187: Asking for the Fullness of the Holy Spirit
Have you asked for the fullness of the Holy Spirit?
If you ask for the fullness of the spirit, He is not going to give you anything else? Of course not! As you seek and trust, the Lord will do what He promises!
Luke 11:9-13 Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking
When you counsel people, power for transformation is available through the Holy Spirit - and the Spirit is available through humble prayer! Praying before, during and after a counseling session is God’s ordain means of securing a fresh work of the Holy Spirit in your life and in the life of those you minister to.
Ephesians 3:16 "that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man"
Ask, Pray, and God, in His timing, He will give you His Holy Spirit.
I really liked that picture and reminder that the counselling session is a very small part in the counselee’s journey. Yes it’s an opportunity for them to be strengthened but the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives is 24/7.
Very humbling.
Lovely idea to set a reminder to pray for counselees.
I recently encouraged a person to pray the prayers in ephesians as ‘home assignment’ praise God.
I agree Ann-Louise. It is so important to pray with and for those we minister too, even our own family which is the hardest sometimes. I admit that when encouraging the counselee to pray for their spouse or child or parent/sibling I myself have been convicted by the Holy Spirit to check myself and my prayers for the same. Ouch!
Again, timely Pastor Jeff. I am amazed at the timing of the Holy Spirit with things in my life and my family. Thank You Lord! I have prayed Eph. 3:16 many times in my walk but isn’t it sneaky how the enemy can get us so distracted and caught up in trying to just handle things until this or that gets done, or happens, or whatever the reasoning. Oh, what a release that it was to be reminded and ask for forgiveness and for the refilling of the Holy Spirit. For the Spirit to grant strengthening with might to the inner man according to the riches of His glory. Thank you, Jeff, for encouraging us at the end to pause and pray/ask. I am going to encourage my Grandkids to memorize Eph. 3:16!
Pastor Jeff, what a worthy conversation! The emphasis of “How much more does the Father desire to GIVE YOU the Holy Spirit” reminds me
of Romans 5:9 that wherever Jesus is, there is MUCH MORE!
You brought forth an element of teaching that I had never heard. Wow, to think that there are some that would discourage us from deciding to ask for more of God – wrongly believing that God will play a shell game with us, giving us permission to pray for one thing – only to intentionally give us something less valuable. Yikes! I am so grateful that the Holy Spirit has not allowed others to corrupt me with fear in wanting more of God via MORE of Holy Spirit.
Thank you for the invitation during this recording to pause and all ASK God for MORE of Holy Spirit. I did!
I agree Laura I was shocked to hear that people would shy away from praying for the Holy Spirit in their lives. Just shows how confused some people have become. Precisely the reason we need the Holy Spirit – to be lead into truth!
Yes!! This is absolutely right. Every day we need a refreshing and refilling of the Spirit. I feel as though I have been commenting nearly the same thing on all of these episodes in this series. But, it is such a powerful yet simple concept that we (myself more often than not) need to be reminded of. He has promised to indwell, empower, and revive us through His Spirit. All that we are required to do is ask. Yet, we don’t ask. For days, weeks, or months at a time we complain to our brothers and sisters that we feel distant from God. But, we don’t do the simple thing we are told to do of merely asking.
Lord, help me to dedicate myself to asking you for a daily renewal, refilling, and wishing of your Spirit in my life and the lives of my loved ones.
Do you think it’s because of our familiarity with the word and routine that why we sometimes neglect to ask?
I am praying for you Timothy. – Jay
It’s a good reminder for us to ask and also remind us to bring it up with others as well. In my experiences the person of the Holy Spirit is not talked about enough. I share with you in your prayer request. Amen brother
Timothy, in listening to this podcast and reading these comments, including yours, I realize one good reason WHY Jesus commands us to KEEP asking, seeking and knocking – it’s because we are so prone to forget! Only in making it a habit can we hope to live out this available Kingdom life!
That is a great prayer request Timothy. I am walking beside you and prayer the same!
