Prayer Works Morning Devotion: April 21, 2025

"Waiting On The Holy Spirit - Getting Our Hearts Ready for Pentecost"

"He Is Risen"

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Good morning, good morning everybody. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and that it was a time of reflecting and just taking it all in. I know for us as believers, if there's a very special, you know, time for all of us as we commemorate Jesus, death and resurrection.  

You know, as I was just sitting here in the morning, just going through the scriptures. You know, I just started thinking about what that Monday or what that Monday look like? The day that Jesus had risen. You know, we know what happened on the day he was crucified.  

Darkness in the land, earthquakes. You know, people saw the dead walk from their graves. And I'm just thinking about that Monday. Like, what was it? What was it like knowing that Jesus is alive now he’s back from the dead.  

And that's where we start our story. And the reason I'm talking like this is because from now on, until the day of Pentecost which is June, Sunday, June 8th. We're going to be preparing for that.  

Because that's when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit happens. That's in the book of acts. When Jesus ascended and then the Holy Spirit is poured out, so we are in a way just kind of preparing for that. We’re gonna look, from this day onwards, up until Jesus ascends.  

So that on that significant Pentecost day for us our prayer is that the Lord upholds his spirit on us. Here's why we need the Holy Spirit before we read scriptures. When you think about the life that we human existence as a whole.  

We are literally living a life that we were not meant to live. I don't mean the life of sleep, but I mean like as collectively as human beings. God never designed it to be the way it is now. Genesis 2 has a layout of how God desires how God had designed our lives to be in terms of his relationship with us.  

Adam and God they are step, what God says, Adam, do, there is no rebellion. There is no misunderstanding. There is this perfect communion that is going on between God and human beings. Adam sins in Genesis 3.  

Then God comes down and he gives instructions of how this new life because of sin we are now having to God to experience a different way of living than what he had intended for us to live. And new mental experience, pain in child labor, which meant that they were not supposed to.  

Then men are going to toil for the rest of his life on Earth, which meant that before that he was not supposed to toil. So this new life that we all begin to live through Adam is something that was not designed in the first place. But God, in his infinite wisdom he promises a Messiah.  

That I will send the Messiah who will deal with evil once and for all, and after that you will receive his spirit as a way to help you in this now new existence that we are facing. Now the Holy Spirit is essential to our existence if we are ever going to make it. We need his counsel, we need his direction.  

We need his wisdom. We need him to reveal some things to us in order to continuously solve our problems, human existence comes down to solving problems. Everything that we do comes down to solving the problems that we created.  

You are hired to solve problems. Your children as they come into your orbit, they start problems and you solve them. So with church and the Bible is a book on behavioral change from too that the Holy Spirit occupies.  

The transition from the problems to this new life that God desires for all of us to live in him. So without him, it's impossible to understand what God wants and what he desires for all of us. So it is essential for us to always recognize that we are always in need of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on us.  

So that we can get direction, instructions, illumination of the word, understanding of the word. Get prophetic words, grow the growth of the spirit in us and get his counsel on everything that we desire to do. We need him.  

So starting from today, all the way to Pentecost Sunday, with our fall of the same book of look and get an understanding and prepare our hearts. We want to prepare our hearts for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  

Because we need it, we desperately need him in these times. So let us go to Luke 24 starting from verse one and we're going to land all the way to 12. On the first day of the week, very early in the morning.  

The women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. But when they entered they did not find the body of Jesus. While they were wondering about this sudden suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.  

In their fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, why do you look for the living among the dead. He is not here. He has risen. Remember how he told you while he was still with you in Galilee.  

The son of man must be delivered over to the hands of the sinners. Be crucified and on the third day be raised again. Then they remember these words and I was looking at this passage of scriptures.  

And I asked myself how did they forget? Because this is not something that happened 15 years ago. Like, how did they forget? and I want you to remember this question I'm asking how did they forget? Because that's where we want to get to ourselves.  

When they came back this night, when they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the 11 disciples and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, the mother of James and the others with them would told this to the apostles.  

