him. When your hunger is for Him and His ways, the Holy Spirit, representing you before the Father and the Son, prays on your behalf within God’s perfect will. Don’t we have the most amazing representative?
We do our part to seek the Father’s will. The Holy Spirit does His part to speak to the Father on our behalf; He is our Advocate. The Father, knowing the mind of the Spirit, answers by revealing His will. The Spirit then opens the right doors of opportunity, He reveals hidden truth in Scripture to us, He stimulates, excites, and stirs up our faith. What happens then? Joy and peace springs forth from Jesus our Rock, our aquifer, through the power of the Holy Spirit, our link, in accordance with the will of our Heavenly Father.
There are two similar passages found in Matthew 7 and Luke 11. They both instruct followers of Christ to, “ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.” These words have brought both encouragement and dismay. I have listened to the tales of woe from Christians who have “asked believing” and what they asked for did not take place. They are perplexed and discouraged. Have you ever found yourself in that same sinking boat of despair?
It’s all to do with reading in context. For example, many people cling to verses 7-8 in Matthew 7 but they pay little attention to verses 9-11. Let’s look at it: Matthew 7:7-11, “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. You parents, if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him?” This same passage in Luke 11:13 reads, “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” There are both “fruits” of the Spirit and “gifts” of the Spirit. An example of fruits are love, joy, and peace. An example of gifts are word of knowledge and word of wisdom.
When Jesus is speaking to His followers in these passages, He is addressing, not the tangible, but the spiritual. Does God care about the tangible in our lives? May we pray for physical needs? Absolutely! However, never lose sight of the fact that the tangible is temporary and fades. The spiritual, by contrast is full of lasting power, comfort, and strength to get us through the tangible difficulties that come to us all. By way of example, let’s say a loved one is ill. Death seems imminent. You “ask” believing you will “receive,” but your loved one passes away. Did God not answer your request when He promised He would? No! He promised to give you everything of the Holy Spirit that you would need to get through the darkness moments of your lives.
I encourage us all to look beyond the tangible. Look to the power of the Holy Spirit. How could Paul and Silas sing in prison? How could Daniel remain calm when he was thrown to the lions? It was solely because of the power of the Holy Spirit. When we ask, seek, and knock, then we discover that our Heavenly Father gives us everything we need to get through anything at all. The Holy Spirit is the most lovely answer to prayer that we can ever receive.
Whatever you are going through today — ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door of everything you need will be opened to you. “For with God, nothing shall be impossible.” (Luke 1:37) Remember, too, the words of Jesus in John 14:16-17, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.”
May we all engage in the instruction Jesus gave us to, ask, seek and knock, knowing that we will receive all we need through the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, filling us, empowering us. That’s why nothing is ever impossible for us to get through with God’s own peace, joy, strength, and courage.
I’m sure we’ve all had those moments when a thought or memory pops into our minds for no understandable reason. It just comes. Such was the case with me earlier this week. I recalled an incident that happened to me when I was eleven or twelve years old. It was the time my mother had announced with a smile that it was time I wore a training bra. Oh, the excitement! This was it! I was on the road to womanhood! How proud I felt wearing my training bra, which of course, was merely an elastic band with shoulder straps. Never mind! I was wearing a bra and that was significant! In no time at all, I was certain, I would be driving a car and renting my first apartment.
It wasn’t long after receiving my womanly bra that my mother gave me something else — a money pouch. She had sewn it herself. A tiny pale blue bag. She put a five dollar bill inside the pouch and then pinned it inside my elastic band, oops, I mean my bra. My mother explained that whenever I was away from home, whether at school, riding my bike around the neighborhood, going to the community swimming pool, anywhere at all; if I found myself in difficulty, I had my money pouch to help me out. I could phone home, call a taxi, pay for an unexpected something. The money in the pouch, in the elastic band bra, was my mother’s provision for times of trouble.
Now, you may laugh, but this memory made me think of the Holy Spirit. You see, Jesus assured us in John 14:16, that when He left earth, we would not be alone. He would ask His Father to send the Holy Spirit who would be our Advocate. The dictionary defines advocate as: protector, supporter, fighter. When you and I get into any kind of trouble, whether it be temptation, relationship struggles, unfair treatment from others, financial despair, anything at all; if we find ourselves in difficulty, we have the Holy Spirit to help us out. We can call upon Him at any time of day or night. The Holy Spirit dwelling within us is our Heavenly Father’s provision for times of trouble.
When difficulties come, the Holy Spirit reminds us of all the treasure we have in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit brings us to a place of praise for all the Lord has done for us in the past, and for all He is to us in the present. Praising is a wonderful antidote to despair. The Holy Spirit gives us a song to sing in our hearts even in times of deepest sorrow. The Holy Spirit is a constant presence of both gentleness and power. I close with the following passage in Psalm 34:1-6. Whatever you are going through today, remember the provision made for you; the presence of the sweet Holy Spirit to guide, comfort, and empower.
“I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak His praises. I will boast only in the Lord; let all who are helpless take heart. Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness; let us exalt His name together. I prayed to the Lord and He answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to Him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; He saved me from all my troubles.”
God created us to express emotions. We feel and express sadness, anger, perplexity, surprise, joy, and humor. My grandmother passed away when I was only seventeen, but I vividly remember her sense of humor. She died of cancer and was often in great pain. I know that from the pain meds she had to take. Even so, it’s not her pain I remember so much, but her laughter. She said to me once, “make sure you laugh everyday because you’ll feel better all over.”
Psychologists and physicians report that the act of laughing reduces stress level hormones, but increases antibody-producing cells which boosts our immune systems. Laughter helps to lower blood pressure and raises our tolerance to pain. It’s also a social mechanism that connects us with others.
I remember years ago I entered an elevator in a high-rise office building. When I stepped inside there were several others. When the elevator would stop on each floor, people would exit or enter. No words were exchanged. No eye contact was made. Suddenly, someone sneezed. “Oh goodness!” a voice said, “I scared myself! How about the rest of you?” Laughter erupted. We all began to chat, a few shared their own sneezing escapades. As people began to leave the elevator the rest of us would call out a cheery, “have a good day,” or “beware the sneeze,” which brought on fresh laughter all over again.
God’s Word tells us in Proverbs 17:22, “A cheerful heart is good medicine but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.” We’ve probably all experienced being so down about something, that our physical strength faded and motivation flew out the window. Laughter, by contrast, can provide bursts of energy and raise our motivation levels.
It has even been medically noted that in the womb, a baby kicks more when he or she hears laughter, just as he or she rests when quiet music is played. Imagine that! A human being, even before physically entering the world, responds to bouts of emotion. It has been medically noted that a laughing mother promotes better health for her yet unborn child.
Laughter is fun to do and makes one feel good all over. What a wonderful gift God gave us when He created us with the ability to laugh. So, I wish you a great day, and may you look for and find, something to laugh about.
Recent Comments