Are you discouraged today?

About a month ago I was studying and came across this scripture

      Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of    testing..... Revelation 3:10 (NASB).

When I saw the words "kept the word of My perseverance"  and saw that there was a promise attached for "keeping the word of His perseverance" it caused me to wonder what did this mean.  If there was a promise attached, I wanted it and I needed to know what it was.  So my journey in scriptures began.

Earlier I had read

      For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.  Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus.  Romans 15:4-5 NASB (bold words I have made bold).

So now I see that

     1.  God has told me that I need to keep the word of His perseverance.
     2.  He doesn't require of me anything that He hasn't given me or is willing to give me.

But what is perseverance?  In the Greek this word means to remain in one's spot, to keep a position, to resolve to maintain some territory that has been gained.   It is endurance.  Endurance is staying power.  Perseverance, patience, and endurance all have the same meaning and you may see one of these words depending on the translation you are reading.

Once God has spoken to us and given us His Word regarding a situation, what are we going to do with that Word?  Are we going to stay under the Word?  Or are we going to come off the Word because our circumstances appear to be contrary to the Word of God we are believing for?   Are we going to get knocked off the Word through trials and testing?  Or are we going to tie that Word around us, stay under the Word, keep the Word, and not let go of the Word?  

I like how the Wuest Translation records Revelation 3:10

      Because you safeguarded the word by observing it, which to observe requires the endurance that is mine, as for myself, I also will safeguard you from the hour of trial......

There was a time in my life that I was frustrated because I was not seeing the answer to my prayers as quickly as I wanted to.  I was in a service where the gifts of God were being manifested through the gifts of prophecy and words of knowledge. 

Tony Kemp, the minister, spoke to me and said,  "My message was for you tonight (and it had been).  You have need of patience."

At that moment I thought patience meant I just had to live with what I was going through.  But oh how wrong I was!  I later learned through scripture that through faith and patience we inherit the promises of God. (Hebrews 10:35-36). 

Did you see in the scriptures above that perseverance, patience, endurance are God's?  Did you see in the scriptures above that He is willing to GIVE us the perseverance, patience, endurance that we need? 

I love how God tells us we have need of something and then He says I have what you need and I will give it to you!  He wants us to succeed.  He knows that we have an enemy who is trying to steal, kill, destroy us. (John 10:10)  But Jesus came to GIVE us life and life abundantly. 

Do you find yourself in a place of discouragement and a place of wanting to give up?

1.  Recognize those thought and feelings are being placed in your mind by satan. 
2.  Gird yourself up and meditate on these scriptures. 
3.  Ask God for the perseverance you need to not give up on God's Word working through you and for you. 
4.  Plead the blood of Jesus over your emotions and recognize Jesus blood gives you the power you need to stand strong.
 5.  Ask God for His strength today.  Psalm 68:28 says that God has commanded your strength.  Receive the strength you need from Him.
6.  Get the attitude -  Father God this is Your Word and your revealed will for my life.  I am not backing down or off this until I see fulfillment of Your Word.  I may not know when I am going to win, but I know through You and with You I win! 

Remember the promise!  What was the promise?  To keep you!

Keep -  to attend to carefully, take care of

Trust God  - 1Thessalonians 5:24 (AMP) Faithful is He Who is calling you [to Himself] and utterly trustworthy, and He will also do it [fulfill His call by hallowing and keeping you}.



 


     

Psalm 78:41-42 

Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.  They did not remember…

“Every testimony brings something of heaven into the atmosphere. It gives us a divine moment when things shift and are transformed because the record of God’s activity is revealed….It is a living, active element of what God is doing and saying.  Testimonies are living stories that can literally change our life, our health, our family, or our business. - Bill Johnson Defying Moments, pg. 104

Testimonies reveal God’s will!  Testimonies reveal God’s activity!  

Hebrews 13:8 - Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever!

Acts 10:34 - Opening his mouth, Peter said, “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality.

This brings to my mind again the importance of the how and why we take communion!  The cup of redemption represented by Jesus blood is a testimony of God’s will and power revealed.  It is living and it says what the Spirit of God did for Jesus He will do for you.  Think about it!  

Jesus was beaten to a pulp.  He took every disease upon Himself.  He took every hurt emotion upon Himself.  He took every feeling of abandonment upon Himself.  He knew what it felt like to feel as though He had been rejected.  Yet, when the Spirit of God’s resurrection power hit Him - He was a new man.  He didn’t come out of the grave sick, defeated, barely getting by.  No He came out in power!  He brought those who had died back with Him.

