Nov. 9 - Praying for the Spirit
Ever have something you didn’t need - sports car- power tool - computer
0-60 or 120 mph - solitaire - mail, phone - typewriter - library
Most Christians have no use for the Holy Spirit - (not that we don’t need Him)
Today we will pray for the Spirit - but be careful - be very careful -
You must be desperate You must be Passionate NUTS - never underestimate the Spirit
Devil takes all the good words - Problem with passion - for all the wrong things -
Lust - Sports Fan(atic)- Games - Travel - Power - Extreme Sports and Extreme Vacations
Rare to meet anyone with passion for anything
Trade passion for obligations, debts, careers as if giving away passion is a sign of maturity
How many people retire to do what they always wanted to do - a tragic waste of life
Church has been passion killers Focus on elimination of sin not passionate living.
passion killing words - If it feels good it must be wrong
Don’t make a mistake, = don’t risk Be reasonable - don’t get excited, calm down
Question - do you ignite passion or quench it
God doesn’t want to restrain passion! He wants to unleash it - direct it - INTENSIFY it and purify it but NEVER NEVER ABOLISH IT
Passion has been linked with sin because of misunderstanding. Why do we sin - it is fun we enjoy it - no one has to pay us to sin - why can’t we enjoy God and godly living in the same way
The bible tells us that our old nature of sin has been crucified - but raised with a new nature with new and better passions God save me from hell- God save me from me
Give me one pure and holy passion - one magnificent obsession - glorious ambition for my life
Can you picture Jesus as passionate - of course! Being led by the Spirit is the Ultimate Extreme Sport
We trashed passion to control sin in our lives - we then threw out the only chance to live holy lives we threw out the baby with the bath water
We end up more Buddhist than Christian - eliminate all desire
Our motto should be Recover the fire - the Holy Spirit is the fire
Use tape from Passion 2003 CD
Don’t pray for the HS to fill and refill you unless you are willing to be Passionate
Questions people ask about the Holy Spirit Who or what is the HS? Power -or Person? - what does it mean to be filled with the HS or receive the gift of the HS? Is this a 1 time deal or be refilled?
What did Jesus teach about the Holy Spirit?
To Church leader Nicodemus -
John 3:5 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, `You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
My first sailing trip Wind blows where it will - nobody directs it - it flows
Be a sailor - you don’t control the wind - you ride it - dance in it - have fun and trust it.
The Wright brothers early flight watch for the wind moving across the grasses
To woman with messed up life
Worship wars - John 4:23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
To His Disciples at the very end of His ministry - you NEED the HS
JN 14:25 "All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, 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. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
LK 12:11 "When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say."
What can I expect the HS to do in my life?
John 16:5 "Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, `Where are you going?’ 6 Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. 12 "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
There is a huge danger in majoring on cleaning your life of sin w/o HS
Try to diet - quit smoking? Not enough to ask God to clean up your life - He must fill it
Not your strength - waste of time - no glory in that for anyone but you
MT 12:43 "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, `I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation."
So how do we receive the HS?
Luke 11:5-12 Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, `Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’ 7 "Then the one inside answers, `Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. 9 "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 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 !"
Let’s get something straight - no magic formula, no incantations, secret initiations.
The gift of God is freely given - so you can receive.
Be careful if you pray for the HS
One way to grieve the HS is to receive Him then ignore Him.
Ignore His promptings - put out the fire in yourself or others
No one tells the HS what to do or where to go. Plead, listen watch (see the breezes)
I love this, nothing I can do to make you receive the HS - all a work of God
Will you go where the wind takes you or will you fight it
Uprising - revolution in the soul.
Say yes to God - God is not a warden, or cop,
He is a liberator - on a crusade to release those in bondage.
Freedom - no more slavery
Bondage to counterfeit joy and freedom
Desire and passion for freedom ignites and betrays us at the same time
It leads us towards and away from God
Only in Christ - ony by His Spirit can you be truly free - passionate and alive
Next week - praying in tough times - know anyone who you need to invite?
