The Lord has given us wonderful promises for receiving the Holy Spirit:
"If you then, being evil, 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!”
Luke 11:13
Hasn’t our heavenly Father made a binding commitment here? The requirement in this wonderful promise is: ask! Yet Jesus doesn’t mean to ask one time, but to make a constant appeal.
However, it is important to see the context here. We should also read the other texts which speak about the same thing, for example:
“And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
Acts 5:32
The requirement here is: obedience! We can see here that we can’t support ourselves with only one text: we also have to consider the context of the promise. It doesn’t have to do with being obedient once with something that is pleasant for us. Rather, it has to do with obeying Him: our wonderful redeemer and friend. Obedience creates joy. Pray every morning for an obedient heart. Pray that the Lord will make you willing to do everything He wants to and will certainly help you accomplish it. This creates a good prerequisite.
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.”
John 7:37
Here, it has to do with the desire for the Holy Spirit. If you have no desire, or think you have too little, then you may pray for desire. It is a request according to God’s will, which will be immediately answered. When we ask our wonderful God, He will create in us “the desire and the accomplishment.” We may also pray for the desire for a close relationship with God, to love Him with our whole hearts, to serve Him with joy, to have a growing desire for Jesus and His soon return and reunion in God’s kingdom, a desire to read God’s word and to learn from it, as well as the desire to help and be equipped to help save the lost.
“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive.”
John 7: 38-39
Here, the condition is: belief! We see here that our faith in Jesus Christ, our trust in God, is an important prerequisite for receiving the Holy Spirit. But when we pray with promises, then believing is easy.
“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
Galatians 5:16
We actually have a promise here, which is expressed as a command. When God wants me to walk in the Spirit, then that clearly means that He wants to fill me with the Holy Spirit. And He shows us here that when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, then we aren’t at the mercy of our lusts anymore. The Holy Spirit breaks the power of sin in us (Romans 8:1-17, especially v. 2). Through the Holy Spirit, “the deeds of our body” are put to death (Romans 8:13). Think of Paul, who said about himself: “I die daily.” It is something tremendously valuable not to be at the mercy of the works of the body (Galatians 5:18-21), but rather to grow the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22).
We can compare sin not being able to invade our lives to the assembly of binoculars. In order for no dust to get into the lenses the room has to be over-pressurized. This means that the air moves outwards when the door is opened. No dust can enter. In the same way, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, “you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
“That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love … that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:16-17, 19).
Maybe we don’t notice any of the power for a long time. It could be like it is in nature. In the winter, the trees are bare, and in spring, they are green. There are tremendous powers at work in this revitalization. We cannot see or hear them. But then we see the results. That is the way it was for me. I thank God that He gives me abundant power.
Another example: We have known for a few decades that we have electric currents in our bodies. They are there. But we aren’t aware of them.
“...be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18) or “let yourself be continually and repeatedly refilled with the Spirit”.1
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me …” (Acts 1:8).
The disciples were commanded to wait until the power came. They didn’t wait idly. “The disciples prayed with intense earnestness for a fitness to meet men in their daily intercourse, to speak words that would lead sinners to Christ. Putting away all differences, all desire for supremacy, they came closer in Christian fellowship.”2 We may also pray with this promise.
Call to Action
Review and discuss the following with a friend or family member:
- When we claim promises in prayer, why can we expect this prayer to be answered?
- What am I saying to God when I have claimed a promise in prayer and don’t expect it to be answered?
- What are the two categories of promises? What is the difference between these two groups?
- List a few promises dealing with the Holy Spirit:
Pray the following with your friend or family member:
- That the Lord fills you with the Holy Spirit.
- That your prayers will be strengthened through claiming promises.
- Thank God that His Word doesn’t return empty.
The above is an excerpt from Steps to Personal Revival.
Unless noted otherwise, scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
- Johannes Mager, Auf den Spuren des Heiligen Geistes (Lüneburg, 1999), S. 101
- Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles (Mountain View, California: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911), 37