Let Jesus testimony breathe the record of God’s will upon your life today and be set free from anything that would try to hinder or bind you up.  Let Jesus testimony, our elder brother, become your hope.  

Remember today what our Father God did for Jesus, He will do for us!  

Revelation 19:10 - …For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

The Power of Remembering

Paul said in Corinthians that every time you partake of the communion meal to remember Jesus!  If forgetting caused the children of Israel to not be able to partake of the blessings God had intended for them to walk in, then wouldn’t it stand to reason that if we REMEMBER Jesus as we take communion that we will walk in the blessings of God that He desires for us to walk in?  

Something else Bill Johnson wrote in his book was that as we write out the details of our testimonies that a similar ripple effect from heaven to earth takes place.

So today, why not share your testimony with someone.  Ask Holy Spirit to bring to your remembrance a testimony from your life and then ask Him to put you in the path of someone you can share that testimony with.  Let heaven have a ripple effect here on earth.

Do you need a hug today?

Last week we ended our study stating Holy Spirit helps us pray out mysteries.  That is where we will begin our study today.  Much of what I am sharing with you today is what I have learned as a result of teaching by Rick Renner.  Rick Renner has a grasp of the Greek language and he has a way of bringing out the words from the Greek language and painting a picture to help you understand unlike any I know of.

Below is what I shared in Sunday school when I taught about the purpose of praying in tongues.  I hope it blesses you as much as it has blessed me.

PURPOSE - TO SEARCH AND SPEAK MYSTERIES

 1 Corinthians 14:2  For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries.

The Wuest translations says it this way.  “And he utters with his human spirit [as energized by the Holy Spirit] divine revelations not explained.”

I love how Rick Renner brings out the Greek and paints a picture for you when sharing.  Looking at Romans 8:27 it tells us how the Holy Spirit knows just what to pray.

And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he  masketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God

This word searcheth is very similar to the word “looketh” used in the Old Testament when the Lord said to Samuel …but the Lord looketh on the heart.

Remember the story of David being anointed king of Israel.  Samuel was looking on the outward appearance of Jesse’s sons.  The Lord told Samuel that He didn’t look at man the way we look at man.  Men look on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart.

This word searcheth and looketh lets us know that God is looking for something we wouldn’t think to look for.  He looks beyond the shallow or what is on the surface.  He looks into the deepest part of a person.  He looks at the need at the very deepest point.

Searcheth translated from the Greek word ereunao literally means to investigate, to examine, or to sift.  It paints a picture of someone who is going through stacks of material looking for something.  So he carefully investigates, examines, and sifts through the materials as he searches for what he needs.

v. 27 ….He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit…”

This word spirit should not have been capitalized, according to Rick Renner.  It is actually referring to the human spirit when you look at it in context.  So the Holy Spirit who searches a person’s heart knows the “mind” of the person’s spirit.

What is the Holy Spirit looking for as He searches the hearts.  We know from our definition He is investigating and examining.  That is how He knows the “mind” and the deepest, truest desires of a person’s human spirit.

We need the Holy Spirit to help us to pray because we simply do not know what we need to pray.  Do we really know what is in the deepest desire of our heart.  Or if you think you know, do you think perhaps there is something even deeper you are not aware of?  Is there a plan, a dream, a purpose, that you have not become familiar with?  

The Holy Spirit is searching, He is investigating, He is examining, and He is sifting through your heart and mind for what He needs in order to pray for you.  He is looking for things you don’t even know how to look for—things you don’t naturally speaking have the ability to search out on your own.

“Mind” is translated from the Greek word that means frame of thinking.  The Holy Spirit knows the mind of your spirit because He has been examining, investigating and sifting through your mind.  He is running back and forth and side to side across your heart.  Why?  To discover the will of God embedded deep within your innermost frame of thinking.  

Don’t you just love that!  There are things that our Father, creator of heaven and earth has embedded in each of us.  Treasure, goodness, seeds of faith, seeds of goodness, seeds of gentleness, seeds of love, seeds of joy, seeds of peace, seeds of longsuffering, seeds of patience that need watering of the Holy Spirit.  

Not only has He embedded in us His fruits but He as planted in us desires and dreams.  When the Holy Spirit finds the deeply laid plans of God on the inside of us, He begins to pray about them according to God’s will.  He examines and investigates your heart and knows how to intercede effectually on your behalf regarding all that He finds.  This intercessory work has to be His responsibility because He’s the only One capable of accomplishing it!

The Bible tells us we have not because we ask not. (James 4:2) Many times I will pray show me what questions I need to ask.  Because if you don’t show me what questions to ask I will not know what I need to ask to get the answer that I need in order to grow in You.

