*Pastor’s Note: This is the second of the three parts of a message I posted on my first website back in the early 90s. I HAVE updated some of the Scripture references and the pictures were added for this posting. Thanks, and God Bless!
“PRAY without ceasing.” Wait a second, what? I work, I have school, I don’t have time to be praying all the time. Let me ask you something. While your body is so busy with all the things you have to do, what is your spirit doing? Remember that prayer is communication with the Father. God is a Spirit. God communes with man, Spirit to spirit. We are made in His image, we commune with God the same way; our spirit to His Spirit. Yes, we can pray vocally. Yes, He hears us. But He also knows our needs before we pray. He knows what is in our hearts before we speak it. He knows what is in our thoughts before we vocalize it. If our thoughts are directed His way are we not entering into spiritual communion with Him. How much more personal and intimate is that type of communion when it is just you and Him alone in your thoughts? David said in Psalm 19:14, “Let the words of my mouth and the, meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.” (Emphasis is mine.) David understood the principle of communing with God, spirit to Spirit. The problem in our society today is that we have allowed the enemy to keep us so busy that we don’t even give thought to the Lord. You absolutely cannot have an intimate relationship with anybody without communication. Because we were created to be primarily spiritual beings we can choose to meditate on His presence continually with us or we can choose to ignore the fact that He is continually with us. Remember His words, not mine; “I will never leave you” (Hebrews 13:5). Yes, we need that quiet time also; but let’s not ignore the fact that we can continually be communicating with our Father, we can pray without ceasing if we practice focusing our mind on Him.
“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:18. This is almost an exact repeat of what Paul says to the Ephesians in his letter to them (Ephesians 5:20). Now let’s reason this out. Paul says to give thanks in everything. Everything? Think about it. If you are a Christian, that isn’t just a label or a title to mention to everyone. You are abiding in the anointing of Christ Jesus. One of my favorite passages in Psalms says this, “The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled down, Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand.” – Psalm 37:23-24 (NASB). The implication is that a righteous man, one in right standing before God, has his paths or steps, established or ordained by the Lord, and the Lord is delighted when a man follows those paths. Notice that the next verse, which not many people choose to quote, says that “when he falls,” not if he falls. The Lord knows that we will make mistakes, but He won’t let go of us. Therefore, knowing that the Lord is holding my hand, no matter what, I can be thankful in all things. Even if circumstances aren’t the best in your life, be thankful that God, your Father, won’t let you be hurled down, face first, for He holds your hand. Now concerning intimate relations with the Father, what can be more intimate than to know He is in constant contact with you? Always holding your hand! Remember also that it is God’s will in Christ Jesus for you. A sure sign of intimacy is surrendering your will to His.
“Do not quench the Spirit.” We’ve all heard the expression that “the Holy Spirit is a perfect Gentleman.” He will never cause you to do something against your will. It is Him who shows us the truth in the beginning and then we have to ask Him to lead us to Christ Jesus; but when we ask Him, He takes it seriously that we are going to follow His leading! It is Him who fills us to overflowing, but only after we ask Him. These people who claim that the Spirit takes control of them are unstudied and immature in the Word. They do not have a grasp of the Holy Spirit’s place in the Godhead nor the manner in which He leads the child of God.
In John’s Gospel, in the 14th and 15th chapters, the Holy Spirit is called the “Comforter” in the English translations. In the original Greek, the word used is “paraclete.” The root of this word implies the ideas of: “Helper, Advisor, Exhorter, One who gives strength, Encouragement and Intercessor.” The Holy Spirit is all these things. Jesus called Him the “Spirit of Truth,” (John 14:17; 15:26). He is that part of God’s Spirit that reveals all truth to believers. He is the Spirit that communicates truth to our spirits; the very Spirit that Paul said not to “quench.” The word quench in the original Greek means to “extinguish,” literally or figuratively; to go out, the same tense in which we use it today. In other words, we can extinguish the Holy Spirit’s influence in our lives. We can, by a matter of choice, refuse to accept His Counsel, Encouragement, Intercession and Strength. In Isaiah 63:10 and Ephesians 4:30, the word speaks about grieving the Holy Spirit. He is grieved due to sin on our part and especially that of rebellion. Grieving means to mourn, and mourning only happens when something precious has died or has been lost. We can become dead to the Holy Spirit by the choices we make. Death is a lack or cessation of the ability to commune or communicate. Let’s keep our spirits alive to the Holy Spirit, the very Spirit of Christ Jesus and the Father. The promise and the guarantee, is to lead us, direct or establish our paths, into all truth.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 