The Gift of the Holy Spirit.
"I will put my Spirit within you."--Ezek. xxxvi. 27.
Many years ago a good clergyman wrote a tiny prayer, so short that no one
could help remembering it if they once heard it. God seemed to set that
little prayer "upon wheels," so that it might run everywhere. It was
printed on large cards and hung up, and it was printed on small ones and
kept in Bibles and pocket-books. It was taught to classes and schools and
whole congregations, and now thousands upon thousands pray it constantly.
It is a prayer which must be heard, because it asks for what God has
promised to give; and it asks for this through Him whom the Father heareth
always. It is this: "O God, give me Thy Holy Spirit, for Jesus Christ's
sake. Amen." Will you not pray it too? Begin this morning, and go on, not
just _saying_ it, but _praying_ it, till you get a full answer. For you
are quite sure to get it; here is God's own promise, "I _will_ put my
Spirit within you;" and He has promised it over and over again in other
places. Perhaps you will not know at first when the answer comes. Can you
see the dew fall? No one ever saw a single drop come down, and yet as soon
as the sun rises, you see that it has come, and is sparkling all over the
fields. It came long before you saw it, falling sweetly and silently in
the twilight and in the dark. So do not fancy God is not hearing you
because you have not felt anything very sudden and wonderful. He is
hearing and answering all the time. You would not go on asking unless the
dew of His Spirit were already falling upon your heart, and teaching you
to pray. The more He gives you of His blessed Spirit, the more you will
ask for; and the more you ask, the more He will give.
"Thou gift of Jesus, now descend,
And be my Comforter and Friend;
O Holy Spirit, fill my heart,
That I from Christ may ne'er depart!
"Show me my soul all black within,
And cleanse and keep me pure within;
Oh, show me Jesus! let me rest
My heart upon His loving breast!"