John 14:16-20 New King James Version (NKJV)
16 And I
will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—
17 the
Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it
neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and
will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come
to you. 19 “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more,
but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you
in Me, and I in you.
- We thank You, Lord, for sending us a Helper who abides with us forever. He’s not a visitor, He’s not a friend who drops by once in a while – He was sent to abide with us forever. Father, I’m thanking You again for the gift of Your Spirit.
- Vs 17- Father, thank You for sending us the Spirit of Truth to keep us from the lies, errors and deception of the devil.
- Vs 18 - We are not spiritual orphans – Lord, thank You for not leaving us destitute, bereaved, alone, helpless, disadvantaged and vulnerable.
- Thank You Jesus for fulfilling the Your promise of sending us the Comforter. You came to us in the person of the Comforter.
- Thank You Holy Spirit because You never leave us!
Galatians 5:16-25 Living Bible (TLB)
16 I advise you to obey only the Holy Spirit’s
instructions. He will tell you where to go and what to do, and then you won’t
always be doing the wrong things your evil nature wants you to.
17 For we naturally love to do evil things that are just the
opposite from the things that the Holy Spirit tells us to do; and the good
things we want to do when the Spirit has his way with us are just the opposite
of our natural desires. These two forces within us are constantly fighting each
other to win control over us, and our wishes are never free from their
pressures.
18 When you are guided by the
Holy Spirit, you need no longer force yourself to obey Jewish laws.
19 But when you
follow your own wrong inclinations, your lives will produce these
evil results: impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure,
20 idolatry, spiritism (that is, encouraging
the activity of demons), hatred and fighting, jealousy and anger, constant
effort to get the best for yourself, complaints and criticisms, the feeling
that everyone else is wrong except those in your own little group—and there
will be wrong doctrine,
21 envy, murder,
drunkenness, wild parties, and all that sort of thing. Let me tell you again,
as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the
Kingdom of God.
22 But when the
Holy Spirit controls our lives he
will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness and self-control; and here there is no
conflict with Jewish laws.
24 Those who
belong to Christ have nailed their natural evil desires to his cross and
crucified them there.
25 If we are living now by the Holy Spirit’s power, let us
follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
Galatians 5: 25 (The Message)
25 Since this is the kind of life we have
chosen, the life of the Spirit, let
us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment
in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.
- We will only enjoy the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit if we actually give Him room/space to direct every area of our lives, not just talk about doing so.
- If we are not being led daily by the Holy Spirit, seeking His guidance for everything, we will become influenced by spirit of this age. There is no vacuum in the spirit realm.
- O what needless struggles we have because we do not consult, defer to and give room for the leadership of the One who has been sent to abide with us forever.
- The only way to experience a continuous victory over the flesh is to deliberately seek, listen for and follow the instructions of the Holy Spirit. He is the One who guides us into all truth about our new life in Christ.
- O how the church has strayed from the truth in so many ways because the Holy Spirit has not been given opportunity to be the leader of the church in our days. What errors and deception have taken root in the church because we ignore the directives of the Holy Spirit and follow the ways that appease the flesh, the world and Satan.
- Jude verse 4 says, “…certain men have crept in unnoticed...” – only because the church has not allowed the Holy Spirit to be the overseer in all things.
- We have entered the times of the great deception and great apostasy – when “false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” (Matt 24:24). How will we survive such times if we do not let the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth take the driver’s seat of our lives and the church?
- In fact, the liberty and freedom we profess in Christ will only be a reality when we consistently live our lives in the Holy Spirit. (John 8:31-32; Galatians 3:1-5).
Heart Cry
1.
Holy Spirit, please forgive us for not giving You space to lead us. We
repent of our neglect of You in our daily lives. We have rendered ourselves
vulnerable to the enemy because we have not allowed You to direct our lives.
Please have mercy on us.
2.
Holy Spirit, please forgive us today for not being deliberate in
listening for Your voice and yielding to Your promptings. We stray from the
truth because we do not always obey Your instructions.
3.
Holy Spirit, we invite You to take Your rightful place in our lives today.
Abide with us and cause us to experience Your presence every moment of every
day.
4.
Gentle Dove, please come again and help us to live this new life we have
been called to live. Strengthen us from within by Your mighty power so that
Christ might dwell in our hearts as we trust Him. (Ephesians 3:16-17).
5.
Help us to follow Your leading so that we do not continue to cater for
the flesh.
6.
Holy Spirit, help me to be completely yielded to You, allowing You access
to every area of my life. Help me to obey Your instructions because You are the
Spirit of Truth and will never lead me astray.
7.
Help me to actually live my life in the Spirit, working out the implication
of it in my day to day life, not just holding it as an idea, a sentiment or
slogan.
8.
Holy Spirit, let me experience and enjoy Your abiding presence in life
and ministry.
Prayer for the Church
1.
Lord, we repent on behalf of the church today. We repent for our ‘Laodicical’
attitude towards the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We repent for the church’s
neglect of the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
2.
Father, forgive us the church for thinking the Holy Spirit is not enough
and thereby employing gimmicks and practices of men and of demons. Have mercy
on Your church, Lord.
3.
Holy Spirit, we pray that You will once again have Your preeminent place
in ALL the activities and practices of the church.
4.
Lord, help the leaders of the church to once again recognise Your
ministry and give You full control of how the church is administered.
5.
We pray for those leaders who are employing demonic powers- Holy Spirit,
convict them and bring them to repentance.
6.
Holy Spirit, You are the Spirit of Truth – please return in Your glory to
the church and bring Her back to the
Truth of the complete gospel. Let Your abiding presence erode and dispel every
deception of the devil that has taken root in the church. Come Holy Spirit and
abide with us as in times of old.
7.
Holy Spirit, Breath of God, breathe on Your church again. Give Her another
Pentecostal experience. Let’s pray Song of Solomon 4:16 for the church:
Song of Solomon 4:16 New King James Version (NKJV)
Awake, O north wind,
And come, O south!
Blow upon my garden,
That its spices may flow out.
Let my beloved come to
his garden
