Whom do you turn to in the midst of a storm? Whom do you run to when you are in trouble and are afflicted? Jesus knew that you and I will need a lot of help in these areas. He knew that we, frail as we are, would always need someone who can comfort us, someone to whom we can run to when we are helpless, someone who will constantly remind us about what Jesus taught while He was walking among men in His flesh and someone who would alert us of the things to come.
Therefore before Jesus was arrested, scourged and crucified, before he died and was resurrected He gathered His disciples and told them that He will ask the Father to send them a Comforter, a Helper and a Guide.
Jesus did not tell them to go to His mother, Mary and ask her to pray for them. He did not tell them that when anyone of them dies and goes to heaven, the others can ask that person who is in heaven to pray for them or ask him or her for favours. By this time His earthly father was already dead. Jesus knew that His dad, Joseph will be with Him in heaven after His resurrection, once heaven's doors were open. Jesus did not tell them to pray a nine day novena to his dad to obtain favours from God.
Before we go any further let us know God's nature. God is Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient.
Omnipotent means all-powerful. God has supreme power. This means God can do what He wants. It means He is not subject to physical limitations like man is. Being omnipotent, God has power over wind, water, fire, gravity, physics, etc. God's power is infinite. His power is limitless.
Omnipresence means all-present. This term means that God is capable of being everywhere at the same time. It means His divine presence encompasses the whole universe. Being omnipresent enables Him to hear the prayers of every individual throughout the world, at the same time and answer each prayer individually.
Omniscience means all-knowing. God is all-knowing in the sense that He is aware of the past, present and future. Nothing takes Him by surprise. His knowledge is total. He knows all that there is to know and all that can be known.
Only God is Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient. Human beings alive or dead are not. We are finite beings and are limited in our powers. Even angels do not pocess these attributes of God. The bible says that only God knows our secret thoughts. That means that only God knows what we wish for and what we pray in the silence of our hearts.
When we pray to Mary or the saints who are in heaven, they will not be able to hear us because they are not near us. When we say that they can hear, then we are saying that they are Omnipresent and Omniscient. If ten people around the world pray to Mary or any one of the saints at the same time will they be able to hear and answer everyone's prayer at the same time? By saying that they can, are we not saying that they too have God's attributes?
Jesus knew our human weakness. He knew that we human beings, if left alone will turn to other beings or images to pray to, to seek favour from and to worship. That is why He told His disciples about the Helper Whom He will ask the Father to send and reminded them time and again after His resurrection but before His ascension not to leave Jerusalem before receiving this Helper, The Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is only given to those who believe in the life, death, resurrection and the saving power of Jesus Christ and who keep His commandments. He is the Helper of every Christian.
Let us read through the Words of Jesus.
John 14:15-17
English Standard Version (ESV)
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper,[a] to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be[b] in you.
John 16:12-15
English Standard Version (ESV)
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
After His ressurection Jesus appeared to His disciples.
John 20:19-22 NIV
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” [20] After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. [21] Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” [22] And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1:3-5, 8 NIV
[3] After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. [4] On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. [5] For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” [8] But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Jesus knew that we would need a Helper to be with us and in us, at all times. The disciples in the early church did just what Jesus commissioned them to do and prayed the way Jesus taught them to pray and sought the Holy Spirit for every need of theirs. Now all the martyrs of the early church surely went to heaven. The early church members could have prayed to the martyrs right? We don't read about Paul praying to Steven whom he ordered to be stoned to death, after his own conversion. Nowhere in the bible do we read of anyone praying to the saints in heaven.
Blessed is the one who heeds the Words of Christ and allows the Spirit of God to abide in himself and makes the Holy Spirit his best Friend.
The Holy Spirit Who is God's Spirit is Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omnicient because He is the third Person of God. He has limitless power and the Bible shows us, all that the Holy Spirit can do for us.
Here, listed are some 33 ways in which the Holy Spirit helps us. These are by no means exhaustive. Nevertheless these 33 in this list, would enlighten us about the ability of the Holy Spirit Who resides in every believer of the Lord Jesus, every believer who continually repents and renews His relationship with Christ Jesus.
33 Things The Holy Spirit Does.
(This list, '33 Things The Holy Spirit Does' was adapted from the Charisma magazine.)
1. He helps us.(Rom.8:26)
2. He guides us.(John 16:13)
3. He teaches us.(John 14:26)
4. He speaks.(Rev.2:7)
5. He reveals.(1 Cor.2:10)
6. He instructs.(Acts 8:29)
7. He testifies of Jesus.(John
15:26)
8. He comforts us.(Acts 9:31)
9. He calls us.(Acts 13:2)
10. He fills us.(Acts 4:31)
11. He strengthens us.
(Eph.3:16)
12. He prays for us.
(Rom.8:26)
13. He prophesies through us.
(2 Pet.1:21)
14. He bears witness to the
truth.(Rom.9:1)
15. He brings joy.(1 Thess 1:6)
16. He brings freedom.
(2 Cor.3:17)
17. He helps to obey.
(1 Pet.1:22)
18. He calls for Jesus'
return.(Rev.22.17)
19. He transforms us.
(2 Cor.3:18)
20. He lives in us.(1 Cor.3:16)
21. He frees us.(Rom.8:2)
22. He renews us.(Titus 3:15)
23. He produces fruit in us.
(Gal.5:22-23)
24. He gives gifts.
(1 Cor.12:8-10)
25. He leads us.(Rom.8:14)
26. He convicts us of our
sins.(John 16:8)
27. He sanctifies us.
(2 Thess .2:13)
28. He empowers us.(Acts 1:8)
29. He unites us.(Eph.4:3-4)
30. He seals us.(Eph.1:13)
31. He gives us access to the
Father. (Eph.2:18)
32. He enables us to
wait.(Gal.5:5)
33. He casts out demons.
(Matt.12:28)
Why do we need the Holy Spirit? We need Him because without Him dwelling in us, we will not know the mind of Christ and will not be able to function in the way God wants us to function. Without Him we will not have the power to fulfill the 'Great Commission'!
The Holy Spirit is God's Unadultrated Essence given to us Christians as a Gift to transform our distorted images into God's Image and Likeness.
My greatest desire is for everyone to come to the knowledge of God and allow the Holy Spirit to operate from within us and learn to hear His still small voice speaking to and guiding us.
Hope you found this article useful. Feel free to share it. God bless.
Mary Augustine
12th June 2015
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