Asking for the Holy Spirit

In this passage, Christ gives us a model of prayer. He teaches we are to hallow our Father before we request of our Father. In his examples of asking (going to a friend, going to an earthly father), he uses the argument of the lesser to a greater; (1) if a persistent request succeeds with a friend, how much more can we expect God to answer as we come to Him. (2) if a child's request is granted by an earthly father, how much more will God supply the needs of his children. We can be certain that God will give us things needful and agreeable to His will. So we are instructed to ask for the Holy Spirit. If we are to ask for those right things, we need the assistance of the Holy Spirit. In this message, we look at why we should ask for the infilling of the Holy Spirit:

1. because the Spirit wars against the flesh (Gal 5:17)
2. because the Spirit puts the focus back on Christ (John 16:13-14)
3. because the Spirit reminds us of our family status (Rom 8:15)
4. because the Spirit produces good fruit in us (Eph 5:17-18, Galatians 5:22-23)
5. because the Spirt jealously desires to fill us (James 4:5-6)