Change Your World | Chapter 4 | "Holy Spirit"

In 1995, when I was 19 years old I felt compelled to transfer to Oral Roberts University after taking some of my basics at San Antonio College. I can’t say it was for some wonderful spiritual reason. In all actuality it was because I wanted to meet a Christian young lady that I could eventually call my wife. I always wanted a family like my father and grandfathers that came before me. And I had heard that the ratio of women to men was 8 to 1, so I thought to myself, “those are some pretty good odds.” And besides, I was disappointed with just about every young lady I met at San Antonio College. I just couldn’t seem to meet someone that loved God more than cursing and celebrating their hangover from the weekend before. It got so bad that I remember sitting in my 1988 red Acura Integra in the San Pedro Park parking lot crying out to God for mercy. My prayer went something like this, “God, it’s Friday and I don’t have a date. All I want is someone to go to dinner and movie with. That’s all God. Is that too much to ask?” Would you believe in that moment of lonely despair, God actually met me.

A thought begin to cross my mind, “Ted, she’s somewhere out there, so why don’t you pray for her.” The thought was probably there from the Disney song, “Somewhere Out There” by Peabo Bryson. Never the less, I’ll give the credit to the Holy Spirit because I believe it was the voice of God. So I did just that. I began praying for my future spouse. I prayed for her salvation, her safety, and for the Lord to bring her to me swiftly. And as soon as I finished praying, I opened my eyes and looked at the passenger seat next to me and it was still empty. But instead of my heart sinking with loneliness, I felt an indescribable peace. I actually felt and believed, maybe, for the first time that God had heard my prayer and was working all things out for our good. Well, needless to say, it was another lonely evening romantically, but I’m sure I probably went to play basketball with my best friend Jeremy Reus.

Fast forward to Oral Roberts University. Now it’s the second semester of the 1994-1995 school year and I’m an Information Systems major. As you can imagine, on the first day of school I’m checking out the ratios of girls to guys and sure enough it seemed to be about 8 to 1. I’ll never forget noticing an attractive olive skinned young lady in one of my computer programming classes. Its amazing how quickly my mind went to the thought, “maybe she’s the one?” The fact that we left the academic building at the same time and she held the door for me didn’t help my racing mind. I thought, “this is looking good.” Not long after that first day and some attraction, I found myself studying with her and her friend. They needed help on their programming and that was my specialty. Well this casual friendship progressed and it was getting toward the close of the semester and time for me to return to San Antonio for summer break, so I thought I better pop the question of whether we could be more than friends. So, I did what most of the stupid guys did. I invited her for a walk in the prayer garden. I guess we thought we needed all the prayers we could get while exploring our options. So I asked her, “So, we’ve been friends, but I wanted to ask you is there something more here?” And to my shock and amazement she very kindly said a big fat, “No, I just want to be friends.” Well, that was the first time any girl had told me no and I was extremely embarrassed and I regretted that I even brought up more than friendship to her.

So, I did what maybe you would have done. I got into my red Acura Integra and drove, like a bat out of hell, as fast and as far away from her as I could. But I guess because I’ve always had a gentle heart and most importantly a heart for God, all I could do was cry. I think, I called my self an idiot a time or two, as well. I was embarrassed, I was disappointed, and I was frustrated. So I went to a little neighborhood my parents had showed me when they dropped me off for school. Actually, it was the neighborhood where my parents lived when I was first born. From where I parked my car, I could see the hospital where I was born in, the house we lived in, and the pond that my parents would circle when they walked me in the stroller. It was a surreal moment, like it was always meant to be. And I did the very same thing that I did in the San Pedro Park parking lot just about a year before. I cried out to God. And again, God was faithful to comfort me through the Holy Spirit. I remember surrendering my life afresh to Jesus and asking for his good and great will to be done in my life. Now, you have to understand, this is one of those heart wrenching prayer meetings where snot is running down my face and I’m feeling the presence of God in such a powerful way. When there were no more tears to cry, I opened my eyes and it was snowing. Coming from San Antonio, I considered that a miracle. And it was a sign from God to me that He heard my prayer and was going to work my future out just fine.

Before I finish this story and tell you the good news of how it all worked out in the end, I want to assure you that this is how the Holy Spirit works. It is at times like these that we begin learning how to hear the voice of God. There’s a woman in the Bible, by the name of Hannah, who also needed a hopeful word from God. You see she had fallen into a place of discouragement. In fact, her prayers were coming from a place of great anguish and sorrow. Here’s her story. She was one of two wives married to a man by the name of Elkanah. However, to her public shame she was barren and unable to conceive a child unlike Phinehas, her counterpart. To top it off, Phinehas would regularly taunt Hannah and make fun of her because she was unable to have children.

