Teach us to pray, part 57: The Spirit of God

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" (Luke 11:13 NASB)

In this verse, the giving of the Holy Spirit by our heavenly Father is presented as a greater kind of gifting than the good gifts a father might give to a child and implies that, if we ask for the Holy Spirit, God will grant it. "How much more" indicates that the gift of the Spirit will be given in abundance, and that the Spirit is something for which we should ask.

If we are to ask for more of the Spirit, what is it, exactly, for which we are asking? Matthew 28:19 tells us that the Holy Spirit is the third part of the Triune Godhead. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

The words translated as "The Holy Spirit" are hagios pneuma. Hagios is a word used to indicate something or someone as "most holy". Pneuma can mean "breath" or "wind" and is used as both to describe the Spirit of God. In this instance, it is used to indicate the Spirit of God, as close as our breath, infusing our life. Just as the body does not give life to the spirit but the spirit gives life to the body, even so the Spirit of God infuses us as believers with the divine life of Christ that comes to those who trust in Him.

Martin Luther described our human spirit as the "highest and noblest part" of us, "the house where Faith and God's word are at home", the part of us that allows us to "lay hold of incomprehensible, invisible, eternal things." The Holy Spirit, then, is the Spirit of God, dwelling in us in such a way that it produces spiritual attributes and gifts in us. Thayer's translation describes the Spirit of God as "august, full of majesty, adorable, utterly opposed to all impurity." 

When the Spirit dwells in us, as it must if we belong to Christ, He brings an opposition to all impurity. Our tendency toward impurity, toward the sin and darkness of this world, cannot peacefully coexist with the Spirit of God. If we are to be filled with the Spirit of God, if we are to enjoy the companionship of the Spirit, we must relinquish the ways and desires of the world. We, too, must oppose the impurity that marked our lives before Christ.

To understand this gift of the Spirit, to enjoy the Spirit, we must begin by looking at ourselves. Our lives before Christ were full of darkness and sin, but the blood of Christ cleansed us from all unrighteousness. Without the work of the Spirit in our lives, convicting us of sin and leading us toward the righteousness that only God can give, we would quickly return to the sin that so easily besets us. 

As we begin to study the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the instruction of Christ to pray for the Spirit, we must consider whether or not we are allowing the Spirit of God access to our lives. Is the Spirit directing us or not? Are we continuing to embrace the same sin that has caused so much sorrow and destruction in our lives or are we allowing the Spirit to convict and cleanse us of that sin? If we are to have the gifts of the Spirit, we must first have the cleansing of the Spirit.

Tomorrow, we will look at this gift in more detail, but for today, let us allow the Spirit to shine the Light of God in our darkness, relinquish that darkness and sin, and once again experience the cleansing grace that only Christ can give.

Teach us to Pray, part 7: Much-loved children

And He said to them, "When you pray, say: 'Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. 'Give us each day our daily bread. 'And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.'" (Luke 11:2-4 NASB)

How incredible it is that we, you and I, have a relationship with the Lord of Lords and King of Kings! He is not some distant celestial being who is just in charge of planets and constellations. He is intimate and personal. He knows us, knows our needs, and provides for and protects us, just as an earthly father does for his much-loved children. The part of this that absolutely astounds me is that, according to the Scripture, in some very incredible way, we are not just servants of the Most High God, but His much-loved children, just as Jesus was His much loved Son.

A friend of mine is volunteering in a very dangerous area, and they have to be careful about electronic communications. When I receive emails from her, she never uses the words "God" or "Lord" or "Jesus". When she asks for prayer, she says, "Please talk to Papa about..." and mentions the need. The first time I read it, I was moved. "Please ask Papa to help me." Somehow, that simple phrase enhanced my understanding of God as father, because I know a few Papas. 

Grandparents these days have an entirely different set of names by which they are called, and my brother-in-law is referred to as "Papa Joe" by his grandchildren. He's funny and firm and kind and not a little ferocious when someone he loves is threatened. Every time I see my friend's messages, asking us to talk to Papa, I think of Papa Joe and of how much he loves his family. If I told Papa Joe his granddaughters needed him, he'd be right there, ready to help. In that same way, when I talk to our Heavenly Papa on behalf of my friend, I'm sure He's interested and eager to help as well. In fact, Jesus spoke about His willingness to respond to our needs:

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! (Matthew 7:7-11 NASB)

As much loved children of God, my brothers and sisters, we have the great privilege of speaking with our Papa and taking our needs, our hurts, and our dreams to Him, knowing He will respond. Today, let's be sure to talk to Papa about those who are serving Him in the most dangerous places, our family who is in danger from persecution, and those of us who are so comfortable in our safety that we assume persecution will never come here. Talk to Papa. 

The Christmas Tree

Please don't get me wrong here. I really like the look of a Christmas tree. I like the lights, the tinsel garland, and the decorations. I discovered these things called "picks" this year, and I like them a lot, too! They are like ornaments on steroids with a skewer instead of a hook. You stab the skewer into the tree and it's basically stuck in place. Because it's so big, it takes up a lot of space, so you don't need as many picks as you do ornaments. I have some highly unattractive picks, which are stuck on the back side of the tree. My pretty ones made it to the front, of course.

As I write tonight, I'm sitting in my big green chair in front of the tree, admiring the lights, garland, and ornaments. And the picks. I'm wondering, though, why we call it a Christmas tree. I could make up a lovely little analogy about the tree and relate it to the wood in the cross, but even for me that's a stretch. 

I've decided to face it. This tree has nothing at all to do with Christmas, nor with Jesus. It just happens that I put it up in December, which is the same month we celebrate Jesus's birthday.  Perhaps we could call it a December tree, or an ornament tree. There are lots of ornaments, so that might work. I have all the ornaments Ryan made, including the gold paper star with the glued-on macaroni, proudly displayed right in front. They are more precious to me than a bag of jewels, and I love displaying them for a month on this December ornament tree. In fact, they might have more to do with Christmas than any other part of the tree.

When Ryan was born, someone called me to say, "Now you really know what love is."  Indeed, I did. Loving my family and my husband in no way prepared me for the ferocity of my love for this tiny squirming bundle of joy.  As my love for him grew, so did my understanding of the depth of God's love for His children. God loves me like I love Ryan? It seems impossible, yet, if the Bible is to be believed, it is true. Now THAT is the essence of this holiday season. God loved us and sent His Son. 

This "December ornament tree" really doesn't have much to do with Christmas. Those paper ornaments, however, made by the hands of an innocent child, point me to the love of my Heavenly Father. Now that might be the most Christ-like part of this whole "Christmas tree turned December ornament tree" ritual!  A little child shall lead them. That's what the prophet said, and tonight, in the glow of the tree lights, it's exactly what he's done.