Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer reflects a sincere hunger to hear from God and to see His Spirit at work, and that desire is good. Faith does come by hearing the Word, and we can thank God that Jesus lives to intercede for all who come to God through Him. He is able to save completely, and His intercession never ceases.
God has spoken in many portions and in many ways, but His supreme and final revelation is through His Son, and through the Holy Spirit working through the apostles to give us the Scriptures. The same Spirit who inspired the Word is the one who opens our minds to understand it. That is why the written Word remains the foundation and the test for everything else we think we have heard from God.
It is true that God has often communicated through dreams and visions. Scripture shows Him warning and directing people in that way, turning them from wrongdoing and preserving them, and the prophet Joel foretold a day when God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh so that sons and daughters would prophesy and old and young would dream dreams and see visions. That promise was publicly fulfilled when the Spirit was poured out on the church at Pentecost. Peter explained that what Joel foretold had come, and that the promise is for all whom the Lord calls, in every generation until the return of Christ. In that sense God is still able to use dreams and visions, and He still distributes His gifts as He wills.
At the same time it helps to remember what changed at Pentecost. The waiting for the Spirit before that day was a one time experience. Once the Spirit was given, Scripture never again commands believers to wait or tarry for Him in that same way. Every person who truly trusts in Christ has the Holy Spirit dwelling within, and that indwelling presence is what conforms us to the image of Jesus and gives power to live like Him. The baptism with the Spirit is the overflow of that indwelling life for witness and service. The Spirit is sovereign in how He gives gifts. Not everyone receives the same gift, and we are taught to earnestly desire the best gifts while remembering that love is greater than any gift.
When the Spirit does speak through prophecy, the purpose is to build up the church, to encourage and to comfort, and to bring learning. That work is orderly. The Spirit does not force a person to lose control or to interrupt what He is already doing through the teaching of the Word. The spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet, which means the person remains responsible for how and when a gift is exercised. For that reason any dream, vision, or prophetic word must be weighed carefully and judged by Scripture. If it is truly from the Spirit it will agree with the Word He inspired, because that Word is without error and must be fulfilled.
So in praying for believers around the world, including yourself, it is right to ask that God would pour out His power, fill His people afresh, grant wisdom and understanding of His Word, and guide clearly. It is also right to ask for protection from temptation, deception, fear, and the work of the evil one, and to ask that any guidance claimed to be from God would be tested and found true.
May the Lord fill you with His Spirit, deepen your understanding of Scripture, make you sensitive to His leading, and keep you grounded in the truth of Christ. May He conform you more to Jesus, use your life to bring His love and peace to others, and keep you from every form of error while you walk in faith and obedience to His Word.
God has spoken in many portions and in many ways, but His supreme and final revelation is through His Son, and through the Holy Spirit working through the apostles to give us the Scriptures. The same Spirit who inspired the Word is the one who opens our minds to understand it. That is why the written Word remains the foundation and the test for everything else we think we have heard from God.
It is true that God has often communicated through dreams and visions. Scripture shows Him warning and directing people in that way, turning them from wrongdoing and preserving them, and the prophet Joel foretold a day when God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh so that sons and daughters would prophesy and old and young would dream dreams and see visions. That promise was publicly fulfilled when the Spirit was poured out on the church at Pentecost. Peter explained that what Joel foretold had come, and that the promise is for all whom the Lord calls, in every generation until the return of Christ. In that sense God is still able to use dreams and visions, and He still distributes His gifts as He wills.
At the same time it helps to remember what changed at Pentecost. The waiting for the Spirit before that day was a one time experience. Once the Spirit was given, Scripture never again commands believers to wait or tarry for Him in that same way. Every person who truly trusts in Christ has the Holy Spirit dwelling within, and that indwelling presence is what conforms us to the image of Jesus and gives power to live like Him. The baptism with the Spirit is the overflow of that indwelling life for witness and service. The Spirit is sovereign in how He gives gifts. Not everyone receives the same gift, and we are taught to earnestly desire the best gifts while remembering that love is greater than any gift.
When the Spirit does speak through prophecy, the purpose is to build up the church, to encourage and to comfort, and to bring learning. That work is orderly. The Spirit does not force a person to lose control or to interrupt what He is already doing through the teaching of the Word. The spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet, which means the person remains responsible for how and when a gift is exercised. For that reason any dream, vision, or prophetic word must be weighed carefully and judged by Scripture. If it is truly from the Spirit it will agree with the Word He inspired, because that Word is without error and must be fulfilled.
So in praying for believers around the world, including yourself, it is right to ask that God would pour out His power, fill His people afresh, grant wisdom and understanding of His Word, and guide clearly. It is also right to ask for protection from temptation, deception, fear, and the work of the evil one, and to ask that any guidance claimed to be from God would be tested and found true.
May the Lord fill you with His Spirit, deepen your understanding of Scripture, make you sensitive to His leading, and keep you grounded in the truth of Christ. May He conform you more to Jesus, use your life to bring His love and peace to others, and keep you from every form of error while you walk in faith and obedience to His Word.
