The Spirit Helps series Archives

The Spirit Helps in Our Worship

The Holy Spirit plays an active role in the lives of believers from salvation to glorification. Sometimes, it’s not always evident or clear what that role is. Today we wrap up our look at what the Spirit does, learning how He helps us, and why Jesus said it was to our advantage that He go away and the Holy Spirit comes (John 15:7). We’ve looked at how He helps in our salvation, in our understanding, in our walk, in our witness. Last we saw how that Spirit helps in our prayers. We’ll conclude with how the Spirit helps in our worship.

The Spirit directs worship with the proper attitude.

In a conversation with the woman from Sychar, the subject shifted to worship. She tried to press Him about location while He countered with the condition of the worshipper’s heart. “But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him (John 4:23).

God wants worship, but true worship is directed and initiated by the Spirit. It is an integral part of our lives as His redeemed children. Further, the underlying point is that living a life of obedience, motivated by love for Jesus Christ is the truest worship. We’ve already seen that our obedience and our love for Christ are works of the Spirit. So the Spirit both enables us to worship and then makes the worship acceptable to God.

The Spirit directs worship with the proper object.

Later in John’s gospel, Jesus explains to His disciples about the work of the Spirit. “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14). True worship always has the praise and glorification of Jesus Christ as its goal. The Spirit has glorifying Christ as His mission. This means worship cannot happen without the Spirit. Here, it is through the revelation of the truth about Christ that worship happens. The more we learn about Christ and what He has done, how He has saved us, we will worship.

In our world, there is no end of things we COULD worship, no end end of people or things willing to RECEIVE our worship. Only ONE is worthy, and the Spirit helps our worship by ensuring we praise the One whose name is above all names.

The Spirit directs worship with the proper motivation.

Paul gives us one more insight. “For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3). Our worship doesn’t flow from a heart that trusts in itself– or in another person. We don’t trust that our worship is acceptable because of its contents, or its timing. We don’t worship because we feel guilty or we fear the consequences if we don’t. We aren’t looking to bolster our own popularity or standing.

We worship because it’s all we have to offer.

As Jesus repeated to the Samaritan woman, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). It is easy to get worship wrong. The truth is, we cannot worship God properly without the Holy Spirit. Thankfully, Jesus asked the Father to send the Spirit and the Spirit helps our worship. But as we’ve seen, the Spirit is there to help us with each step in our walk. We just need to learn how to follow.

The Spirit Helps in Our Prayers

By Paula Wiseman

The Holy Spirit plays an active role in the lives of believers from salvation to glorification. Sometimes, it’s not always evident or clear what that role is. We’re in the middle of our closer look at what He does, learning how He helps us and why Jesus said it was to our advantage that He go away and the Holy Spirit comes (John 15:7). Paul tells us the Spirit helps in our prayers.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Romans 8:26

This verse (like much of Paul’s writing) is dense. So let’s look at the pieces and grasp what Paul is telling about our prayers and the Spirit’s work in them..

We are weak – This is not news, but it is important to keep that squarely in mind when we pray. We should not presume to stride into God’s presence with a to-do list and a deadline for Him. We need the Spirit’s help to pray. Here’s an analogy. Have you ever asked for advice or help writing a paper or a resume or even a letter? Sometimes getting feedback helps with our tone and clarity. An editor can help you trim the unnecessary parts and find more effective words to communicate.

On a much deeper level, the Spirit helps our prayers by taking our muddled, scattershot ramblings and transforming them into something the Father not only receives but gets glory from. Isn’t that our ultimate goal?

We don’t know what to pray for – We think we do. We see needs around us and we pray. But we don’t have the infinite knowledge God does. Let me give you an example. Let’s say your brother Scott’s company has announced a round of layoffs. It would be reasonable for us to pray that Scott not be one of those who loses his job. However, what we don’t know is that God has provided another opportunity for Scott which will not only be a better job, but a chance for Scott to use his gifts for God’s kingdom. So, is would actually be better for Scott get laid off from his present position. There’s not way we can know that though. That’s why we need the Spirit’s help in our prayers.

