Thursday, July 28, 2011

Prayer and the Holy Spirit

Been reading about and thinking on the power of the Holy Spirit. I spend a LOT of time dwelling on this subject. I find Him fascinating... and confusing... and complex... and on and on and on... Who is the Holy Spirit? More importantly, what is my relationship with Him?

Jesus promised to send the Helper - to be with me forever. He is the Spirit of Truth. He "dwells with you and will be in you." (See John 14:15-17) Jesus says that "the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." (John 14:25-26) Later in John 16 Jesus actually says it is to our advantage that He go away, because if He didn't go away then the Holy Spirit would not come. John 15:13 says "when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you."

No discussion of the Holy Spirit and prayer would be complete without Romans 8. Read the whole chapter! I have been thinking about 8:26-27. I take so much comfort in these verses. I am a woman who loves to pray but who can drive myself crazy over what exactly to pray about or how to pray. These verses calm my soul. The Spirit helps in my obvious weakness. He intercedes for me - with groanings too deep for words!! Can you even fathom this? I cannot. But I take comfort in this (and there again - He is my Comforter!). The Spirit prays for me. He intercedes for me according to the will of God!! The Spirit and the Father and the Son are One. They are of one mind. When the Spirit prays He knows the will of the Father. Each of His prayers are for something that the Father has already willed. Amazing!! All the times that I second guess whether I am asking for my will or the will of the Father - the Spirit, who intercedes for me, already knows the will of the Father and prays accordingly! And in the meantime, He is teaching me - reminding me of the Words of Christ - helping the Father to mold me into the image of Christ - into a person who desires the will of the Father! It is enough to make my head spin after a while. But what comfort is there in these thoughts!!

So, as I pray, the pressure is removed. I do desire to know and ask for the will of the Father. But it isn't up to me to determine the value of each request (although I am not exempt from seeking His will). The Spirit intercedes for me with the Father. The Spirit of Truth will teach me and remind me of what Jesus has said. He will guide me into all Truth and He will take what Jesus has said and declare it to me! What a blessing! I am again struck by how much of this process has NOTHING to do with me - and everything to do with the power of the Holy Spirit in me.

Friday, July 8, 2011

It's Been A While!


Well, I have missed blogging about random things from life in the Mizel home. Currently I am without a laptop - which has been an adjustment. How did we ever survive without those things? So here is a little update on the wanderings of me.

We did, in fact, survive the month of May. Victoria graduated!! And Esther turned 16. Things are changing quickly around here. But they are amazing young women and we are enjoying this phase in life. Victoria leaves for school in about one month. My brain cannot fathom the upcoming changes in store for our family.

In June Steve and I traveled to Colorado for an Acts29 conference. After the conference we got
to spend a day and a half in the Rocky Mountain National Forest. Bears and elk and bighorn sheep and waterfalls and a 17 foot snow drift in June! The continental divide - and 12,000 feet elevation. It was a perfect getaway. But I was glad to be home.

July brought one of my favorite holidays - Fourth of July! We travelled to my parent's place in Kentucky and watched fireworks over Kentucky Lake. It was beautiful. I love relaxing in the swing, looking out at their huge garden(waiting semi-patiently for the corn to gr
ow faster!), bird-watching, listening to the cows and bull frogs. I am never one to pass up an evening sitting by the fire watching the stars come out. It is one of my greatest joys as a parent to show my kiddos how to spot a shooting star or a satellite or the Milky Way. Time with my parents and sisters' families is always good.

We still have a few days of vacation left - so we will be off to Chicago. Isaac has been wanting to see that Bean for as long as I can remember! So we will take our last vacation together for a while. Then we will come home and jump back into preparing for middle school, high school, and college. Am I ready for this? I guess so. New things always scare me - but God has been so gracious to us. Can't wait to see where he is going to lead next!