"I Believe in the Holy Spirit" !!

It was with these words that Charles Haddon Spurgeon often comforted himself as he ascended the pulpit stairs at The Metropolitan Tabernacle in London. "I believe in the Holy Spirit" is also my cry today on this first day of December. Time does pass only too quickly. But the work of God through the Spirit never lags behind, never losses an opportunity. I must latch onto Him in faith and find my all there, not in any imagined power I think I have. "But you shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and . . ." (Acts 1:8). There's a lot more that follows the "and" than we may have realized. Lord, help us.

Do you long (as a true follower of Jesus Christ) for Holy Spirit empowerment? We in the evangelical camp have operated as if we did not believe in the Spirit, much less apply to Him for all that He makes available to us. I want that to change. TODAY! Listen to these opening words to a Puritan prayer:

O LORD GOD,

I pray not so much for graces as for 

      the Spirit himself,

   because I feel his absence,

   and act by my own spirit in everything.

Give me not weak desires but the power of

      his presence,

   for this is the surest way to have all his graces,

   and when I have the seal I have the impression also;

He can heal, help, quicken, humble suddenly and easily,

      can work grace and life effectually, 

      and being eternal he can give grace eternally.

Save me from great hindrances,

      from being content with a little measure of the Spirit,

      from thinking thou wilt not give me more.

When I feel my lack of him, light up life and faith, 

      for when I lose thee I am either in the dark

         and cannot see thee,

         or Satan and my natural abilities content me with a little light, 

      so that I seek no further for the Spirit of life.

Teach me then what to do.

. . .

Teach me to find and know fullness of the Spirit

only in Jesus.

From: The Valley of Vision, "God The Spirit," pp. 52-53.

I think this prayer gets at it fairly well, don't you? Perhaps as we begin this month known to us for the gift of baby Jesus, we could learn to trust the "Comforter" sent in his name when Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father. Let us learn to drink deeply from the well of the Spirit's power, and comfort, and love today!