We need to give time to the Holy Spirit and yield our tongue to Him so that He may pray God’s perfect will concerning our lives and the lives of our loved ones.

1 Corinthians 2:16Amplified Bible (AMP)

16 For who has known or understood the mind (the counsels and purposes) of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart.

Having this knowledge now, why would you not want to pray in tongues?  

If you are interested in more teaching by Rick Renner I would recommend you going to his website www.renner.org.  Currently he is doing a home group teaching on the ministry of the Holy  Spirit.  His teachings are archived so you can refer to them at your convenience.  

There are many more purposes and benefits of praying in tongues.

PURPOSE - TO RECEIVE AN EMBRACE - A HUG

Acts 10:44  While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.

Acts 11:15-16    15 “As I began to speak,” Peter continued, “the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning. 16Then I thought of the Lord’s words when he said, ‘John baptized with^e water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?”

The word fell in these passages of scripture doesn’t mean fell like He fell down.  This word in the Greek is the word that means embrace or to hug.  Isn’t that beautiful!  The Holy Spirit “fell” - gave them a hug and gave them their prayer language.  By this Peter knew that the Gentiles could become believers.

So the next time you need a hug think about this scripture and pray in tongues receiving the hug of Holy Spirit.

This goes right along with Jude 20-21 in the instructions that was given to the church.

But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. 

Praying in tongues is one way to keep yourself in the love of God!  If you are in the love of God then your roots are going deeper into His love which in Ephesians we are commanded.

Ephesians 3:17-19 - so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love (18) may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, (19)and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Aiden, my grandson, has started going up to his mommy and saying "hug"!  It is the most precious thing!  I have watched it melt my daughter's heart to hear that word "hug" and to pick him up and give him a hug.  He will nestle his sweet little face right up next to hers.  Just precious!  I can hear him saying it now! "Hug!"

Why not take some time today and be hugged by the Holy Spirit!  Nestle up close to Him and allow Him to diffuse Himself to you.

And they were all filled (diffused throughout their souls with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other (different, foreign) languages (tongues), as the Spirit kept giving them clear and loud expression [in each tongue in appropriate words].  Acts 2:4 (AMP)

If you would like to continue to study Holy Spirit here are some resources that have helped me.

Resources: 

Rick Renner’a partner letters The Holy Spirit’s Help in Prayer  Part 1 & Part 2

Seventy Reason’s for Speaking in Tongues by Dr. Bill Hamon

Teaching heard by Billye Brim 

Tongues Beyond the Upper Room compiled teachings of Kenneth E. Hagin

The New Testament - Kenneth Wuest Translation

The Dynamic Duo The Holy Spirit & You - Rick Renner 

What is it about the Blood of Jesus that Overcomes the Devil - cd message by Joseph Prince.

(The Complete Word Study Dictionary Zhodhiates)

Thank you for taking this journey with me.  

FORWARD - MARCH!

Yesterday, I heard Rick Renner do a teaching on prayer - www.renner.org.  In his teaching I heard him say that the meaning for the word continue in prayer meant to press forward in prayer.  So I went to bed with that thought and I have woke up with that thought.  PRESS FORWARD!  PRESS FORWARD!

So no matter what you are facing today I encourage you to PRESS FORWARD in prayer, whether you pray in tongues or with your understanding.

Can I ask you a question?  What is keeping you from praying?  Faith begins where the will of God is known.  Seek God for His will through His Word, through communion with Him over His Word.  The Holy Spirit is responsible for you and if you will invite Him to guide you and lead you, He will!

Today, I want us to look at one of the ways the Holy Spirit helps us in our praying that we looked at last week.  If you didn't read last week's study I hope you will go back and read it.  We spent time seeing what actual words were saying and the picture it painted.

ROMANS 8:26-28 (AMP)  So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearning, and groanings too deep for utterance.  And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit [what His intent is] because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God’s will.  We are assured and know that God being a partner in their labor all things work together and are [fitting into a plan for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.

 I want to look at this part of the scripture and definition again.

intercession - to fall into with.  

This Greek word gives us several pictures of how the Holy Spirit helps us:

1. A person is trapped and another swiftly swings into action to rescue and deliver the one who is in trouble
2. Coming together in an experience and meeting with.
3. to supplicate - a rescue operation in which one snatches and pulls a person out of imminent danger.  

My purpose in bringing this teaching on praying in tongues is not to cause controversy or division.  It is my prayer, however, that somehow, someway, I can say or reveal this truth in a way that you will see the preciousness of both Holy Spirit and His gift.  My desire is that you can see the value of this gift and not take it lightly.  I want you to see how Jesus prayed and gave us this gift to help us pray when we don't know what or how to pray.  

