Ministering in the Power of the Holy Spirit

Before Jesus returned to His Father, He promised to send a Helper, a Comforter (KJV), who would dwell inside His followers and empower them for ministry:

“I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth . . . He dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17)

So important was the Holy Spirit’s coming that Jesus instructed His disciples not to leave the city or start their external ministry until He came:

“Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49)

The coming of the Holy Spirit birthed the Church, which ultimately “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). The Spirit was mentioned consistently in the early church, as seen in Acts and the epistles. Yet today, because of controversies surrounding the gifts of the Spirit, many Christians shy away from understanding His Person and work.

They think it is enough to “just focus on Jesus,” not realizing that Jesus did His ministry from a place of being filled with the Spirit’s power (Luke 4:1; 14).

The Holy Spirit’s role is to lead us to Jesus, comfort us, and conform us to His image—which includes being filled with His power.

The work that Jesus sent His followers to do requires power:

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature . . . And these signs will follow those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; speak with new tongues . . . [and] lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:15–18),

yet this is impossible in our own strength.

Yes, there are controversies about the gifts of the Spirit (such as tongues, healing, prophecy, and other manifestations), but that doesn’t mean they’re not real, valuable, and able to be walked out in wholeness.

God created the gifts. Even if some have twisted, abused, or distorted them, God has a plan to see them used in integrity, in alignment with His will.

It will take sound teaching from Scripture, as well as careful stewardship by people seeking to walk in wholeness, to show the world (and the Church) how this looks.

We must remember that the Holy Spirit is a person, the third person of the Trinity. He’s just as much God as the Father or Jesus. His will is never separate from Their’s, and He is always leading us to Them, which is our greatest desire as Christians—to know God, follow Him, and do His works.

If we are confused about the gifts, the Lord is willing to give us “the spirit of wisdom and revelation” (Ephesians 1:17). He will teach and guide us how to walk in truth, so that we shine as lights in the world.

The disciples could never have done what they did without the Holy Spirit, and we shouldn’t attempt our Christian walk apart from Him either.

The Lord will give hungry hearts the knowledge they need to minister in the Holy Spirit’s power, which can include (but is not limited to) healing, power evangelism, and words of knowledge.

Our God is good, and He gives good gifts to those that ask, seek, and knock (James 1:17; Matthew 7:7).

How can you grow in ministering in the Holy Spirit’s power?