The Holy Spirit comes to the lives of believers to give them His power to fulfill the mission of God. The Holy Spirit is the indispensable source of the effectiveness and fruition of ministry. The Holy Spirit empowers the believer to bear witness to Jesus Christ and the power of the resurrection.

When God calls His servants to preach His message, He empowers them with His Spirit. God guarantees those He calls that they will have His Spirit to face the challenges of ministry. The Holy Spirit descends to give them their power to preach the good news of the kingdom of God.

The apostles and disciples who received the promise of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost saw the supernatural power as Peter gave his first message: “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed” (Acts 4:8-10).

“Our generation is rapidly losing its grip upon the supernatural; and as a consequence the pulpit is rapidly dropping to the level of the platform. And this decline is due, we believe, more than anything else, to an ignoring of the Holy Spirit as the supreme inspirer of preaching” (Wesley I. Duewel, Ablaze for God, 1989).

Prayer for the week:

Holy Spirit, fill me with Your power and Your anointing for the proclamation of the Word of God. Amen.

Roberto Hodgson is Multicultural Ministries Director for the Church of the Nazarene.

Written for devotions with Holiness Today.

Please note: All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of original publication but may have since changed.