I can share with you numerous times how He has helped me pray in tongues and then gave me understanding so I would know what to pray in my understanding.  But this day I am about to share with you, I needed a "rescue operation"!

May 23, 2014 a beautiful day.  I had purchased Happy, Happy, Happy t-shirts to wear because this day our first grandson would enter earth.  Enter he did!  Beautiful of course, healthy, everything as it should be.  My mom, Corey's parents, and Byron and I went to eat breakfast so Corey and Kristi could bond with Aiden.  We had placed our order and were waiting.  Then I got a text - PRAY NOW.

I was the only one at our table who had a phone out.  I picked up my phone and went outside to pray.  I didn't know what or who I was praying for.  Walking in the parking lot I began to pray in tongues.  Then it dawned on me - I should go back inside and let the others know what is going on.  Wayne paid for our coffee and we left and went back to the hospital.  

I got to the nurses desk and told her who I was and could she tell me what was going on.

Words I never expected to hear came out of her mouth.  "Your grandson has coded."

Thank God, across from the nurses station was a closed off waiting room.  I bursted through the doors, went to my knees, and prayed in tongues.  I later found out that when my daughter heard the nurse yell for help she immediately began to pray in tongues as well.  

Had it not been for the help and strength of the Holy Spirit, I don't know what I would have done.  But I knew I could trust Him to pray through me His Words of life.  I knew He would pray the perfect will of God concerning Aiden, Kristi, and Corey.  As I prayed in tongues a peace came over me, light came - meaning not only did I have understanding on how to pray but the others in the room with me had an understanding of how to pray as well.  We took authority over satan and proclaimed Jesus!  Not long after we began praying, the nurse came back and said the doctor has him breathing.  We do not know how long he was without oxygen.  

The good news is although we received many bad reports that day, every report we received, Jesus turned around and brought forth victory.  Today, Aiden, is a very healthy little boy, perfect in every way.  He loves to check on cows, feed chickens, and play with our dog.  There is no residual effect from what happened the day he was born.  The cardiologist and the neurologist both say he truly is a miracle.  

Praise you, Jesus!  Holy Spirit came together with us  in this experience and snatched our grandson out of danger. (see the definition of intercession above.)  Our grandson was trapped and Holy Spirit swept into action and rescued and delivered him.  Our praying made a way possible for Holy Spirit to act on our behalf.

James 1:17 tells us every good and perfect gift cometh from the Father.  Let me remind you, the Father's gift to the world was Jesus so any who would believe on Him would be saved.  Jesus gift to the believer is His precious Spirit coming to live inside of us.  One of the Holy Spirit's gift to those who will believe and receive is the ability to pray in heaven's language.  

My prayer is that if you have not received this gift that this teaching and testimony will cause you to desire the gift and to ask Him for it.  If you have this gift and are not using the gift, that you will stir yourself up and begin to pray in tongues the perfect will of God concerning you.  Perhaps you already pray in tongues, pray more.

 Jude 20 - But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. 

May we all be stirred to pray more in tongues so that we can pray in unity with the Father and get His church completed.  

His church is to display His manifold wisdom to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 3:10)

When we pray in tongues we pray out mysteries.  (1 Corinthians 14:2) Don't you love that!  

Which I believe that is where we will stop today and start next week.  Praying out mysteries!

Come back!  Will you?

WHEN WE KNOW NOT HOW TO PRAY, HOLY SPIRIT MAKES INTERCESSION FOR US.

ROMANS 8:26-28 (AMP)  So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearning, and groanings too deep for utterance.  And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit [what His intent is] because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God’s will.  We are assured and know that God being a partner in their labor all things work together and are [fitting into a plan for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.

PURPOSE - TO HELP US TO PRAY

One of the Holy Spirit’s responsibilities is to help us pray.  In Roman’s 8:26 we see 

in the KJV it says, Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought…”

HELPETH -  in the Greek this word is a compound of 3 Greek words.  This word conveys the idea of a real partnership and cooperation and paints the picture of two individuals working together to get the job done.  

sunantilambano - means to take hold of something with someone else, gripping it together as tightly as possible, and throwing your combined weight against it to move it out of the way.

The Greek word sunantilambano conveys the same idea of partnership and cooperation that it takes to remove an obstacle.  This word tells us that it is the Holy Spirit’s responsibility to become one with us in helping us remove every obstacle.  When we are weak we are inadequate to get the job done.  So the Holy Spirit comes alongside us and says, “Let me grab hold of that hindrance with you, and you and I will push against it together until it is moved completely out of your way.”