To understand the extent of Hannah’s situation, it would be helpful for you to know what life was like in those ancient times. For a woman to be barren was considered a curse and a social embarrassment. Children were very much a part of the economics of the family. Children would provide help in farming and would care for their parents in their old age. Elkanah was permitted to divorce his barren wife, but he remained lovingly devoted to her. As unusual and as gracious as that was, it didn’t remedy Hannah’s feelings of disgrace. Not even her understanding husband could comfort her and give her the miracle of life.

Maybe you have similar areas of barrenness in your life. Areas where nothing seems to come to birth. Everywhere you look you only see death and discouragement. It could be a broken relationship, abuse, financial hardship, or some secret that has left you feeling discouraged and hopeless. Well, I’ve got great news f0r you my friend. The Holy Spirit, is able to bring dead things to life. He can bring a dead beat dad back to life, he can bring a dead end job back to life, and he can even bring wayward children back home again. He’s more than able, if you can only turn to him in prayer with a heart of faith.

This is exactly what Hannah did with fresh hope that this time things would be different. She did what I did when I was recovering from getting dumped and hoping for a girl friend that would end up making a great wife. She poured out her heart to God with deep anguish and tears. In fact, the seen was so dramatic that Eli, the priest in the temple at Shiloh, thought she was drunk. She was praying but no words were coming out of her mouth. If you haven’t experienced pain like that before, you just haven’t lived long enough yet. Nevertheless, she assured him of her soberness and he blessed her with peace and hope that God would answer her request. There was such a dramatic shift in Hannah’s heart that immediately she was no longer sad and she ended her fast with a feast. That sounds like a good sign of pregnancy. The miracle was consummated after the couple worshipped one more time at Shiloh and then returned home and slept together. the Bible says, “The Lord remembered her plea, and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, ‘I asked the Lord for him.’” (1 Samuel 1:20)

I encourage you to read the first three chapters of 1 Samuel, because the story only gets better from there. This was not a one time miracle and provision of God, but it was the birth of a new prophetic family lineage. Hannah fulfilled her promise of dedicating her only son Samuel into the service of God. She actually delivered him back to Eli the priest at about the age of three, after he was weened, to serve in the house of God. Long story short, Samuel grew in strength and wisdom and learned to hear the voice of God. He became a true Prophet in Israel that heard from God for the people. When the people’s hearts turned away from God, and they wanted a king like every other nation, he installed Saul as their first king and then he installed David as their second and greatest king.

Isn’t it amazing how God can bring dead things and dead situations back to life? You see, not only will God answer the immediate request that you are longing for, but better than that, he will teach you a lifestyle of trusting in him. He’s teaching you how to ask and depend on Him; rather than relying on your own strength, intellect, or resourcefulness. You see, if God is the one who takes care of your needs, then he becomes the center-piece of your story. However, If you’re able to make it through this life flying solo, then you’ll selfishly take all the credit for your success. Life was always meant to live in a family with your Heavenly Father, your earthly family, and your church family.

Speaking of family, on August 25, 1995, the Holy Spirit ordered my steps in the most unexpected way. I felt a leading to leave Oral Roberts University and return home to San Antonio to save money, resume serving in worship ministry at Destiny Church, and finish up my information systems degree at The University of Texas at San Antonio. In all actuality it was mainly a financial decision to save money, but in effect I was saying, “God I trust you’ll bring my wife to me.” And that was a major shift of faith in my heart. God honored my faith because on that Friday of August 25, 1995 I met my beloved wife Anna.

Several months before my best friend, Jeremy Reus, called me with excitement that he had noticed two attractive young ladies at Destiny Church back in San Antonio. I could hardly believe it, but I jokingly said, “You’ll have to introduce me when I’m back for the summer break.” Well, needless to say, I had been back all summer and he never mentioned the girls and I forgot to ask. It wasn’t until that Friday evening, after we had finished playing some one on one basketball, that he brought up the young ladies. Jeremy said, “Do you remember the King sisters I told you about?” I said, “Yea, you mean the two attractive young ladies that I’m starting to believe don’t exist? I’ve been back all summer and I haven’t noticed them.” Jeremy quickly shot back, “Dude, they really exist and I’ll get on the phone right now and ask them to go out on a date with us.” I said, “I bet you $5 dollars you don’t have the guts to do that.” Well, to my surprise Jeremy bit the bullet and set it all up. The next thing you know, we were sitting across the table from Anna and Erica King for dinner and then we went to see the movie, “The First Knight.” And I tell you, I knew from that night on, Anna was the woman of my dreams.

