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The Amish Voice 5

may have been because He is most often

numbered as the third person in the line

up.

Like most families in our community, we

read our morning and evening prayers

from a book, written by our forefathers.

The German words, which were often

difficult to understand, were spoken

directly to the Father. And just like our

church services, family prayer times

seemed mostly boring and had little to no

impact on my life. It was not until later in

life, after I was born of the Spirit, that I

realized the missing ingredient in many

of our church services and family prayer

times. It was the Holy Spirit and His

power. I did not know that the Holy

Spirit took Jesus’ place at the end of

Jesus’ ministry. I did not know that the

Holy Spirit played a very active role in

one’s second birth. I did not know that

the Holy Spirit dwelt in the body of the

believer, empowering and equipping the

believer to overcome sin and lead him in

all truth.

It was not until I became a born-again

believer that I began to see my desperate

need to understand who this Holy Spirit

is and how He plays a huge role in my

daily life as a Christian. After much

seeking and praying, the Scriptures began

to open up to me like never before.

Real prayer in the Spirit is getting with

God and speaking from your heart, from

the deepest parts of your soul, and not

reading from a prayer book.

Praying

always with all prayer and supplication

in the Spirit

(Ephesians 6:18).

But ye,

beloved, building up yourselves on your

most holy faith,

praying in the Holy

Ghost

(Jude 20).

Christians—those who have been born of

the Spirit—have been given divine and

supernatural power from above. You can

feel the holy presence of God when you

are around them. Consider the following

words from Acts 4:31-33:

And when they had prayed, the place

was shaken where they were

assembled together; and they were

all filled with the Holy Ghost, and

they spake the word of God with

boldness. And the multitude of them

that believed were of one heart and

of one soul…with great power gave

the apostles witness of the

resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and

great grace was upon them all

(Acts

4:31-33).

Today, many church-going people have

given up the idea that anything like this

could ever happen in our generation. That

is the very reason it is not happening.

Church-goers do not believe! In fact, it is

my honest belief that there are two

reasons why churches in America have

never experienced Holy Ghost power and

continued revival in their midst: they

refrain from talking too much about the

Holy Spirit and His power, lest someone

in their denomination might mistake

them as being part of the health, wealth,

and prosperity crowds, and because God

has blessed America with an abundance

of financial gain, we have learned to run

churches and ministries like businesses.

In other words, why wait on the Spirit

when we have money to get the job done

our way?

As we come to the end of our study on

the Holy Spirit, let’s consider the

situation that took place in Acts chapter

8, where a man named Simon tried to buy

Holy Spirit power.

And when Simon saw that through

laying on of the apostles' hands the

Holy Ghost was given, he offered

them money, Saying, Give me also

this power, that on whomsoever I lay

hands, he may receive the Holy

Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy

money perish with thee, because thou

hast thought that the gift of God may

be purchased with money. Thou hast

neither part nor lot in this matter: for

thy heart is not right in the sight of

God

(Acts 8:18-21).

Jim Cymbala once said, “Whatever God

is doing in our world today, He is doing

through the Holy Spirit. He has no other

agent on this planet.”

PRAYER

Dear Lord, thank you for sending the

Holy Spirit to dwell in our bodies. Thank

you for the many times he has comforted

our hearts, led us in all truth, protected us

from evil, and empowered us to do the

ministry. We stand in awe!

My utmost and passionate prayer is that

You, Oh God, would use this study to

start a fire in the reader’s soul. Awake the

reader from his/her heavy slumber and

dead religion and send a Holy Ghost

revival.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

—Joe Keim

END

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The Amish

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Savannah, OH 44805

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