I had a friend share a moment with her son on her Facebook that ally touched my heart, so I emailed her and asked if I could use it for this blog and she said yes. So Sarah Grace, thank you for sharing your heart with us and for allowing us to see what God so desires from all of us.
I said to Arden, "It's nap time." Arden then ran away like he does most of the time. I slowly followed him (there aren't too many places he can hide). Moments later I found him in the kitchen, on his knees, face down, praying something like this..."Holy Spirit help me to obey..." When I thought he was finished, I said his name. He looked up at me and said, "I'm still praying" and then he went back to prayer. 10 seconds later, he jumped up, ran to his room and dove into his bed. One thing I would love for Arden to remember throughout his life is to ask the Holy Spirit for help, instead of thinking he can do this life on his own.
I read this post that my friend had put on her Facebook as she shared some tender moments with us about her son who is only 3 years old. Now honestly, Richie and Grace Parks are two of the most passionate prophetic intercessors I know. They are ½ my age and I am not surprised that they probably began teaching Arden to pray before he even made his appearance into this world. So honestly for this to come out of the mouth of their 3 year old, does not surprise me.
Last week I just could not seem to focus and finding that time to carve out with the Lord was non-existent and for some reason I was just really tired. I mean more tired than normal, to the point that even during the day I had to put my work down and take 2 hours naps. It was very bizarre. When I read Sara's post I just had to repent. And hence began a new journey in the Word the past week of God reminding me in whom my help comes from. Why do we struggle with this so? You see what is amazing about little Arden isn’t that he went to the kitchen floor and asked the Holy Spirit to help him be obedient towards his parents, but that this little warrior they are raising up – actually understood that the Holy Spirit is His helper!
We are studying the Holy Spirit and its importance in our church right now. It’s been amazing to have some balanced teaching and to watch our congregation begin to wait on the Holy Spirit to bring direction into our services. I’m thankful that our pastoral staff at Dominion does this, and more thankful that the Body I attend allows it to happen. We wait on God to move through our services, whether it is in prayer time, worship time, the preaching of the word, the altar service….WE WAIT. This study has helped me to recognize the Holy Spirit in a different way in my life. Not just for the empowerment that abiding within this facet of God brings to my life, but also in a way that I understand that the Holy Spirit is the promised "help” that Jesus left us with. It is the tangible way that we can hear and feel God moving through us. But I can honestly say that that I have never sat down in the middle of any room in my house and fought the desire to obey by asking the Holy Spirit to help me overcome my own fleshly desires and obey!! What a concept!!
David understood this. He said so in Psalm 51:11 when he told God, “Do not take your Holy Spirit away from me”. Jesus told the disciples in John 16:15 that the Holy Spirit will “take what is mine and reveal it to you”. You see the disciples knew Jesus; they were with him all the time. But when he was gone, how were they going to know what to do or what Jesus was speaking to them – through the Holy Spirit. Early in the Book of Acts, we see this working, infilling of the Holy Spirit into the lives of the apostles. And honestly, how could they face ½ of what they faced without something stronger to lean on. Jesus just didn’t leave them in the battle without some ammunition, AND HE DOES NOT LEAVE US EITHER. This same helper that the prophets knew in the Old Testament that the apostles experienced in the New Testament and that little 3-year old Arden came to on the kitchen floor – SAME HOLY SPIRIT that empowers us today!
But in our modern day Christianity we treat this third person of God very casually. You see the Word says that the Holy Spirit lives inside of us as well. The Holy Spirit is what strengthens us in our weaknesses us and helps us walk in obedience. We have to ask when we are faced with situations that on the outside might be very easy to handle on our own, or that we think we can control, or even do better at getting a situation under control is better than what God can do for us. We have to ask, and then we have to obey. I am so guilty of often asking God to give me strength, patience, love, kindness, but when faced with life controlling issues, the sin in my own life, or just the day to day weariness that comes in our lives, it is rare that I ask the Holy Spirit for help. I may cry out to God for deliverance, but help to overcome, help to endure, help to understand, help to obey, I had to search my heart and realize I do not do this.
My blog today is not to criticize us a Body, but to encourage us to take a lesson from the mouth of a 3-year old. Here are some situations in my life that I will be working on in this area of asking the Holy Spirit to help me obey better.
• When faced with adversity or just paying attention to and listening to God, I will run to the kitchen floor (so to speak) and ask for help to overcome it.
• When my husband makes a decision I’m not really happy about, I will not argue or pout, but know that God has given me this soul-mate to lead me and ask the Holy Spirit to help me to obey.
• When trying to control things in my life that I really have no control over, I will ask the Holy Spirit to help me to give those things over and release my control.
• When looking at others and wondering why they struggle so much in their Christian faith, or why they can’t “get it together”, I will remember that I am no different, and ask the Holy Spirit to help me to be a better example, a better friend, and be the one who embraces those who need encouragement and guidance instead of judgment and abandonment.
• When feeling overwhelmed, look at my focus and go back to the place where I knew God was using the Holy Spirit to speak to me. Nothing replaces a good cup of coffee and the Word of God, just sayin…
Arden prayed, “Holy Spirit help me to obey”. David prayed, Jesus prayed and promised, the apostles prayed, waited and received and then had power to do great things for God. Let us be thankful that God has not abandoned us and left us here to figure things out for ourselves. I mean what a mess that would be! Let us come boldly with the child like faith of a 3 year old and also say the same thing.
ROMANS 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Hang in there friends, the ride is half the fun - we are empowered and we can overcome!
cv
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