Have you been baptized with the Holy Spirit and Fire?

We can be accused of a lot of things, but we should never be accused of lacking passion for prayer. Prayer without passion is heartless. It is the fervent prayer of a righteousness man that avails much (James 5:16).

The Holy Spirit comes as fire to dwell in us. When we are baptized we are baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire (Luke 3:16). Our charge is not to drum up fire, but we can cry out to the Holy Spirit to burn away the chaff in our lives that prohibits us from cultivating a passionate, fervent prayer life. When a man is passionately bent on intimacy with Jesus through prayer and purity, he or she will attain all the powerful graces that adorn the child of God.

A Final A Final Word on Prayerless Praying and Prayerful Praying

Prayerless praying misses the heart of praying; it has no passion, faith, or investment; it carries no burden. It has no grip onto God that “will not let go”. Prayerless praying is empty; it has not life or soul, no crying or weeping. Prayerless praying is a sham and gorged in insincerity. It is a dehydrated, lackluster routine that is a demanding duty. Praying out of habit is a respectable habit; however, prayer done only by the power of habit becomes a regretful habit. This is prayerless praying.

Prayerful praying gets results with God and is full of passion and faith. It entices the warrior to battle “full-in”, holding nothing back. It takes hold of God and will not release. Prayerful praying is a mighty force on the earth; it advances God’s Kingdom. By prayerful praying faith is strengthened and the possibilities with God are apprehended; by it anything God wills is activated.

Inviting violence into your life. The decision to really pray.

If we make the purposeful choice to follow the Lord in sanctification, we draw a line in the sand with the enemy and the battle begins. You see, the enemy isn’t disturbed about the nominal Christian who seldom prays and doesn’t mature into a disciple. This person is no threat to the world Satan rules. But the disciple who prays and decides to pursue the fullness of the Lord found in sanctification poses a great threat to all the enemy stands for.

I think we take this whole issue of sanctification way too flippantly. Sanctification can be a violent process. The enemy doesn’t like it, and our flesh rails against it. There is nothing pretty about dying to yourself. Through sanctification the Spirit of God is putting His finger on every aspect of our lives that is not in concert with His purposes. Sanctification is taking everything that captures our attention on this earth and putting it through a filter that only allows those things to pass through that interest God.

Author’s Corner Interview August 8 @ 10:30 A.M.

August 8, 2017 @ 10:30 a.m. CST
KNEO Radio 91.7 FM

Clark Matthews and the Author’s Corner
Author’s Corner is sponsored by Christian bookstores and can be heard at 1:00 pm Monday through Friday on KNEO, 91.7-FM, and on kneo.org.

The listening audience is in southwest Missouri, but reaches into Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas to a population of about 500,000 people.