Praying for the unsaved is the instruction of God to everyone of His child. Who are the unsaved? There are people who don’t know about Jesus. They could be around you or not. These are the people you should remember constantly in your prayers.
Pray that the Holy Spirit will help them to accept Christ into their lives. They could have heard about Christ and still be unwilling to accept Him. It’s only the Holy Spirit that can convince them of who Jesus is and make them yield to Him. Pray also, for those who have never heard of Christ before. Pray that they will have an encounter with someone who would tell them about Jesus. Remember that praying for the unsaved is your duty.
God loves it when we pray for people to know Christ because He wants everyone to enjoy the benefits of having Christ in their lives.
Yesterday, we started on how the Holy Ghost helps us to pray as children. Let’s continue with more benefits of praying in the Holy Ghost.
Sometimes, while praying in the spirit, God could drop a word that you should continue to pray or stop. He could also give you simple instructions.
More benefits of praying in the Holy Ghost is that it helps you to trust the Holy Spirit more and more. You trust the process – that every time you engage in prayer using the Holy Spirit, He connects you directly to the Father and helps speak what is on your mind to Him.
The bible says the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf with groaning. He teaches us what to say, when, and how to do so. This was evident in the lives of the disciples after they received the Holy Spirit.
More benefits of praying in the Holy Ghost is that it helps you pray with ease. It’s a language you don’t know how the words are formed. Even if you write them down, they don’t follow any earthly language pattern. They just flow out of your spirit.
You can also praise God in the Holy Spirit. Praising God in a language you don’t know. How sweet does that sound? God hears you call Him beautiful names in the language of heaven. Don’t you think God will smile?
One final thing the Holy Spirit can do is to lead you to pray for someone somewhere who might be in danger at a particular time. This is also part of more benefits of praying in the Holy Ghost. He asks you to pray to help avert danger or get help. This way, he leads you to intercede on someone’s behalf as He does on our behalf with God. So, you can see the immense benefits of having the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit can be imparted into you either by another believer or the Holy Spirit Himself. If you are yet to receive the Holy Spirit, ask your parents, pastor, or another believer full of the Holy Spirit to lay hands on you.
I pray that the Holy Spirit will come upon you in Jesus name. Amen.
Prayer: Dear Holy Spirit, thank you for all that you are. LORD, open my eyes to more benefits of praying in the Spirit. I ask that you come upon me and teach me how to pray. Help me to pray from the heart of the father in Jesus name. Amen.
Walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. It is in marriage that you can best apply this scripture. There will be many opportunities in marriage to fulfill the lust of the flesh. Our flesh wants to rise big time whenever our spouses do something that we consider unpleasant.
All works of the flesh as described in Galatians 5: 19-21 especially enmity, strife, jealousy, anger (ill temper), selfishness, divisions, envy can all be seen in marriages.
In marriage, we are tempted to pay back evil for evil, tit for tat and it is easier to go by the rule of a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye. In marriage, it is easy to enter into strife, to be angry at our spouse, and be bitter against them.
In my twenty-one-plus years of marriage, I have come to note that it is always easier to nip things in the bud before they get out of hand. It is always easier to apologize on time before things get out of hand. It is always easier to talk things over than to let them linger and become bigger.
Galatians 5:22 (Amp), ‘But the fruit of the Holy Spirit (the work which His presence within accomplishes) is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, gentleness (meekness, humility), self- control (self restraint, continence)
When we allow the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives, the resultant effect will be a Spirit-controlled marriage. That is where the Lord wants us to get to. That no matter what happens or whoever it is that is at fault, we are Spirit-controlled. Our lives are controlled and influenced by the Holy Spirit.
This can only happen when we begin to acknowledge the Holy spirit’s presence in our lives individually. When we learn to put our bodies under and allow the Holy Spirit His rightful place.
May God bless our marriage.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I am Spirit Controlled.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, help me acknowledge the Holy Spirit’s place in my life
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Gal 5:16 (MSG) My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness.
