The Remembrancer (Part 2)

Last week we looked at the role of the Holy Spirit as "Remembrancer" - the One who is assigned to remind Jesus' followers of all that He has spoken. The Spirit has no memory problems! Besides that, He knows the Father and the Son perfectly, and He knows each child of God perfectly. He knows exactly what I need to hear when I need to hear it! In contrast, I forget easily and quickly when the pressures of life bear down on me. It's good news that the burden of remembering is on His shoulders and not mine.

While the weight of the responsibility for remembering the words of Jesus at the precise moment of need is on the Spirit of God, I have a small but necessary role to play in order to continually have ears to hear when the Remembrancer is wanting to remind me of something. I see the believer's role as two-fold:
1. Saturate my heart and mind with the Word of God in prayer and fasting.
2. Fellowship continually with the Holy Spirit.

I'm going to assume that the reader knows the Word of God and continues prayerfully and regularly in the Word. (If not, that needs to be established so that the Spirit has material from which to draw to remind you of in the moment of need.)

For those who are faithfully in the Word and prayer, my encouragement to you is to practice fellowshipping with the Spirit continually. One of the best ways to do this is to pray a lot in the Spirit (in tongues) if you have that gift. This is a dynamic way to be in ongoing communion with Him even while engaged in other activities. Also, talk directly with Him and ask for His help; ask Jesus regularly to fill you afresh with His Spirit.

To fellowship with the Holy Spirit means we talk often to Him as we give our heart to Him. It means we hear back from Him in a two-way dialogue. The Holy Spirit honors our part in the relationship by not forcing us to dialogue with Him, if we do not want it. He is in us a bright light that drives darkness out and overpowers the darkness of confusion, accusation and rejection (Jn. 1:5); a consuming fire that devours everything that gets in the way, like bitterness and addictions: a flowing river that connects our heart with the spontaneous movement of God’s heart (Jn. 7:37-39).

David calmed and quieted his soul. (Psa. 131:2) We need to "dial down" and listen. The fallen human soul is naturally over-active. An over-active soul keeps us out of sync with the subtle movements of the Spirit. We quiet our soul to connect with the Spirit’s whisper in our heart. It takes a while to get in sync with this (it may take weeks or months of practice).

Below are some simple suggestions for fellowshipping with the third Person of the Trinity:

As you linger in His presence, speak affectionately (intermittently saying to God, “I love You”) speak slowly, softly (not shouting at the indwelling Spirit), briefly (short phrases not paragraphs, even reducing phrases to one word) and minimally (listen twice as much as talking) with many pauses, praying with our spirit (1 Cor. 14:2) along with gentle sighing (Rom. 8:26). “Less is more” in terms of amount and volume of speaking. Take time to record thoughts and prayers so as to capture the truths He gives you.

There are phrases all through the Bible that we can use for quiet repetition so that the soul quiets down to hear the whispers of the Spirit; the following are a few from Psalm 119:
1. “Open my eyes” (vs. 18)
2. “My soul breaks with longing for Your judgments” (vs. 20)
3. “Have mercy” (vs. 58)
4. “Give me understanding (or revelation)” (vs. 73)
5. “My soul faints for you” (vs. 81)
6. “Revive me” (vs. 88, 107)
7. “I am Yours; save me” (vs. 94)

Thank You, Holy Spirit, that You are the Light and Fire and River of God; You are constantly vigilant to remind us of Jesus and His Word. Thank You that we can know You and dialogue with You and experience the grace and power that comes through communing with You and becoming increasingly acquainted with Your subtle nudges and whispers. Thank You for Your passion for the Father and for the Son - would You make Them known to us as we fellowship with You, in Jesus' name. Amen.