THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

THE INTERCESSOR

The Holy Spirit goes with you as your Intercessor, but He also carries out His intercessory ministry through you, a believer. If a Christian has a problem or is in trouble, the Holy Spirit is the One who will pray for him. Does He do this by Himself? No, He doesn’t. How could God pray for you by Himself? It would be illegal for Him to do that. He prays for us only through another believer in Christ Jesus who’s filled with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not human. He doesn’t have a human body, so He works through us.To explain that with the scriptures, let’s take a look at Romans 8:26: “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself (Himself) maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” A lot of other translations use the word “weaknesses” in place of “infirmities” but it still doesn’t communicate it strongly enough. That’s why I like the J.B. Philips’ translation of this verse. It uses the word “limitations” instead of “infirmities” or “weaknesses.” When you’re talking in tongues, you don’t know what you’re saying because it’s your spirit talking. But in this case, the Bible says, the Holy Ghost Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered or as the New Revised Standard Version puts it, ‘sighs too deep for words.’ . The Bible says in Romans 8:27, “And he that searcheth the hearts(that means, He that searches the spirit of man) knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit.” ‘He that searches the heart’ is God Who knows what the mind of the Spirit is, and the Spirit knows how to make intercession for the saints according to the will of God. So, the Spirit of God intercedes for His people through other believers. He doesn’t do it all by Himself; He needs to do it through us. He heals the sick and leads men and women to Christ through us.

THE ADVOCATE

The kind of intercessor the Holy Ghost is to us is that of an advocate – a counsel for the defence. He’s our legal representative. He speaks on our behalf; He defends us. So when Jesus said, “…I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter…” He was talking about Someone Who engages our adversaries; Someone Who comes right into the middle of the heat and takes charge with us, not someone who watches us from the background as we grapple with forces and circumstances that assail us. You can never be disadvantaged anymore. When people are saying evil things about you and have judged you wrongly, don’t worry. Your Advocate will be right there. They may not give you an opportunity for defence or explanation. Your Counsel for the defence will show up at the right time. You just keep saying this: “I can never be disadvantaged. I can never be discouraged,” praise the Lord! 

THE STRENGTHENER

The Holy Spirit also ministers to you as your ‘Strengthener.’ The reason He strengthens you is so that while He’s taking His own steps to ensure that everything works out right for you, you are also participating actively in the process, since He has to function through you. If you have the Holy Ghost in your life, weakness no longer describes you. No wonder Paul said, “…when I am weak then am I strong.” In other words, when he was bruised and battered; broken down by outside factors, he was made even stronger by the power of the Holy Ghost. Have you ever felt yourself so weak and without strength that it seemed like everything was going dark. I hear that some people sometimes pass out because they have high blood pressure. Some others have a demonic experience and they pass out. The last thing they remember is their eyes shutting and they can’t tell what followed afterward. Understand this: such things are not supposed to happen to you; and if they’ve been happening to you, you can stop them by applying the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit strengthens you with might in your inner man. Bless God, the Holy Ghost is your strengthener!

THE STANDBY

The last operation of the Holy Spirit mentioned, which is so beautiful, is the word Standby: He’s your Standby. When you run out of everything – your strength, information, ideas and options – there is a standby, the Holy Spirit; and He never fails. When things fail in your life, He’ll show up. He’s your Standby. He’s like a standby generator. When you run out of the electricity and the power source shuts down, a standby generator kicks off immediately so you can continue to enjoy all the nice things of life. The Bible says it’s by the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, not another one that resembles Him. It doesn’t matter where the trouble came from. It may be from a spiritual attack or from something you ate. It makes no difference; it just doesn’t matter. When the Holy Ghost takes over, He will give life to your body. He will energize your spirit and supply you with the necessary requirements in knowledge, wisdom and understanding.

..:: FOR FURTHER STUDY ::..
ROMANS 8:27-28, ACTS 10:4, ACTS 9:4-5, 2 CORINTHIANS 5:18, LUKE 22:43, EPHESIANS 3:16, ROMANS 8:11, 2 CORINTHIANS 12:10