Isn’t it interesting how I cried out to God on a Friday, almost a year before, for a girlfriend who would eventually become my wife and how on a Friday I eventually met Anna. This is one of many, hallmark stories of faith in my life. Stories where the Holy Spirit was guiding me and leading me every step of the way. The companion song to this chapter called “Holy Spirit” says:

Holy Spirit, You are welcomed here
Move in our lives, so our hearts will change
For we need to know, Your love and grace
And we want to see, Your power
So that we will know, You more
We want to know You more

We give you our lives, as a living sacrifice
Of praises to Your name
Let our actions speak, louder than our words
So the world, will see you through them

And they will come to know the glory of the Lord
And they will serve Him all their days
And they will come to find, rest in the Lord
And the world will see You through them
As Almighty God, Almighty God

I am sure you have heard it said, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” The snapshots of the stories of our lives testify to the faithfulness of God. In the beginning the Holy Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters. (Genesis 1:2) And everywhere else, in all of creation and throughout your life, the Holy Spirit has been eager to bring about the good will of God in your life and in the lives of all those he’s ordained for you to impact. We see this in the life of Jesus and then we continue to see it in his spiritual family, called the early church.

It’s imperative that you understand early on as a new believer and also as a growing believer that Jesus has become your Savior, your Lord, and your example. Jesus is your Savior in that he is uniquely qualified as the sinless Son of God who took away your sins and the sins of the world. Jesus saved you from the judgement of hell into the rewards of an abundant life here and now and an eternal life one day in heaven. In addition to that, Jesus is your Lord and is worthy of your all out devotion. Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Creator and Ruler of all things and is the One who has provided “everything you need for living a godly life.” (2 Peter 1:3) And Jesus is your example in how he spoke and acted because of the power of the Holy Spirit that came upon him at his water baptism and because of the power of the Holy Spirit that can come upon you. It is evident that Jesus was different when he went back into the Nazareth Synagogue, he grew up in, after he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus opened the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah and read:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” (Luke 4:18-19)

All of Jesus’ local family and friends were amazed at the authoritative and gracious way that he was now speaking. So much so that they said, “How can this be? Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” (Luke 4:22) He was a man on a mission to set people free from sin and sickness and to bring them into the Father’s favor. This was only the stellar start of Jesus’ ministry. Within the next three years leading up to — his sacrificial death, sad burial, and glorious resurrection — Jesus performed many supernatural things to reveal the love and favor of God. Throughout the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John you can read an historically accurate account of the miracles of Jesus. You will see the power of the Holy Spirit flowing through Jesus to heal the sick, deliver people of demons, open blind eyes, open deaf ears, cause the crippled to walk, calm storms, raise the dead, and even more unusual miracles. When the Apostle Peter was sharing the good news with Cornelius’ non-Jewish family he shared this about Jesus’ ministry, “And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” (Acts 10:38) Later within the same conversation, this entire un-churched Gentile family was baptized in the Holy Spirit just like Jesus. They began to speak in an unknown language that we learn from other accounts in the Bible is the gift of Tongues. Cornelius and his family hadn’t even been water baptized yet and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. Let me just say, God can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, in whatever order he wants to do it. And this is what we see in Jesus’ ministry and throughout the book of Acts. We see Jesus establishing the kingdom of God, or the rule and reign of God in the hearts of believers, from the time he was filled with the Holy Spirit.

We see Jesus bringing to pass the prayer he prayed to his Heavenly Father when he said, “Let your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10) We clearly discover the Heavenly Fathers desire that people would be rescued from the destructiveness of their sins, but also begin to experience the health of heaven. Yes the miracles of Jesus and the early church were signs and wonders that pointed to Jesus’ divinity, but they were also God restoring the health and eternal life that was lost in the Garden of Eden. If you are going to “Change Your World” you are going to need every tool at your disposal to bring all of God’s goodness to bear in people’s lives. When Jesus preached entrance into the kingdom of God though faith he also prayed for the sick and needy in faith believing they would be healed and many were. When the early church leaders such as: Peter, Paul, and Phillip prayed for the sick and needy in faith believing many more were healed after Jesus had ascended to heaven. So my point is, if Jesus saw supernatural results, if the early church saw supernatural results, then you should expect supernatural results when you pray for yourself and others. I have heard people ask the obvious question, “What if God doesn’t heal the person I pray for?” I like the answer I heard a minister give, “What if God does heal the person?” If God does heal the person, a revival and a move of the Spirit could break out to “Change Your World” like never before.

The Bible is dominated by supernatural stories where God honored believers bold prayers of faith, like Hannah’s bold prayer of faith for a child that would be a world changer in his day. Let me encourage you to be like Jesus and the faith-filled people of the Bible who experienced the power of the Holy Spirit. In fact, as we close this chapter, I want you to make a list of all the experiences you’ve had with the Holy Spirit in your life. To help trigger these godly memories, I’m going to list all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit found in the Scriptures with some references for you to go explore them in more depth.