Lord, Teach Us To Pray - Part Three

 

Luke 11:3

"Give us this day our daily bread."

    God gives His people Bread on a daily basis, just enough to get us through the day. When we are refreshed like this, we begin to grow in Him and gain strength in Him. Then there are the days when we take in so much Bread, so much of The Word, that we must have needs to spread it around, to share it with whoever is in our vicinity. For me, that's whoever is reading this. 

     Exodus 16:4 

Then The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether or not they will follow My instructions." 

    Back in those days, bread (Manna) from heaven was given to God's elect people. But after Christ came to us, it is revealed that He is The Bread of Heaven: John 6:30-35, specifically verse 35: And Jesus said to them, “I Am The Bread of Life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." 

    Coming to Jesus satisfies our hunger. Believing in Jesus satisfies our thirst. When the first is accomplished, the second is automatic. For when we come to Jesus, we come with hope. Hope for our salvation. Hope of being loved unconditionally. Hope for a better life than the one we had without Him. And we believe. 

    And when we believe on The Name of The Lord Jesus Christ, when we believe that He Is Lord, we know that we are committing to a loving relationship with and in Him. Jesus Christ is our Living Water, sustaining our thirsty souls with Himself, with His Spirit. We believe and we are Spirit-filled now. 

    But we keep nothing for ourselves. For when we become believers, when we become Spirit-filled disciples, we cannot, we must not, restrain The Spirit. He is The Living Water that flows from within us. Water must flow or it becomes stagnant and stinky and dead; it kills instead of giving life to all. John 7:37-39.

    So we pray, 

Lord, give us this day our daily Bread. Show us Who You are today. Reveal Yourself in Your Word and help us to grow in You that we might be Your witnesses today. We are not babies that You must feed us. Many of us are maturing in Your Word, for we spend much time in Your presence with our prayers. Continue to open our eyes to the newness of You and help us to feed others that they may grow in You, too.

In Jesus' Most Beautiful Name,

Amen.

     

Spirit - Filled

 

ACTS 2:1-4 

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as The Spirit gave them utterance. 

    Just as He then was, so is The Spirit of God now. He goes where God goes, for He is God's Spirit. He is The Comforter, to comfort those who mourn. He is The Advocate, The Helper sent from God, to lead God's people where God would have us to go. 

    The Spirit is spirit. Though represented by "a mighty rushing wind", "cloven (flames) tongues of fire" here, and "the latter rain" in  Joel 2:23, still The Spirit of God is spirit. As Jesus told Nicodemus, "the wind goes where it will"; we cannot see it, but we can see the effects of where the wind is and where a mighty wind has gone through.  He is The Breath of God breathed into God's new creations: the born again believers.

    And just as The Spirit moved upon the one-hundred and twenty disciples, men and women, who had gathered in one accord ( one heart, one mind, one spirit), The Spirit is ready to move even now. Perhaps, even more so; for the days are short and getting shorter, as God promised in Mark 13:20. They were ready to receive the promise of The Advocate, The Comforter, though they had no idea what this Promise would look like when It arrived. But they trusted God. 

    You and I may not see an actual physical sign of the presence of The Holy Spirit, but we will see the result of His appearing: God will fill the recipient with a new language. Sometimes, a heavenly tongue; sometimes, a language unlearned. For the disciples who received an unlearned language were able to speak those dialects from the housetop to the crowds gathered below, who understood the gospel message in their own native tongue. (Acts 2:5-46). That's the power of God. 

    And when the crowds gathered heard the story of Jesus, many believed and were baptized. Let the crowds gather round to day and hear The Word of The Lord speak. For to day is your day of salvation. 

HOLY SPIRIT RAIN DOWN  

MIGHTY BREATH OF GOD 

     

Arming The Spiritual Warrior - Strength In The Lord

 

Ephesians 6:10

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

1 Corinthians 16:13

Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Be men of courage. Be strong.

Nehemiah 8:10

And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the Joy of the LORD is your Strength!”

To be strong in the Lord is to be empowered and empowerment comes from the Holy Spirit. In order to do the Lord's work properly we need to be filled with the Spirit of God.

Empowerment Promised

Acts 1:4

While He was with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “Which,” He said, “you have heard Me speak about."

Acts 1:8

"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Empowerment Received

Acts 2:1-4

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Does The Spirit Always Arrive In This Same Manner? No.

Acts 9:17, 18, 22

So Ananias went to the house, and when he arrived, he placed his hands on Saul. “Brother Saul,” he said, “the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

At that instant, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and his sight was restored. He got up and was baptized.

But Saul was empowered all the more, and he confounded the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.

When I was baptized in the Spirit, I not only started singing in a heavenly tongue, but it was as if I became a mountain of music which poured from me like lava flows from a volcano. Except it was blue like the sea.  I had already been dabbling in writing some songs, but now the music totally began to flow from me. That was an awesome night.

What is your testimony of when you became filled with the Spirit the first time?