Prayer and Promises

So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” — John 20:21,22, NKJV 

The necessity of the Holy Spirit’s working should be realized by all. Unless this Spirit is accepted and cherished as the representative of Christ, whose work it is to renew and sanctify the entire being, the momentous truths that have been intrusted to human beings will lose their power on the mind. It is not enough for us to have a knowledge of the truth. We are to walk and work in love, conforming our will to the will of God. Of those who do this the Lord declares, “I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts.” God is the mighty, all-powerful agency in this work of transformation. By his Holy Spirit he writes his law in the heart. 

When the Holy Spirit came down on the day of Pentecost, it was like a rushing, mighty wind... So will it be given to us when our hearts are prepared to receive it.

Kneel before God, and pray earnestly for the impartation of the Spirit. Cry, “Lord, increase my faith. Make me to understand thy word; for the entrance of thy word giveth light. Refresh me by thy presence. Fill my heart with thy Spirit that I may love my brethren as Christ loves me.” 

God will bless those who thus prepare themselves for his service. They will understand what it means to have the assurance of the Spirit, because they have received Christ by faith. The religion of Christ means more than the forgiveness of sin; it means that sin is taken away, and that the vacuum is filled with the Spirit. It means that the mind is divinely illumined, that the heart is emptied of self, and filled with the presence of Christ. When this work is done for church members, the church will be a living, working church. 

We are to seek most earnestly to be of one mind, of one purpose. The baptism of the Holy Spirit, and nothing less can bring us to this place. Let us by self-renunciation prepare our hearts to receive the Holy Spirit that a great work may be done for us, so that we can say, not, “See what I am doing,” but, “Behold the goodness and love of God!” 

Thus divine relationship is renewed between God and man. “I will be to them a God,” he says, “and they shall be to me a people.”

— The Review and Herald, June 10, 1902

As I behold Your goodness and great love, O Lord, I kneel before You asking earnestly for the impartation of the Spirit, renew and sanctify my entire being. I renounce self and open my heart to You. Increase my faith. Make me to understand Your word; for the entrance of Your word gives light. Fill my heart with Your Spirit that I may love my brethren as Christ loves me.