The Spirit sees your heart’s desire for Scott to be able to provide for his family. He also sees the Father’s greater purposes. So when the Spirit delivers that prayer, it is exactly what it needs to be. Unfortunately, when Scott gets laid off, our typical reaction is frustration that God didn’t answer our prayer.

In that case, we can lean on the Spirit once again, who helps with our understanding.

We don’t know how to pray – We like to simplify and strip prayer down to just talking to God, and in some sense it is. But it is very easy to turn prayer time into a gripe session or time to unload our demands. The Spirit convicts us of the sin in our hearts and prompts us to confess. The Spirit fills us with praise that spills out in our prayers. The Spirit helps us be still and listen. The Spirit disciplines us to the holy habit of prayer. The Spirit strengthens our faith in the Father we pray to. The intimacy with God that we need for effective prayer develops through the work of the Spirit in our lives.

If we are honest with ourselves, we will admit, like Paul, we don’t know what we are doing when we pray. It is an inscrutable wonder that we in our profound lowliness have access to the infinite, holy Creator King. When it comes to prayer, we need the Spirit to do the heavy lifting. He intercedes for us. He is the go-between taking our immature, limited, self-centered prayers and delivering to the Father the petitions that honor Him.

Next time, we’ll finish up with how the Spirit helps in our worship.

The Spirit Helps in Our Witness

By Paula Wiseman

One way to think about helping with our witness is that it’s the other half of helping with salvation. We saw in the first post that the Holy Spirit works in the heart of the hearer. He also works in the one doing the speaking, preaching, teaching, testifying or witnessing. This fits with the Spirit’s purpose of bringing glory to Christ. After all, someone coming to Jesus for salvation brings Him glory.

The Spirit helps our witness in a at least three ways.

The Spirit gives us clarity.

Paul explains, “We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people” (1 Corinthians 2:13). When the truths of God–especially the gospel–are delivered in a way that they connect with the hearers, the Spirit is at work. We see examples in the early church like Stephen in Acts 6. He made his case for Christ’s messiahship so strongly, it was irrefutable. They didn’t believe but they couldn’t argue with any of the truth Stephen presented. Another example was Philip in Acts 8 who was able to clearly trace the gospel through the eunuch’s reading in Isaiah.

In the same way, the Spirit can help us with just the right word or example when we need it. (This is not to say we should be lazy or unprepared.) But we shouldn’t be afraid to speak up when an opportunity arises. We’ll come back to this in just a moment.

The Spirit gives us power.

We shouldn’t conflate that Spirit-given clarity with just gifted oratory. We’ve all heard captivating speakers or even storytellers. But when we witness for Christ, there’s more going on. Even the Apostle Paul experienced it. “My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:4).

When we witness, people will never be convinced or persuaded solely because of the compelling argument we make. The words have power because the Holy Spirit’s power infuses them.

The Spirit gives us the opportunity.

“When the Counselor comes, the one I will send to you from the Father — the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father — he will testify about me. You also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning” (John 15:26-27). The Spirit is at work in and through our encounters with others. He prepares the hearts of the hears and then once the prep work is done He moves us to speak.

Because of this we can have confidence when the Spirit nudges us to tell our story. Now this doesn’t mean that if a conversation doesn’t end with someone professing faith in Christ that the Spirit wasn’t in it, or we spoke out of turn. It means our job was to plant a seed, or even water it. Someone else will be there to see the fruit. We never have to feel pressure to “close the deal” when we tell someone about Jesus. Our responsibility is to be obedient and faithful. The Spirit is responsible for the results.

Let’s resolve to take the opportunities and speak what the Spirit gives us to say in His clarity and power.

The Spirit Helps in Our Walk

By Paula Wiseman

The Holy Spirit plays an active role in the lives of believers from salvation to glorification. Sometimes, it’s not always evident or clear what that role is. We are taking a closer look at what He does, how He helps us and why Jesus said it was to our advantage that He go away and the Holy Spirit comes (John 15:7). This week we’ll look at how the Holy Spirit helps in our walk.

