Fill in the Blank

This is Briana -

The night I met Eunice, from the local christian bookstore, I was picking up Forgotten God by Francis Chan. Earlier in the day, I called to find out if she carried it, trying ever so hard to live like the Clarionites and shop local. It was not in stock and then we hung up. Of course, my next thought was to try Walmart (the big bad chain store).

A few minutes later, I got a call back, it was Eunice. She was so kind to call me back via caller-id & decide to make a trip to pick up a load of books just so I could have the book that day. She told me I sounded desperate on the phone (I don't remember being desperate, but my craving for MORE understanding of the Holy Spirit might be described that way... so maybe it was discernment).

The conversation we had in her little store past 8pm, way past closing time was God appointed. She was so broken for the students who are filling their lives with, in her words: tattoo parlors and beer, she was brought to tears. 

Oh God, that we would ALL be brought to tears by the brokenness in this world. It's not about those individual sins... or even that those individual things in and of themselves ARE sin. It's about this: 
What are we FILLED with? ____________
The answer is one or the other. Sin or Spirit.

One of the chapters challenges reading quite a few scriptures in order to gain a better view of who the Holy Spirit really is. I tend to think of Him as POWER, and He is described that way in the Bible. But, after this small activity, my view was expanded. Here is my list, and this is NOT all inclusive.

Tell me, do you regularly think of the Holy Spirit as being these things IN YOU?

Power
Boldness
Freedom
Peace
Life
Help
Intercessor
Hope
Wisdom
Understanding
Truth
Justification
Faithfulness
Fruit
Patience
Kindness
Gentleness
Goodness
Love
Joy
Self Control
Transformation
Strength

Below is a prayer offered at the very end of the book. I'm not a huge fan of written prayers, but he writes it in a way that it can cut to the very heart of what we need to be praying... I know I do. I felt that I should share it with you, so here it is.

Spirit, we know that we have done wrong by You. Please forgive us for grieving, resisting, and quenching You. We have resisted You through sin, through our rebellion, and through our hardness of heart. At times, we have been spiritually blind. At other times, we knew what You wanted us to do, but we chose to ignore Your promptings. Yet this is not how we WANT to live now.

We need You to change us. Only trough You can we truly worship. Spirit of the Lord, You are the one who brings us to a place where we can worship. You are the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of holiness, the Spirit of life. Thank You for the truth, the holiness, and the life You give us.

We need Your wisdom and understanding as we seek to live this life. Keep us from disbelief, from fear. We need Your strength to help us do what you are asking us to do and to live how You are asking us to live. Speak loudly and drown out the other voices calling us to conform to the patterns of this world.

You are the Spirit of self-control and love. Give us the self-control needed to deny our flesh and follow You. Give us a love strong enough to motivate courageous action. Manifest Yourself through us that we may serve and love Your bride, the church, and You do.

Come, Holy Spirit, come. We don’t know exactly what that means and looks like for each of us yet, in the particular places You’ve called us to inhabit. But, nonetheless, whatever it means, we ask for Your presence. Come, Holy Spirit, come.

~Prayer by Francis Chan, Forgotten God