When I study this definition I think of my husband.  He is a very strong man and he has always amazed me at his strength and his ability to move HEAVY pieces of equipment or obstacles.  But there are times he will ask me to help him move something.  In my mind I am thinking, "Really? What good can I do?"  But somehow my being there and doing the little I can do gives him what he needs to be able to move the equipment.

It seems there are people who believe God will just take care of things for them, and yes He is all powerful, all knowing, and everywhere present, but by His design and purpose He needs us to come alongside Him to cause things to happen in prayer.  Yes, He could move mountains without our help, but He has chosen to give us His Spirit and His language that together we can pray about situations, even when we don't know how to pray. 

Prayer becomes a twofold partnership between you and the Holy Spirit.  When this becomes a revelation in our hearts, it will change the way we pray.  It will give us hope when we are praying.  We will recognize the power that is with us when we pray and behind us when we pray.  It takes the focus off our ability and causes us to focus on who Jesus is.

v. 26 “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities…..”

infirmities is the Greek word asthenia.  It is used to describe people who are sickly or ailing in their bodies, minds, or emotions.  It can also describe people who are spiritually weak.

We can see that the Holy Spirit comes to help us because we are weak.  We do not have what it takes to get the job done because of our weakness whether it be due to a physical weakness, mental weakness, or spiritual weakness. Or even a weakness in our understanding.   We need the partnership of the Holy Spirit to help us.  He comes to help us or assist us throwing His weight against our weaknesses to remove them from our lives.

v. 26 “ Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought…”

know not what is a Greek phrase that means a very little thing.  We don’t know the fine point, the hidden problems, the intricate details of what is involved in a manner we are praying about.  

as we ought - this comes from the Greek word dei, which means necessary. This refers to something must be a certain way.  

Verse 26 could be translated “…We do not know how to pray according to the need, as is necessary to pray, or as that need exactly demands.”

We do not know the end from the beginning, but God does.  We don’t know the details of every situation, but God does.  He knows what pieces of the puzzle fit together.  He knows the design and purposes of our lives.  So the Holy Spirit can help us pray according to God’s will and pray out the details that our needs demand.

The Holy Spirit comes in to remove our weaknesses and to help us in our inadequacy to know what to pray!

The Holy Spirit partners with us in prayer, grabs a hold of the obstacle and with us He pushes against it to remove satanic blockades.

v. 26 “…..but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

intercession - to fall into with.  

This Greek word gives us several pictures of how the Holy Spirit helps us:

1. A person is trapped and another swiftly swings into action to rescue and deliver the one who is in trouble
2. Coming together in an experience and meeting with.
3. to supplicate - a rescue operation in which one snatches and pulls a person out of imminent danger.  

I love this!  Here we have a picture of us walking in life.  Satan has set up a trap and we have fallen into one of his holes.  Or perhaps you have just made some wrong choices and you don’t know how to make some right choices.  Or you don’t know how to get out of the hole.  You can do 1 of 2 things.  Stay there and feel sorry for yourself.  Have a pity party and stay at the bottom of the pit.  Or you can say “Holy Spirit this is where I am at.  I don’t know how to get out of this place.  I don’t know how I got here.  I need Your help.  Come help me!”

If you make the 2nd choice and ask the Holy Spirit to come help you this is what happens.  He comes to meet you in your common experience and in the bottom of the hole.  He supplicates for you - He moves on your behalf to rescue you.  Then at the bottom of the pit, the Holy Spirit takes hold together with you in prayer against the hindrances that are preventing your deliverance.

 This word for intercession paints a picture of a rescue operation.  

This passage of scripture could be translated as “…the Spirit itself [Himself] maketh intercession for us…” like this  “The Spirit Himself falls into our situation with us, meeting us in a common experience and rescuing us from our weakness.”

v. 26….the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

groanings - deep inward sighs and can be translated to vent.  

This word paints the picture of a tea pot full of water setting on a stove.  As the flame is turned on and the water comes to a boil it lets off steam and whistles.This Greek word stenagmos gives us insight into how the Holy Spirit prays with us with groanings which cannot be uttered.  

We fall into a situation from which we need rescuing.  We think our world is falling apart.  We think our trial is unbearable and that we are going to be consumed by the fiery trial or test.  The devil comes and stokes the flames with his thoughts of doubt, unbelief, and lies.  You think you are not ever going to change.  Or that your pit is too deep to get out of.  

