Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer reflects a sincere desire for both the character and the power of the Holy Spirit to be at work, and that is exactly how Scripture holds them together.
The fruit you mentioned in Galatians 5:22 and 23, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control, is the evidence of the Spirit dwelling within and forming us into the image of Jesus. That indwelling work is what conforms us and gives us power to live like Christ, to walk in holiness and humility and love. Without that, even where gifts are present, a life can remain carnal, as was seen in Corinth where there was much talk of spiritual gifts but little maturity. God wants both, the holy character and the bold witness.
There is also the work of the Spirit upon us for service. Before we believed, the Spirit was with us, convicting of sin and drawing us to Jesus. When we received Christ, the Spirit came to dwell in us, and no one can truly confess Jesus as Lord except by the Spirit. Then there is the overflow, the baptism with the Holy Spirit, when the Spirit comes upon us to flow out through us in witness and ministry. This is not a pattern of waiting and tarrying that we must repeat, for once the Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost He was given as a gift to the Church. The promise of that power is for all whom the Lord calls.
That empowering is for the very things you are asking for, bold and accurate preaching of the gospel in love, with the Lord working with us and confirming His word with signs following. As it is written, they went everywhere preaching the word and the Lord worked with them, confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it, Mark 16:20, and again, the salvation first spoken by the Lord was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, and God also bore witness with signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will, Hebrews 2:3 and 4. The early believers prayed for boldness to speak the word, Acts 4:29 and 30, and their preaching was not with persuasive words of human wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, with words of wisdom, words of knowledge, prophecy and other gifts as the Spirit apportioned for the common good, 1 Corinthians 12:4 through 11, exactly as He determines, not as we demand.
So we join you in prayer that the Lord would make you and those you serve with a humble, holy, loving team, cleansed and kept from sin and fear and pride, rooted in fellowship with the Father and the Son through the Spirit, 2 Corinthians 13:14 and 1 John 1:3, taught by the Spirit as you open the Scriptures, and then sent forth and guided by Him. We ask that He would grant you boldness to preach Jesus faithfully, that He suffered and died for our sins and rose and ascended as Lord and Messiah, and that He would in His own will confirm that word with healing, deliverance and miracles for His glory, whether in ways that seem great or in simply being made like our Master, Matthew 10:24 and 25, for not our will but His be done, Luke 22:42.
May the Lord fill you inwardly to bear His fruit and overflow through you to bless others, making you sensitive and open to be used by Him, and may you know His forgiveness, protection, mercy and peace, Psalm 103:2 through 5 and Philippians 4:6 and 7, as you continue to seek Him. In Jesus name we ask this, trusting that He who promised is faithful, John 14:13 and 14.
The fruit you mentioned in Galatians 5:22 and 23, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control, is the evidence of the Spirit dwelling within and forming us into the image of Jesus. That indwelling work is what conforms us and gives us power to live like Christ, to walk in holiness and humility and love. Without that, even where gifts are present, a life can remain carnal, as was seen in Corinth where there was much talk of spiritual gifts but little maturity. God wants both, the holy character and the bold witness.
There is also the work of the Spirit upon us for service. Before we believed, the Spirit was with us, convicting of sin and drawing us to Jesus. When we received Christ, the Spirit came to dwell in us, and no one can truly confess Jesus as Lord except by the Spirit. Then there is the overflow, the baptism with the Holy Spirit, when the Spirit comes upon us to flow out through us in witness and ministry. This is not a pattern of waiting and tarrying that we must repeat, for once the Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost He was given as a gift to the Church. The promise of that power is for all whom the Lord calls.
That empowering is for the very things you are asking for, bold and accurate preaching of the gospel in love, with the Lord working with us and confirming His word with signs following. As it is written, they went everywhere preaching the word and the Lord worked with them, confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it, Mark 16:20, and again, the salvation first spoken by the Lord was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, and God also bore witness with signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will, Hebrews 2:3 and 4. The early believers prayed for boldness to speak the word, Acts 4:29 and 30, and their preaching was not with persuasive words of human wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, with words of wisdom, words of knowledge, prophecy and other gifts as the Spirit apportioned for the common good, 1 Corinthians 12:4 through 11, exactly as He determines, not as we demand.
So we join you in prayer that the Lord would make you and those you serve with a humble, holy, loving team, cleansed and kept from sin and fear and pride, rooted in fellowship with the Father and the Son through the Spirit, 2 Corinthians 13:14 and 1 John 1:3, taught by the Spirit as you open the Scriptures, and then sent forth and guided by Him. We ask that He would grant you boldness to preach Jesus faithfully, that He suffered and died for our sins and rose and ascended as Lord and Messiah, and that He would in His own will confirm that word with healing, deliverance and miracles for His glory, whether in ways that seem great or in simply being made like our Master, Matthew 10:24 and 25, for not our will but His be done, Luke 22:42.
May the Lord fill you inwardly to bear His fruit and overflow through you to bless others, making you sensitive and open to be used by Him, and may you know His forgiveness, protection, mercy and peace, Psalm 103:2 through 5 and Philippians 4:6 and 7, as you continue to seek Him. In Jesus name we ask this, trusting that He who promised is faithful, John 14:13 and 14.
