Almost twenty years ago, I knelt down next to my bed and prayed for more of the Holy Spirit.
I prayed for my ears to hear Him as my friend heard Him. If the Lord had more of Himself to give me, more gifts of the Holy Spirit, despite my fears, I wanted more. I knew people who walked with confidence and power in their faith. I wanted that, and from what I could tell, their confidence came from intimacy with the Spirit of God.
On that day, as I prayed fervently, I felt my ears begin to burn. I’m not sure it was answer to prayer or the intensity in which I prayed. But I knew this, as soon as I said, “Amen!” and got up from my knees, I noticed a direction from a voice within.
“Go get the clothes out of the dryer.”
I was a little disappointed. Was that my thought or God’s?
He Can Organize Your Day
It wasn’t anything grand, but I took that thought as His order, and that’s how I began my walk with the Holy Spirit. I began living a conversation with God, and no matter how trivial the instruction, I followed through (most of the time). I knew He was in the small details of my life as well as the big if I paid attention.
When I began to do this I discovered my day was better organized as I listened for cues and nudges from the divine. (Smile.) Practicing His Presence helped me hear His voice better. Now, I walk with confidence of His leading. But it took daily practice and trust. It took Faith.
We need the Holy Spirit.
The other day, I was reading through my One Year Bible, which is a great way to read the Bible through the year because you read a section of the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. Anyway, on that day I was finishing 2 Corinthians. I loved Paul’s closing. I know I’ve read it before, but this time it really jumped out to me. Not very many scriptures involve all three persons of God.
“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor. 13:14.)
Isn’t it beautiful?
How differently would we walk this journey if we did so fully aware of the grace of Jesus, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit?
The word “fellowship” was translated from the Greek word Koinonia (koy-nohn-ee’-ah). It means partnership, participation, communion, distribution, and fellowship (The Complete Word Study New Testament).
What kind of God is willing to partner with people like us? Messy, confused, fearful, rebellious, ______________ (fill in the blank) people.
The God who wants to partner with us is a God who knows we can’t be holy on our own. He knows we need His Spirit to help us, change us, lead us, pray for us, and be with us. So, He made a way.
He distributes Himself to those who trust in Jesus. But even as believers, our lack of trust limits His power in and through us.
We can commune with Him.
Partner in the Kingdom work.
Participate with the divine.
I use to think the Holy Spirit was something kind of scary, but the Holy Spirit isn’t scary. He is simply and profoundly God available 24/7.
[bctt tweet=”The Holy Spirit isn’t scary. He is simply and profoundly God available 24/7.” username=”wordsbyandylee”]
Short Bible Reading Plan, because you’re busy!
Sneak Peek of Bible Reading Plan and Prompts
Romans 8:1-2: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Prompt: The Spirit strengthens us, changes us, and convicts us, but He does not condemn. His conviction is freeing. Have you been convicted by the Spirit lately? Did that conviction change you? Write it down.
John 3: 5,6: Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
Prompt: Does the Spirit live in you? Baptism is the symbolism of dying to self and living born again as God’s child. Whose voice do you follow more? God’s through the Spirit or yours?
John 14:26: But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Prompt: Write a prayer thanking Him for His roles in your life as teacher, counselor, and advocate before God.
Romans 8:26: In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
Prompt: When you don’t know how to pray. Give up. Worship Him. Thank Him for His prayers and guidance in how to pray into a situation.
Acts 2:38: Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Quiet Time Help (Printable)
Prompt: Repent means to change the way we think. Quite simply, I believe that change is going from selfsufficiency to need for a Savior and willingness to trust His goodness. Have you been baptized? Have you experienced a change in your life since then?
1 Corinthians 2: 12-16: What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit taught words.[a] 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,16 for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Prompt: What does the Spirit do for us according to these scriptures? Write it in your own words.
Ephesians 1:13-14: And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
Prompt: Write a prayer for a deeper revelation of His Spirit, His Presence with you every day.
Weekly Teaching and Printable
Join us on Instagram for the weekly Faith Friday teaching. (Friday 9:00 AM ET) and koinonia together! Or subscribe to my You Tube channel and watch the teaching later. And don’t forget to download the printable with the scriptures and extra questions to deepen your quiet time.
Light your candle, pour a cuppa, and spend some time with Bible open, journal and pen. Before you read, pray for His leading, His revelation, and ears to hear. Have fun this week. He is with you.
Digging Deep,
Andy
PS. If this looks a little familiar . . . this is a refreshed and updated post from September 2017.
[…] So, what does this have to do with being blessed? Well, let’s put it all together. Let’s live lives that embody the Old Testament glory with the New. As we continue to study the book of Ruth this week and dig through the scriptures on the Bite of Bread reading plan, we will come to understand how we are now blessed to be a blessing as Abraham was. The Holy Spirit is our key. (Here’s an article about my experience with Holy Spirit.) […]
[…] Spirit – our own very helper. My friend and fellow blogger Andy Lee describes Holy Spirit as “God available […]
Andy, we are doing a study on Romans 8 in our Adult Sunday School class. Last week we talked about how we hear from God (or the Holy Spirit). Thank you for your (once again) timely blog. I will print it out and share it with our class! <3
Hi Valerie! You’ve been on my mind. Isn’t that funny how God’s timing works? Thank you for sharing with your class! I also taught on Romans 8:1,2 today on the Facebook Live broadcast. Hope you can watch it. Thanks for stopping by!