But as you ask the Holy Spirit for help and the flames are heating up on the outside the Holy Spirit on the inside of us is getting angrier and angrier about the looming obstacle the enemy has placed before us.  Then suddenly the Holy Spirit vents!  The Holy Ghost sighs, and incredible prayers come rising up out of us.  The Bible describes it as groanings which cannot be uttered.

But what if the tea kettle didn’t have a spout or if the cover over the spout did not give way to the weight of the steam?  It wouldn’t whistle would it?  Likewise I believe there are groanings and utterances the Holy Spirit wants to vent out, but we keep our spout closed - our mouth- and we don’t let the groanings of Holy Spirit come forth.

We are told in scripture “forbid not to speak with tongues”, “do not quench the Spirit”,  and “do not grieve the Holy Spirit”.  (1 Cor. 14:39, 1 Thess. 5:19, Eph. 4:30)

The Holy Spirit is our Helper, not our dictator!  We must do our part in yielding to Him.

Let’s go back to the word helpeth.  We saw in studying it that it was a partnership between us and the Holy Spirit.  One of the biggest lies that satan has fed the body of Christ that sounds so sweet and so humble - but it is a lie - is that “God doesn’t need me, but I sure do need Him.”  Bologna!  

2 Corinthians 6:1 says that we are co-labors (partners) with Christ

A spirit must have a body to operate with here on earth.  That is why Jesus was made flesh so that He could take up residence on earth in a body - His earth suit- and fulfill the purposes and plans of God.  That purpose and plan of God was that Jesus would bare the sins of the world,  pay the penalty for sin, so that anyone who would believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ would be saved and rescued from the kingdom of darkness.

Then God’s plan was to bring Jesus back to heaven - restore HIm to His former glory - and send His Spirit back to earth to live inside many bodies.  He still had a work to do on earth.  In order for His work to be completed on earth He has to have bodies of believers for His Spirit to work in and with.  The Holy Spirit helps us - but it is a partnership - we have to do our part as well.

So there are prayers, there are groanings, that He needs to bring forth and He needs people who believe that He can work through and with.  He has words that need to be released so that He can create.  Remember how the Spirit of the Lord hovered over the earth when God created order out of chaos?  God still wants to create order out of chaos. It will takes us working together with Holy Spirit.  A partnership consist of 2 or more people.

Groanings which cannot be uttered can also refer to speaking or praying in other tongues.  This phrase in the Greek simply indicates that what is uttered doesn’t make sense to the human mind.  But just because it doesn’t make sense to our human mind does not mean that they are not powerful sounds.

Think about a high note that an opera singer sings that it is so shrill that it causes glass to break.  We can partner with Holy  Spirit and the groanings He brings forth out of us will break things in the realm of the spirit to cause hindrances and blockades to be removed.

The groanings in Romans 8:26 are supernatural utterances that proceed from your spirit and come forth from your mouth as the Holy Spirit rises up within you to lift you up and rescue you from your plight.  This is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit as our Partner in prayer!

The Holy Spirit is not temperamental or independent of us.  He isn’t domineering.  We have a choice to pray with our prayer language or not to pray.  It is important that we yield and allow Him to use our tongue to pray in the spirit and with our understanding.  

1 Corinthians 14:14 in the Amplified helps us see our relationship with the Holy Spirit in praying.  It says, “For if I pray in an [unknown] tongue, my spirit [by the Holy Spirit within me] prays….”  The Holy Spirit gives the utterance or the words and you do the speaking. 

Paul told us in 1 Corinthians that he prayed more than everyone in tongues, but that he also prayed with his understanding. 

I hope these teachings have helped you gain understanding about praying in tongues and its purpose.  There are many more benefits that could be looked at.  So I hope that you will continue in your study.  But honestly there are things that you can't learn by studying.  You have to put into action what you have learned and then you learn more.

If you enjoyed the Greek Word studies, then I would highly recommend Rick Renner's book Sparkling Gems.  He also has some teaching material on his website, renner.org, that you might want to check out.  I love Rick Renner's teaching and he has some sermons available about the Ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Thank you for taking the time to study with me.  I am honored.  Be blessed!  May the Lord keep you and shine His face upon you.

Kathy Crowder

Benefits of prayer

Have you noticed how it seems God is calling us to prayer?  We have had a powerful movie made that demonstrated the effects of prayer.  Prayer rallies are being raised up all across our nation by Franklin Graham.  There are other prayer groups praying for our land as well.  I am so thankful for the place of prayer and all those who are lifting up their voices to God, to seek Him for help, guidance, strength, healing, and so much  more.  Prayer is so important in our lives that the disciples asked Jesus, "Teach us prayer!"