Our walk is kind of shorthand for saying the way we conduct ourselves on a regular basis. For instance, I study pretty much every day as part of my regular routine. I run as a regular part of my routine. Those kinds of things make up part of your walk. The other part is your character. So your walk is who you are and what you do on the regular. How does the Spirit help in our walk?

Here’s the summary: But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).

So if we want to walk in a way that pleases God, that imitates Christ, that fulfills our purpose, we must follow the Spirit’s guidance and direction and not our own. Paul makes it very plain for the Galatians. We walk either following the Spirit or following ourselves. There is no overlap. But walking by the Spirit gives some distinct advantages.

The Spirit strengthens us.

Paul prays for his friends in Ephesus “that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit,” (Ephesians 3:16).
That strengthened inner being stands in contrast to the discouragement Paul mentions in v.13. So if we are walking more in discouragement and frustration rather than peace and power we may be following the flesh and not the Spirit.

The Spirit gifts us.

Take a look at 1 Corinthians 12. “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; … To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. … All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills” (1 Corinthians 12:4, 7, 11). While an in-depth study of spiritual gifts is way more than we can take on in one blog post, notice a few highlights.

To each. Everyone. Every single believer is given an obvious evidence of the Holy Spirit working in them.

For the common good. Not to make ourselves look good or to amass power and influence but to build up the body of Christ

Empowered and apportioned as HE wills. The Spirit determines what is best.
So if we want to walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh, we need to use the gifts the Spirit has given us to accomplish what we can for the kingdom. If we fail to use them or if we use them for the wrong reasons, we are walking by the flesh.

The Spirit fills us.

Here’s more from Paul. “And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). If you have too much to drink and the police pull you over, they will likely charge you with DUI, driving under the influence. All your decisions, judgments and reactions are influenced by the alcohol in your bloodstream. Rather instructs us to live under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Live so that our decisions, our judgment and our reactions are all driven by the Spirit who lives in us. When we do the results are visible.

The Spirit bears fruit in us.

Galatians 5:22-23 gives us a familiar list of traits that are obvious in the life of someone living under the Spirit’s control. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). As our regular routine centers more and more on doing the things the Spirit wants us to do, acting more and more like the Spirit directs us to, we will see more and more love, joy, peace and the others in our lives. We’ll be known for our kindness and patience. We’ll respond more often with gentleness and self-control. Our faith and commitment will deepen.

Why? How?

“Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:24-25). Every day, as believers we have to decide whether we are going to live the way the Spirit directs us to or do what we want. We have crucified the flesh. It has no power beyond what we give it. So the Spirit helps in our walk by giving us direction, strength, and gifts to live a life that bears fruit for the kingdom.

Keep in step with the Spirit. March to the beat of His drum. Dance to His rhythm. Rely on His strength. Utilize the gifts He gave you.

Next week we’ll see how He helps our witness.

The Spirit Helps in Our Understanding

By Paula Wiseman

The Spirit Helps our understanding title graphic

The Holy Spirit plays an active role in the lives of believers from salvation to glorification. Sometimes, it’s not always evident or clear what that role is. Over the next few weeks we’ll take a closer look at what He does, how He helps us and why Jesus said it was to our advantage that He go away and the Holy Spirit comes (John 15:7). This week we’ll look at how the Holy Spirit helps in our understanding.

If you know anything at all about God and His word, it’s because the Spirit helped you understand it. It’s that simple. Paul explains:

Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God. … But the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually (1 Corinthians 2:12, 14).

God wants us to know as much as we can about this great salvation Christ has made possible (and we learned last week that the Spirit helps accomplish). Paul’s words also help us see why things that are obvious to us just don’t click with unbelievers. They don’t have the Spirit.

How does the Spirit accomplish this? Let’s look at some specific ways mentioned in Scripture.

The Spirit teaches and reminds us.

In the Upper Room, Jesus explained to His disciples, But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you (John 14:26).

