Have you been feeling down lately? Anxious? Is your prayer life where it needs to be? God has a solution: utilizing the Holy Spirit!
The Spirit is the river of living water that flows within each Christian, according to John 7:38-39. In John 4, Jesus promises the woman at the well water that will allow you to never go thirsty. He was speaking of the Spirit and the Godly pleasure which it will bring, which will never run out!
I’ll say it again: the river of eternal life is the Holy Spirit! We have the water of life that enables us to never go thirsty! We just need to drink! Pray in the Spirit and bring all our cares and concerns to the Spirit! Never going thirsty does not mean you don't want more goodness from the Spirit. We seek out more and more of Him and grow in Him. But it means the Spirit will never run out of pleasure for us. There are many pleasures in the world that "run out" when you depend on them for your daily fix: alcohol, nicotine, prescription and street drugs, pornography, binge eating, etc. You just want more and more! The pleasure is soon lost, and we need more of whatever worldly pleasure we are engaged in to get our "fix," or to feel whole in an imperfect way. When we drink from the river of life within each of us (as described later in the article), we are satisfied in a way that worldly pleasures can never fulfill. It's a deeper satisfaction that is superior to all vice. God is calling His church to throw off the vice of the world and clothe ourselves in the Spirit of God, which fulfills us more completely and deeply than any vice ever invented.
I think I had a misperception in the past that I didn't have to fellowship with the Spirit, and I just should automatically always be satisfied as a Christian. Which is why I thought there was something so wrong with me - I was easily addicted to things and never felt satisfied! But seek, and we will find. Knock, and the door will be opened. I sought happiness in Christ, and I've found it. I've sought the holy pleasures of God, and they are far superior to the pleasures of the world. It's not about being forced to always be seeking and clawing for more, but simply spending time in fellowship with Him - prayer, worship, and the Word. When we spend time with Him, He will "fill us up" at our request. Lately, I have regularly asked the Holy Spirit, "Holy Spirit fill me," and He fills me with joy and pleasure every time! We all have access to this! Praise be to God!
God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land. Psalm 68:6 ESV
The rebellious do not have the Holy Spirit! And the followers of God, in rebellion, do not *feel* the Spirit’s work within them, they do not understand that the addictive things which give them pleasure in this life (alcohol, drugs, etc.) are far inferior to the pleasure of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit can be accessed anytime, by simply praying to God to reveal Himself to you. I have tried these prayers about Jesus’ descriptions in Revelation 1 (ex: Jesus, your eyes are like blazing fire – reveal your eyes to me). Sometimes I get nothing, but most of the time I feel and understand a profound insight into the nature of the aspects of Jesus Christ. I’ve learned things about Jesus that you can only understand if He teaches you personally through the Spirit that each one of us has.
Don’t get me wrong, I am still a spiritual novice at this. I haven’t always done it regularly, and I only started doing it a few months ago. But it is good to do it more and more, to develop that habit. Another way to pray for insight from the Spirit is fellowshipping with the Spirit directly. The Spirit is a facet of God, and we can pray to this third of the trinity just like we pray to Jesus and the Father. The Spirit will always point you to Jesus, so if you feel it is weird to pray to the Spirit, remember: the Spirit is in Jesus, and nothing is in Jesus that is imperfect or that will let you go astray.
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