Transcription
These five prayers will draw you closer to the Holy Spirit if you mean them. Now, when I say draw you closer to the Holy Spirit, I mean that you'll become more aware of his presence and more responsive to his voice.
The first prayer, thank you, Holy Spirit. You see, we already have a connection with the Holy Spirit. To begin to experience the influence of the Holy Spirit, you must begin with faith. Not from the point of begging or pleading or wondering or doubting, but simple faith, simple trust in the person of the Holy Spirit, believing that he already dwells in you. In James 2:3, we read, "And so it happened just as the scriptures say, Abraham believed God and counted him as righteous because of his faith. He was even called the friend of God. So that friendship with God began. That friendship with God was his simply because he believed it. And so you and I approached the Holy Spirit not by our own merits but by our faith in what Christ has done. So when you begin by saying, "Thank you, Holy Spirit." You're granting the premise that you're already connected with him. You're accepting the fact that his presence already dwells in you. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for your presence. Thank you, Holy Spirit, that you never abandoned me. Thank you, Holy Spirit, that you've given me power and grace. Thank you, Holy Spirit, that we are united as one. 1 Corinthians 6:17, one of my favorite verses. But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for union with you. Thank you, Holy Spirit, that I already have that friendship established with you. So, stop right now and thank him. Say, "Thank you, Holy Spirit, for living within me. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for empowering me. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for being my friend." Again, it begins in faith.
Number two, you should pray, "Welcome, Holy Spirit." We ought not to stifle the work of the precious Holy Spirit in our lives or in the ministries that God has entrusted to us. In First Thessalonians chapter 5, beginning at verse number 16, we read, "Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit." That is, don't snuff him out. Don't put out that fire. Keep the fire burning. Steward that flame. Be a keeper of the fire of the Holy Spirit. Now, sadly, there are many Christians today who are trying to appease the culture. They're trying to appease religious minds. And in so doing, they're rejecting the power of the Holy Spirit. They're rejecting the manifestations of his presence and what many call biblical balance is actually just personal preference. We have to accept that the power of the Holy Spirit comes with demonstration. Yes, it will draw a crowd. Yes, it will be somewhat of a spectacle. The Holy Spirit's power is vibrant and loud and disruptive to man's ideas and disruptive to man's agenda. The power and presence of the Holy Spirit are perfectly offensive to the carnal religious mind. And so when we say, "Welcome, Holy Spirit," we're saying, "We want you to do whatever it is that you want to do, no matter how that makes us look, whether or not we're accepted among certain academics or whether or not we're accepted among people who think they're sophisticated or whether or not we're accepted among people who think they're balanced." Listen, we're different. You're different and you're just going to have to accept that it's okay to be a little strange. So what if people think you're a little weird as long as you're embracing the power of the precious Holy Spirit? I don't want to have the acceptance of man as I reject the Holy Spirit. So we must embrace the work of the Holy Spirit in our homes in the ministries that have been entrusted to us. We must embrace the Holy Spirit in all forms. Now, it may sound virtuous to say that we want to be balanced. It may sound virtuous to say that we don't want to be offensive to some. We want to kind of tiptoe around certain things so that more people are more accepting. But let me tell you something. When you surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit, that is the greatest thing you can do for those around you. Because though it may offend the natural mind, that power is what touches the heart. And people aren't being turned off to the gospel because of demonstrations of the Holy Spirit's power. In fact, demonstrations of the Holy Spirit's power are what pierce the heart. So, embrace the Holy Spirit. Don't be ashamed of his work and say, "Welcome, Holy Spirit." Now, if you're enjoying this message and you think other Christians need to hear this, make sure to leave a like on this teaching right now. And also do this now. Make sure to subscribe to my channel so that you can continue to receive my teachings on the Holy Spirit. If you want to keep getting these teachings and sermons on the Holy Spirit, make sure you subscribe right now and click that notification bell when you do.