I think a key here is to be open and ask for the Lord to fill us with the Holy Spirit (keep being filled!). Another key is the power of prayer. We do this by faith, knowing that God will give us exactly what we need according to His wisdom, will and plan. A verse that comes to mind is : Hebrews 4:16 — The New King James Version (NKJV)
16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
We can and are called to boldly ask for the power and filling of the Holy Spirit and know by faith that God will answer our request.
I agree with the power of Prayer. Great reminder from Hebrew 4:16 we need to always ask boldly. – Jay
“He’s not going to give you a stone or a demon,” my favorite line. Thank you, Jeff, for this episode, Luke 11:13 is going into my memory bank. Ephesians 3 is a very rich passage all around. I appreciate the encouragement to pray always for our counselees, because it is the Work of God that will lead them and help them to live a sanctified life, pleasing to the Lord. I did notice that faith is closely connected to asking. I often feel like the double-minded in James 1; how do you overcome unbelief? Is there a root to unbelief?
Faith is that you can ask boldly. Thank you for sharing that kayla – Jay
By faith! Amen Kayla
Oh Kayla, I’ve been there too. Double mindedness is a sin and so is unbelief. I had to recognize that, repent, renounce it when it would raise it’s ugly head and take it captive and by faith believe God promises.
Thank you Lorna for your reply – that really encourages me to do the same!
As we enter into our time with God, we can prayerfully be in conversation with him throughout our day, asking, seeking, and knocking for his presence. The gift of the Holy Spirit is a good gift we should be thankful for in daily situations and decision-making. It is like a close relationship. As we spend time together, the relationship grows. As the relationship grows, the more we give to God, the more he gives us. God desires a close relationship, and the relationship should be first before anything else. God loves us, and we continue to thank and seek him in the quiet. God reveals in his perfect timing, and the Gift of the Holy Spirit is in His perfect timing. Following the biblical guidelines is a key to having this closeness. If we allow worldly thinking and things to crowd or time, we can easily slip into a rush of life and miss the opportunities to allow the Spirit to work in us.
“It is like a close relationship. As we spend time together, the relationship grows. As the relationship grows, the more we give to God, the more he gives us. God desires a close relationship, and the relationship should be first before anything else.”
I like how you said this. Thank you, Kristen – Jay
We always have Him but He doesn’t always fully have us. After Jeff said this I sat and thought about all the moments throughout my day where I seclude myself from the promises of God in the small things. Taking things into my own hands and becoming anxious about those things. This happens to all of us without even noticing it. It is important to take a step back and ask, seek, knock and believe His promises are true by faith in all things. There is nothing to little or big for our God. In my weakness He is strong. Ask to have more fullness of the Holy Spirit in the inner man. Thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit!
I agree that sometimes the anxious moments creep in as events happen and the old self emerges in us. I can get caught up in the moment, and if I am not in God’s word daily, these can take over throughout the day. But when we are in the word and seeking, the same thing can happen, and when the anxious thought comes in, I get the reminder that He is in control, not allowing a circumstance to control my reactions and day. I can react as God would want me to.
I am guilty also of believing that we are already capable. Sometimes we really measure of what we ask for God, and what we can already decide. But, everything should be all from Him. We really need that time for meditating on His word. Thank you Mike. – Jay
Mike, this sentence really strikes at the heart in me too: “We always have Him but He doesn’t always fully have us.” Argh. I believe that we desire for this to be different but we get pulled so much into the world and the busyness of it that this sentence becomes our reality. Just thinking of it makes me lift up my heart and eyes to Heaven in gratitude for God’s long-suffering and patience with us.
Yes, thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit! Believing that He is going to give us what we need as a good Father knows what is best for our inner man.
Great comment mike. And this is the huge challenge of the Christian life right, to constantly trust God and his word and that he is working it out for our good. I fail all the time. My anxiety goes high and I have to humble myself. Praise God for his grace and mercy and love.