Power of the Holy Spirit

"Every great outpouring of the Holy Spirit - Pentecost included- began in the mind of God but it broke through on earth at the point of passionate and persevering prayer."   Selwyn Hughes

God’s Word says in James 5:16 (NLV), “…the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results.”   That righteousness finds its source in the power of the Holy Spirit.   We each face the ongoing battle with the things of this world, our flesh nature, and Satan that attempt to rob that posture of truth.  With such strong forces opposing this purity we need to know how to walk in the power of the Spirit to overcome and walk in victory.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The One who calls you is faithful and He will do it.”

To be sanctified means that we are separated from the world, dedicated to the service of God so that we can be filled with the Spirit of God.

This call to sanctification is humanly impossible, that is why we need the Spirit of God to empower us daily.  As we daily come to God and choose to walk in absolute surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, we find God’s power to be more than sufficient to do what we cannot do in our own strength.  How do we do this?

• We daily take up our cross and consider ourselves to be dead to sin.   This is surrender.

“Then he said to them all: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.   For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.’” Luke 9:23-24

“And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”  Luke 14:27

“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.   Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.    In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”  Rom 6:5-6,11

“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.   When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.  Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature.” Col 3:2-5

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."  1 Peter 2:24

• We confess any sin in our lives and ask God to cleanse us.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9-10

Also see Hebrews 10:1-25

• We make a choice of the will to be obedient to everything that God asks us to do.

“We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” 1 John 2:3-4

• We ask God to fill us with the power of His Holy Spirit and receive Him by faith.

“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” Eph 5:17-18

“If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Luke 11:13

See also Gal 5:22-25

As we daily come to God in this way, we discover God’s power, victory and joy appropriated by faith. Our desires rest less on the things of this world, and more on the eternal as we experience the purity and holiness of the cross.  In this posture, prayer is powerful!  It’s the place where we can expect to receive more than we could ask, think or imagine. And we are prepared as a bride, without spot or wrinkle, to meet Jesus when He returns. (Eph 5:27)

 

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