The KVJ says it this way "teach us to pray".  However, I was reading a book by Andrew Murray and he brought out that it should have actually said ''teach us prayer".  The disciples had seen miracles after miracles done at the hand of Jesus.  Yet they recognized the miracles came as a result of prayer.

I am thankful for prayers that are prayed in my native tongue, English, that I can understand. One of the purposes for Holy Spirit is to help us to pray.  He helps us by bringing scripture to our remembrance.  He helps us by giving us heaven's language to pray in.  I am so thankful and grateful to Father for the gift of heaven's language, praying in tongues.

There are some things that can't be taught.  You have to experience and grow in wisdom and understanding.  By faith we understand, not that we understand and then have faith.  How is it we can trust that our own intellect is smarter than our creator in knowing how to pray?

I don't know about you, but I have come up on some times in my life that I just did not know how or what to pray but I knew I needed to pray.

Let me give you an example.  I was hit with something that took me completely by surprise!  How could this be happening?  This is not the way things are suppose to be going!  I had such a gut wrenching feeling that I knew was the Holy Spirit letting me know something was wrong.  On the surface nothing seemed to be wrong.  I was told "it is just you" and "it is natural for you to be experiencing some emotion".  But deep down I knew it was more than what people were telling me.

I kept hearing in my spirit "pray'.  Holy Spirit would bring up to my mind an evangelist who had spoken at our church and he talked about how his grandmother had prayed for him.  I would hear "pray".  Finally one day I said, "I don't know what to pray!"

I heard Holy Spirit say in my heart, "that is why you have me and can pray in tongues."

Now can I tell you I felt like such an idiot!  I have known Romans 8:26-28 practically my whole life!  Yet at that time in my life it seemed like I had forgotten everything I had ever been taught.  Oh, I am so thankful for Holy Spirit! He brings things to our remembrance!

That day was a turning point for me.  I took the situation to my Father God and lifted up the need to Him and would say, "I don't know what or how to pray about this situation, but I lift this up to you and I yield my tongue to you to pray your perfect will concerning this".  Then I would pray in tongues.  I didn't just do this one time.  I purposed to pray over this situation daily until I had peace! Well it was over a year long process!  But in the end "all things did work together for our good". Praise the Name of Jesus!

There would be different times that after praying I would know in my spirit steps to take and I would take those steps.  He gave me understanding.  He showed me how to walk the trial out so that we would be victorious.

I could give you example after example of how praying in tongues has caused me to have victory over situations that I know had it not been for the Holy Spirit and the ability to pray in tongues I would not have had.

How is it we can put so much faith in things we are unable to see in the natural?  Such as the internet or text messages.  Or not to long ago a fax machine (they almost seem to be a thing of the past, don't they?)  We believe if we put a piece of paper in a fax machine that it would be transmitted to another person and they would receive an identical copy of the paper we were sending.  We can't see the wires that it goes over.  We can't see the person (well we use to couldn't) we are sending it to.  Yet we believe the fax will work.

Why is it so hard for us to have faith that our Creator would give us a language that we could pray to Him?  He who confused the languages at the Tower of Babel is more than able to give Christians a language by which they can now pray in unity with His will.   Praying in tongues, enables us to pray the perfect will of God over our lives.

Luke 11:11-13
11“Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12“Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 13“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?”

We have a good Father, who desires good things for us and who has given us good gifts!  There has been misunderstanding as well as misuse about praying in tongues.   Praying in tongues was so important that Paul had to give instruction in how to properly use the gift.  But it wasn't so the gift wouldn't be used, which is how some have interpreted his teaching.  

Review- What have we learned up to this point through this series of teaching?

• Praying in tongues is heaven's language given to us to pray in.  Although it may sound like nonsense to us, we are actually praying in an elevated discourse to and with our Father.
• Praying in tongues is used to edify or build us up.
• Praying in tongues is a way to pray in unity.
• Praying in tongues gives us utterance to change things.
• Praying in tongues enables us to pray the prefect will of God.

Is this helping you?  If so, I would like to know and hear your testimony.  I had thought this morning when I started to write this would be my last blog on praying in tongues.  But instead next week I want to look deeper into Romans 8:26-28 with you.  Will you come back to study with me?

Dipped and Dyed

Hello friends!

Did you enjoy your Resurrection Sunday?  Did any of you dye eggs with children?  Or do you remember dying eggs?  What fun it was to take a white egg and put it into a dye that would change the color of the egg!  If you were real creative you might try taking the egg you dyed and dip it into another color to see what color you would come out with. Or if the first time you dipped the egg into your dye and you didn't like the shade of say pink it was, you might dip into the pink dye again and again and again until you got the dark shade of pink you were looking for.