Jesus knew He was dropping a ton of new information of incredible theological significance on His guys, and He knew the trauma of His death would devastate them– and make it hard to remember any of the good stuff. His words in John 14:26 were intended to reassure them that they didn’t have to get it all that night. The Holy Spirit would help them recall not just the Upper Room revelations, but all of Jesus’s words. Not only that, He expands on what Jesus told them. You see this in the New Testament letters as Paul and Peter and John and others fill out and apply Jesus’s teachings.

The Spirit searches and reveals to us.

Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, since the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except his spirit within him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2:10-11).

God is infinite and cannot be known by finite beings such as ourselves unless He chooses to reveal Himself. The Spirit does that for us. He determines what we need to know, what we can handle, and then He makes that clear to us.

Now in our postmodern and post-postmodern thinking, meaning is assigned by the individual. In other words, I cannot know what a painter or an author meant in his work. Therefore, I ascribe whatever meaning I find which aligns with my experience and my truth. That’s not how God or His truth works. We need the Holy Spirit to help us understand, or else we’ll come up with some very wrong ideas about God.

The Spirit inspires and interprets Scripture for us.

Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21).

God’s word is not like any other collected writings. The very words were superintended by the Holy Spirit, so God’s thoughts, His promises, His commands were properly communicated to us. Then God goes one step further and ensures the Holy Spirit interprets those words for us as well.

In fact, Hebrews 3:7-16 gives an example of how that works. The writer takes some Old Testament verses from Psalm 95, rightly attributes the authorship to the Holy Spirit and then interprets and applies them for the readers. The Holy Spirit repeats that process for us when we read Scripture. Sometimes that happens instantaneously. Sometimes it takes more prayer, study, and patience. But it’s always the Spirit’s work.

Now you know what you know is all because of the Holy Spirit helps our understanding!

Next week we’ll see how the Spirit helps our walk.

The Spirit Helps in Our Salvation

By Paula Wiseman

The Holy Spirit plays an active role in the lives of believers from salvation to glorification. Sometimes, it’s not always evident or clear what that role is. Over the next few weeks we’ll take a closer look at what the Spirit does, how He helps us and why Jesus said it was to our advantage that He go away and the Holy Spirit comes. (John 15:7) How does the Spirit help in our salvation? The short answer is:

The Spirit accomplishes our salvation.

We rightly focus on the work that Jesus did on the cross. His willingness to die in our place resulted in God’s highest exultation (Phil 2:5-8). But without our regeneration, our rebirth, that sacrifice doesn’t help us. It is the Spirit who regenerates us. Jesus told Nicodemus as much.

Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:5-8).

We can’t give physical birth to ourselves. But once we are born, we are part of the physical world. Likewise, we cannot cause ourselves to be born again. The Holy Spirit does that, and once He does, we become part of the the Kingdom of God.

Jesus doesn’t just save us and drop us. A second way the Spirit helps in our salvation:

The Holy Spirit indwells us after salvation.

Paul drops some dense doctrine about the Holy Spirit in Romans 8. It is worth a long slow read. However, we’ll focus on just a few verses.

You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. Now if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you (Romans 8:9-11).

There is an inseparable connection between new life, eternal life that is, and the Holy Spirit living in us. You cannot have one without the other.

One final, critical way the Spirit helps in our salvation:

The Holy Spirit seals us in our salvation.

In the first century, the seal was the sign of authenticity, that the document could be trusted. Paul uses that as a metaphor for the church at Ephesus.

In [Christ] you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed. The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:13-14).

The Holy Spirit is the guarantee that God will bring all His promises to pass. Our sins are forgiven. We will receive eternal life. We will live in heaven with Him. Not one of those promises will be rescinded or revoked. We can’t lose our salvation. We can’t lose our inheritance. And no one or nothing can strip them from us. The Holy Spirit is the seal. Nothing can overcome the Holy Spirit to undo the seal.

While it’s true that the Holy Spirit always points us to Christ, it is important to understand how active He is in our lives so we praise God for this amazing gift of the Helper He has given us. Next we’ll consider how the Spirit helps in our understanding.