Number three, I trust you, Holy Spirit. This is to do what he says. We ought to trust the Holy Spirit even when his instructions seem a little odd, even when his instructions are telling us to go in the opposite direction that we preferred. In Acts chapter 8, beginning at verse 29, we read, "The Holy Spirit said to Philip, go over and walk along beside the carriage." Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" The man replied, "How can I unless someone instructs me?" And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him. The passage of scripture he had been reading was this. He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. He was humiliated and received no justice who can speak of his descendants for his life was taken from the earth. The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?" So beginning with the same scripture, Philip told him the good news about Jesus. Here we see a divine appointment that Philip could have missed had he ignored that initial instruction. This eunuch was searching the scriptures. He wanted to know Jesus. He wanted to know the way of the Lord, though he didn't know how to word it exactly. And so, Philip receives this instruction, "Go over and walk along beside the carriage." That's an odd instruction. If I were Philip, and I'm just being honest with you, I might say, "Wait a minute. Is this the Holy Spirit or is this just me? Or what's that guy going to think of me if I just go up and start walking along beside his carriage?" Some of us would have been very dismissive of that. But here we see Philip who recognizes the voice of the Holy Spirit, responding to that prompting of the Holy Spirit and then walking along beside the carriage. He didn't care about how he looked. He didn't care of what the people in the carriage would have thought of him. He didn't care how odd the instruction seemed. Then I'm sure he had other things going on, but here disrupting his schedule was an instruction from the Holy Spirit to go and walk along beside the carriage. And he does this and ultimately someone hears the gospel as a result of this. So the Holy Spirit often prompts us, often speaks to our hearts and we must say, "I trust you, Holy Spirit." What you're asking me may be a little odd, but I trust you, Holy Spirit. What you're asking me may contradict the plans that I already have, but I trust you, Holy Spirit. What you're telling me to do may cause others to mock me or criticize me or question me, but I trust you, Holy Spirit. I trust your leading. And let me tell you, when you begin to pray this to him, when you begin to set in your heart this devotion to the person of the Holy Spirit, this responsiveness to his voice, you begin to walk in trust like this, but then you begin to walk in true power. Then divine appointments abound, then the strength to carry out your calling is given to you. So say that right now. I trust you, Holy Spirit.
Number four, I love you, Holy Spirit. Now, this is to enjoy the presence and the person of the Holy Spirit. To enjoy the nearness of who he is simply for who he is. Romans chapter 5:5 says this, "And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love." So this is not just the love of the spirit filling our hearts that we might love others. This is the love of the Holy Spirit filling us that we might love him. So we need to love his presence not just his power. In my book Holy Spirit God within you, available at encounterthespirit.com, I wrote this. The power of the Holy Spirit is what he does. The presence of the Holy Spirit is himself. Power is his performance. Presence is his person. The power of the Holy Spirit can change your circumstance. But the presence of the Holy Spirit can change your heart. The power of the Holy Spirit comes upon you. The presence of the Holy Spirit dwells within you. The power is for service. The presence is for salvation. The power helps you to do. The presence helps you to become. The power stirs you. The presence stills you. The power activates the gifts. The presence is the glory. The power inspires praise. We praise him for what he does. The presence inspires worship. We worship him for who he is. Don't settle for seeking his hand. Know his heart. You can pursue encounters with God's power or live an encounter in his presence. If you seek power, you may walk in some measure of it, but will always be unsatisfied. If you live by faith in his presence, you'll know ultimate fulfillment and power will come too. In Psalm chapter 16:11 we read, "You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever." When you say, "I love you, Holy Spirit," you're acknowledging that you're not just serving him for what he can give to you. You're acknowledging who he is as a person, as a friend. Loyal, kind, generous, loving, patient. He's all those things. But he's also wonderful. There's an excitement to his presence and power that many believers miss because they're constantly equating relationship with the Holy Spirit to simply following a set of regulations. Well, it doesn't end there. Yes, there are boundaries in any relationship. And as you reverence those relationships, of course, you're not going to cross certain lines. Oh, but when it comes to the person of the Holy Spirit, there's so much more than just the rules, the dos and the don'ts. To know his presence is to know mysteries untold. To find divine treasures hidden deep within his heart. To know who he is is a great cosmic divine adventure. The depths that can never be fully explored. Heights that can never be attained. Forever and ever we can seek him. Forever and ever we can find new aspects of his nature and not even come closer to fully knowing him. He's endless. He's mysterious. He's alluring. He's vibrant and life-giving. He's colorful. And there is this excitement to the presence of the Holy Spirit. So when you go to pray, when you go to commune with the Holy Spirit, you need to recognize that you're not using that prayer to get somewhere. Prayer is the destination, not just the journey.