Which brings me to one of my favorite word studies.  It is the word baptize.

For a moment let’s look at the word baptize and discover a purpose of being baptized in the Holy Spirit.  It is a Greek word that means “to dip and to dye” much like a garment is dipped and dyed to change it’s color.  I love that!  We are to be dipped and dyed in the Holy Spirit and fire until we look like Jesus!  Isn’t that wonderful!  Baptize us again Jesus with your Holy  Spirit and fire!

baptizo - verb - Strong’s G907 -

1.  to dip, repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge (of vessels sunk)

2.  to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water, to wash one’s self, bathe

3.  to overwhelm

Acts 1:5 Jesus referred to the fact that John baptized in water, but that those who waited in Jerusalem would be baptized in the Holy Spirit. You can see in Acts 2:3 a fulfillment of what John had prophesied in the gospels.  What was the evidence of those who waited being baptized?  They spoke in tongues.

When the people asked what is going on, Peter responded by quoting Joel 2:28-30.  Then I love what Peter said in v.39 

For God’s promise of the Holy Spirit is for you and your families, for those yet to be born and for everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” (TPT).  In the Aramaic v. 39 can be translated “This outpouring is for you”.  Hallelujah! (note taken from The Passion Translation)

Some believe that praying in tongues has ceased.  Some believe that it was a one time occurrence.  Some believe praying in tongues was just for the first Christians.  But can you see from Acts 2:39 Peter plainly tells us the promise is for everyone who calls upon the LORD.

Let's look at other examples in the Living Word of God.  

We are told in Acts 8 :14-17 that Samaria had received the word of God.  Peter and John went down to pray for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit had not yet fallen on any of them.  They had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  When Peter and John laid hands on them they received the Holy Spirit. 

Previously in this chapter we are told about a man name Simon who had been a magician.  After hearing Jesus preached he believed and continued to walk with Phillip.  Scripture tells us he observed signs and great miracles taking place.  He was constantly amazed!  He had gone with Peter and John down to Samaria.  When the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands, Simon saw something different.  Different so much so that he offered to pay Peter and John for their ability.  What did he see?  He saw the demonstration of the Holy Spirit.  What do we know from scripture was the demonstration of being baptized in the Holy Spirit?  Praying in tongues.

Acts 11 recounts the story of Peter going to Cornelius house.  He was an Italian who feared God and gave much money to the Jews.  Remember at this time in history it was unlawful for Jews to go into a Gentiles home.  God had given Peter a dream to let him know He wanted Peter to go to Cornelius house and preach Jesus to him and his household.  Peter tells us that as he began to speak the Holy Spirit fell upon Cornelius and his household and he remembered the words of Jesus.  

John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.  Acts 11:16

Peter went on to say how could they deny Gentiles who would believe upon Jesus the right when God showed His favor upon them by giving them the same gift - the baptism of the Holy Spirit - as He had given the 120 who had waited in Jerusalem.  What was the evidence of the gift?  Praying in tongues. (See Acts 10:45,46).

Acts 19:1-6 gives us indication there are more than one baptisms.  Paul found some disciples in Ephesus.  

Paul asked, "Have you received the Holy Spirit?"

Their reply. "We did not know there was a Holy Spirit."

Paul then asked, "Into what baptism have you been baptized?"

When they replied "unto John's baptism", Paul let them know that "John baptized with the baptism of repentance telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus."  

When they heard this they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  When Paul laid his hands on them the Holy  Spirit came on them and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

Throughout the book of Acts there are references of being filled with the Spirit.  We even discover in Acts 4 that those who had initially received the baptism of the Holy Spirit had another outpouring of Holy Spirit.  So we can see that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not just a one time event or a one time occurrence.  

What was the definition of baptism?  Simply put - to dip and dye.  I want to be dipped and dyed repeatedly until I look like Jesus.  After all isn't that the purpose of redemption? (Romans 8:29).

One last thought for today.  Matthew 6:33 tells us to "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (KJV)

I like how Beth Moore makes this statement in her study of the book of James regarding Matthew 6:33.  "Faith receives more than it asks.  Doubt loses more than it disbelieved."

Read that statement again.  "Faith receives more than it asks.  Doubt loses more than it disbelieved."

My question today.  What are you losing through doubting that speaking in tongues is a gift God wants you to have today?  If you have been baptized with the Holy Spirit are you praying in tongues?  Or do you need a fresh baptism?  If so, stir up the gift that is within you.