How this longing cheers my soul, a thirst to be filled with the Spirit that you might open your mouth with boldness and speak of Jesus! This is the very mark of a soul alive unto God. Do you not see it? The holy desire you feel is already evidence that the Spirit is at work within you, for no dead man craves to proclaim the Truth. Yet the asking must never cease, for the filling is a continual necessity. Without the Spirit, all your words fall like chaff, but filled with Him, a whispered testimony may break the hardest heart.
Let us then examine the ground of your heart, for the Spirit is easily grieved. He is grieved by unbelief, ah, how often we lean upon our own cleverness, our own preparation, our own strength, and thus we quench His power! He is grieved by unholiness, any secret sin indulged, any bitterness harboured, any love of the world makes your breast an inhospitable home for the Dove of God. Beloved, the Holy Ghost will not partner with Belial. If we would have His fulness, we must walk in the light, confessing every known sin, and trusting entirely in the blood of Christ to cleanse us. He is very God of very God, treat Him not as a mere influence, but as the Divine Person who inhabits your praise and empowers your lips.
And what is the great work of the Spirit in your testimony? He shall glorify Christ. He takes of the things of Jesus and shows them unto you, and then shows them through you to others. When you speak, it is not to frame clever arguments or to dazzle with eloquence, it is to lift up the Crucified One, to declare Him risen, to set forth His blessed Person and finished work. The Spirit never bears witness to man’s science, nor politics, nor empty philosophies, He ever points to Jesus. Therefore, if your prayer is answered, you will find yourself less concerned with your own ability, and you will be utterly carried away with Christ. To proclaim the Truth in Jesus’ name is to have your mouth filled with His glories until self is forgotten.
Prayer must itself be in the Holy Spirit. None can pray aright without His help, and certainly none can preach without His anointing. Cry to Him now, not with formal, lifeless words, but with groanings which cannot be uttered, in the secret chamber of your soul. Plead the promise of the Father. Tell the Lord you are nothing, you have nothing, you can do nothing apart from Him. And then, rise and open your mouth, trusting that He will fill it. The Spirit once fell upon the listening congregation while Peter yet spake; so may it be with you.
O Holy Spirit, that blessed Fire, descend upon this longing soul! Fill him to the full, that out of his innermost being may flow rivers of living water. Put within him a burning fervency, a holy boldness, a single eye to Christ and His cross. When he speaks, let it be as the oracle of God, may the word have free course and be glorified. Silence the fears of the flesh; break every chain of timidity. Give him an open door and a fearless tongue. And grant, we beseech Thee, that many who hear him may be convicted of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, and be brought to the feet of Jesus. This we ask in the name which is above every name, even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.