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The Amish Voice 5
may have been because He is most often
numbered as the third person in the line
up.
Like most families in our community, we
read our morning and evening prayers
from a book, written by our forefathers.
The German words, which were often
difficult to understand, were spoken
directly to the Father. And just like our
church services, family prayer times
seemed mostly boring and had little to no
impact on my life. It was not until later in
life, after I was born of the Spirit, that I
realized the missing ingredient in many
of our church services and family prayer
times. It was the Holy Spirit and His
power. I did not know that the Holy
Spirit took Jesus’ place at the end of
Jesus’ ministry. I did not know that the
Holy Spirit played a very active role in
one’s second birth. I did not know that
the Holy Spirit dwelt in the body of the
believer, empowering and equipping the
believer to overcome sin and lead him in
all truth.
It was not until I became a born-again
believer that I began to see my desperate
need to understand who this Holy Spirit
is and how He plays a huge role in my
daily life as a Christian. After much
seeking and praying, the Scriptures began
to open up to me like never before.
Real prayer in the Spirit is getting with
God and speaking from your heart, from
the deepest parts of your soul, and not
reading from a prayer book.
Praying
always with all prayer and supplication
in the Spirit
(Ephesians 6:18).
But ye,
beloved, building up yourselves on your
most holy faith,
praying in the Holy
Ghost
(Jude 20).
Christians—those who have been born of
the Spirit—have been given divine and
supernatural power from above. You can
feel the holy presence of God when you
are around them. Consider the following
words from Acts 4:31-33:
And when they had prayed, the place
was shaken where they were
assembled together; and they were
all filled with the Holy Ghost, and
they spake the word of God with
boldness. And the multitude of them
that believed were of one heart and
of one soul…with great power gave
the apostles witness of the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and
great grace was upon them all
(Acts
4:31-33).
Today, many church-going people have
given up the idea that anything like this
could ever happen in our generation. That
is the very reason it is not happening.
Church-goers do not believe! In fact, it is
my honest belief that there are two
reasons why churches in America have
never experienced Holy Ghost power and
continued revival in their midst: they
refrain from talking too much about the
Holy Spirit and His power, lest someone
in their denomination might mistake
them as being part of the health, wealth,
and prosperity crowds, and because God
has blessed America with an abundance
of financial gain, we have learned to run
churches and ministries like businesses.
In other words, why wait on the Spirit
when we have money to get the job done
our way?
As we come to the end of our study on
the Holy Spirit, let’s consider the
situation that took place in Acts chapter
8, where a man named Simon tried to buy
Holy Spirit power.
And when Simon saw that through
laying on of the apostles' hands the
Holy Ghost was given, he offered
them money, Saying, Give me also
this power, that on whomsoever I lay
hands, he may receive the Holy
Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy
money perish with thee, because thou
hast thought that the gift of God may
be purchased with money. Thou hast
neither part nor lot in this matter: for
thy heart is not right in the sight of
God
(Acts 8:18-21).
Jim Cymbala once said, “Whatever God
is doing in our world today, He is doing
through the Holy Spirit. He has no other
agent on this planet.”
PRAYER
Dear Lord, thank you for sending the
Holy Spirit to dwell in our bodies. Thank
you for the many times he has comforted
our hearts, led us in all truth, protected us
from evil, and empowered us to do the
ministry. We stand in awe!
My utmost and passionate prayer is that
You, Oh God, would use this study to
start a fire in the reader’s soul. Awake the
reader from his/her heavy slumber and
dead religion and send a Holy Ghost
revival.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
—Joe Keim
END
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