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Begin today to acknowledge the person of the Holy Spirit.
As we continue in this series, we will look at another aspect today – “pray for yourself.” You know it’s very easy to judge others. You see them doing something you perceive to be wrong and bam! You find a word to quickly call them maybe out loud or in your mind. Your face even shows it even if you don’t say it.
That’s very natural. And God being merciful will give His Holy Spirit freely to you. The job of the Holy Spirit is to quickly and lovingly show or tell you some things.
One, the Spirit of God will tell you how you have acted like the person you are judging immediately. He shows you the many instances you have acted like them. That you are not any different from them. It is when this reality hits you that you will know you need to pray for yourself.
An example of this is when prophet Samuel told king David a story about a man and David was so quick to judge the man in the story. But when he realized he has acted like the man, he broke down and prayed. Learn to pray for yourself.
Another thing the Holy Spirit will do is to lead you towards repenting and asking for forgiveness immediately as well. He wants your remorse at the stage. And it is not a good thing to try and argue with the Holy Spirit.
Don’t try to say how different you are from the person or how the circumstances are not the same. It is the Holy Spirit you are talking with. He knows all things. He knows the minds of all men. He knows your thoughts, past, present and future. Just break down and pray for yourself.
Thirdly, He will reveal to you the probable reason why the person is doing what they are doing. He wants you to understand so you can empathize with them. This does not in anyway mean He accepts what they are doing. No! But He only wants you to not commit the sin of judging others thereby causing yourself to be judged as well. When He shows you this, it also makes you pray for yourself, so that you don’t fall into the same thing.
Finally, He could show you other ways you can help this person out. Apart from praying for them, He could show you what you have that they need and that you can give them. For instance, if you noticed a classmate who cheats during exams, you could pray for them and offer to teach them some school work after school hours. That’s what the Holy Spirit would want you to do.
Judging others does no good to anyone. Not to you or the other person.
May the Holy Spirit watch over your thoughts, words and actions. Amen.
Prayer: Sweet Holy Spirit, show me my faults. Brood over my words, thoughts and actions in Jesus’ name, amen.
Action point: Listen to the prompts of the Holy Spirit anytime you feel like judging someone, and pray for yourself.
How we communicate is very vital. What is being said is important, but how it’s been said is equally important. A brother once had a dream, in the dream, he saw that each time we speak to our spouse harshly, it is like using a stick with many thorns to beat them.
How true this is. Harsh words will only breed hatred, bitterness, suspicion, rejection and more bitterness.
In the beginning, God gave man His presence, work, His Word, to cultivate (the woman), and to provide for her.
A man not in the presence of God, cannot have His word, and of course, cannot nurture his wife with the words God gave him.
You have to be able to pass across divine instructions in such a way that it is followed and obeyed by the wife. I think with each instruction, the man should also consciously ask for the wisdom and Holy Spirit’s help in passing it across and communicate it with his wife
There is always a way or method or wisdom given by the Holy spirit that will best suit your wife of husband as the case maybe.
In 1 Sam 16:1-3, we saw Samuel asked by God to go and anoint a king in the house of Jesse. He said, how can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me. He didn’t jump off with the word of the Lord. He waited and asked God for a way to present it.
Husbands, wives, let us not always run off with the word of the Lord or a word from God. Ask how to communicate it to your wife or husband.
1Sam 16:2 KJV And the Lord said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord.’
God taught him how to present the matter.
We will continue on this same topic tomorrow. We will look at saying it in love.
God bless your marriage. CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I will not be distracted in the race of life
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, help me to stay focused and consistent
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed. “God’s Decree. “I’ll turn things around for you. I’ll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you “–– God’ s Decree––” bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it. (Jeremiah 29:14 Message)
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Thank God for where you are now in the race of life
BIBLE READING FOR THE DAY 1 Samuel 28-31; Psalm 18