But they did not believe they did not believe the women. Because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves and he went away, wondering to himself.  

What happened? The thing that I want us today to come back, glean on and to understand is how we as believers forget important things and important instructions. Now Jesus has been telling his disciples that I'm going to be handed over, I'm going to be killed, but on the third day I'm going to come back.  

He has told this story over to them again and again. Now some had forgotten about it. Just as much as we forget about spiritual things sometimes. Then at this juncture, when the women come and told the disciples that his body is not there.  

They thought they are talking nonsense. Why are they thinking this way when he had told his disciples and when they had seen this man do what he was doing? They were doing this.  

They were forgetting and not believing because the gift of the Holy Spirit was not given. He is the spirit that searches all things and reveals them to men. So at this point in time, they don't have or they haven't received yet the gift of the spirit.  

This is showing us you and I how forgetful we could have been if the Holy Spirit was not given to us as a council. We are seeing in real time how human beings operated. How believers, Christians, people who walked with Jesus, how they operated when they did not have the gift of the Holy Spirit.  

Three days ago, four days ago they knew what was happening. Jesus told them what the plan was. In fact, he had taught others what the plan was. Yet just barely four days later they had totally forgotten and they thought this was all nonsense.  

Showing us how we as human beings, without the aid of the Holy Spirit, this is how we would function. Which also in this moment we can look or answer the question. How come when we tell people sometimes important things about this faith, they think it's nonsense? 

The reason they do that is because they do not have or were not received yet the gifts and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. These are men and women that worked with Jesus. Experience his ministry. Saw him perform miracles, saw him pray, saw him in anguish had supper with him.  

And by the way, the three of them in this group. That saw phenomenal things or the amount of transfiguration. Some saw Elijah and Moses having a meeting with Jesus. Some got the revelation that this was the Christ.  

Yet even after all that, even after all those experience they forgot. We also have attendance of forgetting spiritual moments. We have a tendance of forgetting spiritual moments. But we now have the Holy Spirit in us. That's why the scripture says he will remind you.  

He was not being reminded here. It's only after the angel says to them hey aren’t forgetting that while you are still with you in Galilee, he even gives a place where Jesus said this when he was in Galilee with you guys and she forgetting that the son of man must be delivered.  

That this is what he said to you. To the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again. Then only then do they remember.

So for us I'm reading this passage hoping that all of us will have a different perspective of how we carry our lives and our relationship with the Holy Spirit.  

Because we are seeing, because sometimes when you read these, when you read this passage of scriptures. You can't help to ask yourself like how do you they forget? Like really? How did they forget what he was telling them in three days later here he comes and how.  

Why would Peter get up and go check for himself? I mean, when you really stop and think about it, that if really this man was telling them over and over again and then when he finally does happen.  

Instead of doubting, maybe amazement could have been a better word for them, but rather Peter was like I'm getting up. I got to go and check because you're talking nonsense. Again it's because they had not received the gift of the Holy Spirit.  

You and I, we are so privileged that we have the counsel of the Holy Spirit in our ear. Communicating with us, take left, take right. Don't do that, go over here, here's what's coming. Get ready, oh here's a scripture to use in this moment.  

Let me remind you, if you read it, I'll remind you of it. Oh here is what God, Oh here the mind of God. This is what he is thinking. Let me reveal it to you. We are so privileged the most underutilized human being, the most underutilized being, not human beings, sorry the most underlying utilized being is the Holy Spirit.  

Because he is, the spirit touches all things, even the deep things of God and reveals. So there's all things. Then there is the deep things of God that he reveals to all of us. We need this Council.  

We need his counsel. It's impossible to function as a believer and as a Christian without the gift of the Holy Spirit. The futility of our lives will be so evident. In fact, it is evident as we watch those who don't carry this gift to them.  

So brothers and sisters as we get out of Easter the tendency of our culture as Americans, we are so good at preparing for things. And immediately after we are done, we move on very fast.  

