As Jesus neared the time of His death, He frequently referred to the Helper He would be sending. The Holy Spirit was promised to enable and instruct believers. Often called the Comforter, or Parakletos in Greek, He is the one who comes to stand by us and assist in whatever God calls us to do.
One of the Holy Spirit's most significant responsibilities is to be our Helper in prayer. The burden we feel to pray comes from Him. He knows about temptations lurking ahead or harsh experiences that may befall us, so He prompts us to talk to our Father. When you sense a need to pray, the last thing you should do is ignore it. In 1 Thessalonians 5:19, we are told not to "quench the Spirit"; in other words, to ignore that divine prodding is actually a sin.
By burdening us to pray for someone else, the Holy Spirit frequently offers Christians the opportunity to participate in God's work. On many occasions, I have received calls asking if I was going through a tough time. Invariably, my caller had been praying for me at the behest of the Holy Spirit.
This burdening of our hearts to pray for ourselves or for others is a special demonstration of God's love. By calling us to prayer, He can begin the delicate work of sensitizing us to our surrounding circumstances or preparing us for a battle that He knows is coming. Listening to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and allowing ourselves to be prepared is how we display our love in return.
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Charles Frazier Stanley was born September 25, 1932, in the small town of Dry Fork, Virginia. The only child of Charley and Rebecca Stanley, Charles came into the world during a time when the entire nation felt the grip of the Great Depression. To make matters worse, just nine months later, his father Charley died at the young age of 29.
However, Charles refused to let the Great Depression or the difficulties of his life define him. Instead, like his father and grandfather before him, he clung to God’s Word and took up the mantle to preach the gospel to whoever would listen.
Dr. Stanley’s motivation is best represented by the truth found in Acts 20:24, “Life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about God's mighty kindness and love.” This is because, as he says, “It is the Word of God and the work of God that changes people’s lives.”
Dr. Stanley’s teachings can be heard weekly at First Baptist Church Atlanta, daily on “In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley” radio and television broadcasts on more than 2,800 stations around the world, on the Internet at intouch.org, through the In Touch Messenger, and in the monthly, award-winning In Touch magazine.