Next, number five, we must pray, I need you, Holy Spirit. This is to rely upon him, to depend upon him, to recognize our daily and in fact moment-by-moment need for him. In Zechariah 4:6, we read, "Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by power, nor by might, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." Context considered, we glean from this portion of scripture a timeless principle that applies to you and I today and that is that it is not by power nor by might. So many Christians are striving, they're working. And while there's nothing wrong with discipline, while there's nothing wrong with applying yourself to achieve a certain goal in God, we must recognize that we accomplish more in surrender than we do in striving. When I was a boy, my dad was teaching me to play baseball and he wanted to show me how to bat. So, I recall as a kid standing there holding the bat. He taught me the stance. He taught me the grip. He taught me the angle. He taught me to keep my eye on the ball. And my dad would throw the ball over. And instead of swinging, I would hide from the ball because I was afraid of it hitting me in the face. And he was gentle and patient with me. Said, "Okay, I'll just kind of just underhand toss it to you." And still, I was just too afraid to even attempt to hit the ball. And then after a few attempts, I finally started to try to hit the ball. But still I was filled with fear, uncertainty, and I was nowhere close to hitting that ball. So my dad asked my brother to pitch. My dad comes over to me. He places his feet next to my feet. He puts his hands over my hands. He lined up his arms with my arms. And he told me, "Just let me help you swing." And so my brother throws the pitch, the ball begins to come toward me, and I tense my whole body up again. And my dad was trying to hit the ball on my behalf, but I was tensing my body because I was so afraid of getting hit by the ball. I was afraid of missing. I didn't want to fail. I was all worked up. I was all tense. And so finally, my dad tells me to just relax. He said, "Just let me show you. Don't worry about it." Now, from what I recall, if my memory serves me correctly, I actually closed my eyes and I just didn't even know when the pitch was coming. And finally, I felt my dad's hands over my hands, his arms over my arms, moving me in the direction I was to go, angling me at the proper angle. And I felt the contact with that ball. Now, I felt accomplished, but all I had to do was finally surrender. And after a few more tries like this, I finally got the hang of it because I was surrendering to the form that my father was giving me. In the same way, the Holy Spirit wants to help us. He wants to help us be ministers. He wants to help us be parents. He wants to help us be good children to our parents. He wants to help us in all aspects of life. He wants to help you in your marriage, in your family, in your ministry, in your business. But so often, we're so tense because we're afraid of what life is throwing at us. We're afraid that perhaps we might fail. And instead of yielding to his movements, we tense up. And we tense up when we try to do things on our own. We tense up when we resist his direction. We tense up when we become afraid of failure. We tense up when we think that the job looks too big to be accomplished. But when you begin to yield and you let the Holy Spirit put his hands over your hands, place his feet by your feet and show you the proper way, then you begin to make contact. Then you begin to make progress. But it begins by saying, "I need you." Don't try to live in your own strength. Do you know what it means to live in your own strength? It means to go without prayer. It means to go without the word. It means to go without fellowship with the Holy Spirit. To go without acknowledging his presence. It's that simple. You involve the power of the Holy Spirit. You invite him to be a part of what you're doing every day through simple acts of surrender. And we accomplish more in a surrendered day than we can in a 100 years of striving. Set aside your preferences, set aside your fears and your doubts and say this. Say, "Holy Spirit, I need you."
So, let's talk to the Holy Spirit right now. And as we do, I believe you're going to encounter his presence and power here and now. So, Father, I thank you for that one receiving this touch of your power today. Now, I want you to begin by thanking the Holy Spirit. Thank him that you already have him. Thank him that he abides with you. Thank him for his grace and his power. Come on, right now out loud. Pray that out loud. Say, "Thank you, Holy Spirit." Now, I want you to invite his influence. Don't be ashamed of him. Say, "Welcome, Holy Spirit." Say, "Forgive me, Holy Spirit, if I've ever been ashamed of your work." Say, "I trust you, Holy Spirit. I will do what you say." Say, "I love you, Holy Spirit. I don't just want your power. I want your presence." Say it to him. And say, "I need you, Holy Spirit." Tell him, "Can't do this on your own. You need that strength." So Lord, I pray that by your Holy Spirit, you would empower your people today. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. And I want you to write it real big if you believe it in the comment section. Amen.
Well, if you enjoyed this message and you're enjoying the work of this ministry, I want to invite you to get involved with what we're doing. I want you to hear the Holy Spirit right now. I want you to ask the Holy Spirit what you should do to help this ministry. Listen to me. Don't listen to what the world is saying. Don't listen to what culture is saying. I'm telling you, as someone standing in faith as your fellow brother in Christ, the future is bright. The future looks good. Why? Because Christ is already there. And so for that reason, we don't need to fear. So don't allow fear to keep you from giving. Don't allow stinginess to keep you from giving. Don't say, "Well, I want to wait to see this and that." No, just say, "You know what? I trust the Lord, and as I sow my seeds into gospel ground, I know that the Lord will cause those seeds to come back to me. Not so that I can consume it for myself, but so that I can be a blessing to others so that God can use me to touch even more lives." So, I'm asking you to financially partner with this ministry. If you've received from this ministry, it's time to do your part. It's time to pay it forward. The content is partner supported. The events partner supported. The Holy Spirit school partner supported. So, will you pay it forward? Will you help me reach more people? If you've been blessed by this ministry, ask the Holy Spirit right now what you should do. Become a monthly ministry partner by going to davidhernandezministries.com/partner and give a single gift by going to davidhernandezministries.com/donate.
Now, if you love this message on prayers to the Holy Spirit, then you're going to especially love "Give Me 20 Minutes and You'll Start Praying in Tongues." In that message, I talk about how to receive your prayer language. So, if you've not ever prayed in tongues, but you desire that gift, make sure you check that message out right now.