But I want to charge you and I that not only have we had an incredible phenomenal preparation to Easter, read scriptures walked with Jesus understood his pathway he had serviced yesterday, credible church services all over the country.  

But I can almost guarantee you to believe put a lot of people that's done and dusted. Now we move on to the next thing until next Easter. But rather His resurrection was just the beginning of something special.  

Him coming from the dead aas awesome. But him entering our hearts and living with us. That's phenomenal. That's a gift and we ought to prepare for that. In fact, we ought to always live this way. So I want you and I as we walk, Luke 20, Luke 24 all the way to the day of Pentecost.  

And this time, brothers and sisters, we're not just doing this so we can gain an understanding. We are doing this in anticipation that on that day. That his spirit will become so evident in us.  

With you and I receiving him and getting the console that we need for some of the things that are going on right now that we don't seem to have solutions for. So let's work together in the study, Luke 24. 

And even on Sunday, Bible study we’re going to do a whole recapturing and understanding of who the Holy Spirit is, His council, understanding his gifts, understanding his fruits. So that when we get to Pentecost Sunday. We want our hearts open wide to receive something special from him.  

Our expectant hearts and us believing in faith because it's a prophetic way that was released in John. So in the last days God will pour out his spirit on all flesh. Young man, we have visions, old man, we have dreams.  

I want visions. I want godly dreams to inspire, to motivate, to encourage me. And I know you want them to inspire, to motivate, to encourage you in this journey as a believer.  

So brothers and sisters let's work with expected hearts. Wide open in anticipation for God to pour out his spirit on us. So let's prepare our hearts, our minds, our souls and then to study the gift of the Holy Spirit.  

In preparation of receiving something special from our Father. So today, as we go into this new week we are grateful, Lord for you, rising up from the ashes. We are grateful for you descending to the pits of hell to bring this good news to those who died way before your arrival. 

Such is the Father's love for humanity that you send his son to spend 3 days in hell so that he could reconnect with those he created. So we understand through that act that God, you have so much love for us as your children and your desire is to see us committed to you. 

So we are praying as we start this journey to Pentecost with expectant hearts. Knowing Lord that you have always desired to send the Council of the Holy Spirit to us to enable us to live a life of communion with you.  

So I'm praying, Lord, that as we prepare our minds, our hearts, our souls in an effort to receive, even though we know we have already received. But sometimes as your children will leak, that's why the scripture says when he was full of the Holy Spirit. Which means there are times that we are not full of the Holy Spirit.  

So we are praying, Lord, as we prepare our minds and our hearts. That on that day you are going to fill us to capacity. So we can experience what you have always desired for us to experience. Full manifestation and power of the Holy Spirit.  

Father, we thank you in advance for what you will do to raise the level of expectation in us. For on that day, we want to receive healing, insights, visions, problem solved, solutions to challenges, answers for our children.  

So we are praying for this day that's coming, believing you as we await just as much as these men and women are waited for the Holy Spirit to be poured out in Acts 1 and their lives, we forever transformed and we want our lives to be forever transformed too.  

So Father we look to the hills where our help comes from. We thank you for Easter. We thank you for rising up from the ashes so that we can rise up too.  

As we pray for our children the whole of last week, our belief, our belief is that you are going to touch every single one of them and we are praying that on the day of Pentecost just as the prophet Joel prophesied. We want your spirit to run deep in our children too. 

So help us as parents, as grandparents, to also prepare our children. Put the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday. Now as we start this week, be with us. Help us to work with expectant hearts. Help us to believe in faith that something is coming.  

So we thank you for salvation. We thank you for faith. We thank you for hope. We thank you for grace. We thank you for healing. We thank you for strength when we are weak. We thank you for insight and visions and dreams.  

As we go into this day, walk with us, continue to council us. May your spirit be evident in us as we do all that you have called us to do. We bless you, we honor you.

Now lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one for thine is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever, Amen  

Brothers and sisters let's go on and have a wonderful Monday after resurrection. May the Lord bless you, you and your families and all that you desire to do in Jesus name, Amen.