The importance of the Holy Spirit today
Without Him you are powerless
One of the main problems with the church today is that most churches, and most believers do not ask the Holy Spirit to empower their lives. Like everything else in the believer's walk, it happens when you ask in faith. This is yet another place where you need to ask the Lord, as the Holy Spirit, to cleanse you, teach you, and empower you.
Asking the Holy Spirit is a daily thing
When you are studying scripture: every time you study scripture you should ask the Holy Spirit to show you what He wants you to see now. As I open the book I ask, “Holy Spirit, show me what you want me to learn right now.” It will radically transform your scripture studies. The revelations He gives you will blow you away. He is the author of the book, you know.
When you are working: every time I sit down at this computer to write I start by asking the Holy Spirit to show me all my sin. If He shows me anything I repent of it and ask for forgiveness. Then I can work under the power of the Holy Spirit as I write. We usually call that the anointing, and you have ask the Lord to do that by His Holy Spirit also. Sin greatly affects the power available. But it is easy and simple to get yourself cleaned up.
You will discover that getting yourself cleaned up like that, and asking for the anointing will transform your writing—or whatever you’re doing. When I go back to edit and proof I find things that I wrote which are far beyond my natural abilities. That happens when I write, cook, draw, paint, design—do woodworking, landscape design, interior decorating, and the list goes on.
This is not a once and you’re done thing
We live a life of faith, and that means for things like this we need to ask for it without ceasing. This is one thing that is meant by Paul’s command to pray without ceasing. I cannot pray that He’ll anoint me for the entire book. It is always minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day—whenever he touches me to ask.
This enables you to live and work sin-free: until the next time you sin. Now that I’ve walked with the Lord in the power of His Holy Spirit since 1974, my sin-free periods are much longer than they were. But we need to be vigilant. Our old man or woman [especially the flesh] will rise up to stop your anointing. The enemy works hard to help you do that.
This process enables you to be much more conscious of sin as it occurs. You will learn to almost instantly stop, repent, and get cleaned up again, so you can be anointed again.
If you’re not sure, ask the Holy Spirit to show you your sin. If He doesn’t show you anything, you’re sin-free for the moment.
I try to remember to go through this process every time I start work again. After a few weeks, months, and years, you’ll discover that you are living for hours at a time with no sin in your life. You’ll see the power of the Holy Spirit in your life more and more. It’s a wonderful thing.
This is not a salvation issue, it’s about living with power
It’s not sin to forget. But gradually you will be very disappointed in yourself when you forget. So, do it then to fix the problem. Some places it is critically necessary. When you are praying for someone, especially if you sense demonic involvement, you start by cleaning yourself up. Then pray in the Spirit, and the Holy Spirit will show you what is going on so your prayers are dealing with the real problem.
If you or you and your spouse are seeking guidance on a major decision, start by cleaning yourselves up. Then you can ask for wisdom and knowledge to guide you. Commonly you’ll see things clear up radically.
One especially powerful prayer is, “Jesus, this is what we believe we are supposed to do. If we are wrong, show us our error, change our minds.” My wife and I would commonly experience a radical change in what we thought we knew. The Lord could change our direction very quickly if we pray for this after we get cleaned up. Or, He can give us solid confirmation that we are sensing the truth.