Summary:
Constant prayer is necessary and powerful because it allows us to deeply reflect upon our lives and ourselves. Let the Holy Spirit truly fill, change and renew us from within. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to truly sanctify us.
Am I leading a life that is aligned with how the Holy Spirit wants me to live?

Welcome to the beautiful garden of prayer. Starting our mornings with a prayer during Spiritual Meeting is a good tradition of our church. The Spiritual Meeting is really a time for us to devote our time and hearts to God and prayer. It’s also time we listen a lot to the word of God. But there are also many many prayer sessions. These prayer sessions are extended ones. So as we participate in the Spiritual Meeting, let us draw near to God with a heart that is ready to speak with Him. It is a time for reflection, a time to draw near to God, a time to set aside all the many things that drag us down in the course of our normal lives, a time of deep communication with God, a time for us to truly be refreshed in our spiritual lives to regain perspective in our lives.

Sometimes we might have this misconception: it’s called prayer for the Holy Spirit! I have already received the Holy Spirit. So this is a time that is more important for those who have not received the Holy Spirit. Of course this is a time that’s important for those of us who have yet to receive the Holy Spirit, because in our usual daily lives, we may not have so much dedicated time. The speaker hopes those who have yet to receive the Holy Spirit will devote a special time everyday just to pray for the Holy Spirit. After all, we spend a lot of time doing many other things. After all, we have many routines we are rather disciplined in following. There are also things we will drop every other thing just to do. Whether it’s to chase korean dramas, football games, read the news, scroll and scroll and scroll on social media. These are things that come so naturally to many of us. For those of us who have yet to receive the Holy Spirit, the speaker hopes we make dedicated time to devote to praying for the Holy Spirit.

But the Spiritual Meeting is a special time. The speaker hopes we seize hold of every opportunity to pray, even during the breaks. But actually these prayer sessions aren’t just for those who have yet to receive the Holy Spirit. It is equally important for all of us who have received the Holy Spirit.

2 Thess 2:13
But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth

The Bible talks about our salvation here. God has chosen us from the beginning for salvation! How? Through the sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.

We focus on the latter part of the verse. Our salvation is through the sanctification by the Spirit. So when we pray for the Holy Spirit, or even for those of us who have already received the Holy Spirit, how do we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives? Indeed many of us have received the Holy Spirit, and many of us want to receive the Holy Spirit. But why? We must seek the sanctification by the Spirit. That is one of the reasons God has given us the Holy Spirit in our lives today. Of course we believe that receiving the Holy Spirit is essential for salvation. If we do not have the Holy Spirit, we cannot be saved! The speaker hopes this is a compelling enough reason to nudge everyone of us to pray often, earnestly and relentlessly for the Holy Spirit. There are many things we feel compelled to do in this life. But sometimes in our busyness and distraction, somehow we say, “That can wait. That can wait.” But that should not be the case for the Holy Spirit. Yes, we know receiving the Holy Spirit is essential for our salvation. But it’s more than that! Receiving the Holy Spirit is evidenced by tongue speaking, but speaking in tongues in itself is not the reason why we pray for the Holy Spirit! It is because we absolutely believe it’s essential for salvation. And beyond that, we want the Holy Spirit to sanctify us in our lives. So we must constantly pray, even for those of us who have received the Holy Spirit. Have we been sanctified by the Holy Spirit? Do we lead a life that is holy? A life that is aligned with how the Holy Spirit wants us to live? That’s why when we read the epistles Paul has written to the churches, in many parts he reminds them they were like this in the past. But it should no longer be like this because you have been redeemed, you should be changed; put off your former conduct and put on the new man. This is what you were like when you were gentiles. But now you’re children of God you’re different and must be different!

We thank God the True Jesus Church has been established by the Holy Spirit. This is fundamental to the church, and this is a blessing from God. Many of us have received the Holy Spirit. Yes, indeed the truth concerning salvation has been revived and entrusted to the True Jesus Church. We thank God for that. The speaker hopes we will hold fast to this truth all the days of our lives. But that is only one part of our Christian journey. The Holy Spirit has guided us into all truth, but the Holy Spirit also wants to sanctify us in our lives. But sometimes we might lapse into a relaxed mode. We pat ourselves on the back: I know, embrace and hold on to the truth. I’ve been baptised. My feet have been washed so I have a part with Jesus. I’ve received the Holy Spirit. Partaken the Holy Communion. The blood of Christ is in me; I’ll be resurrected on the last day. I keep the Sabbath Day. I’m there on the dot. Check the attendance! I’ve never missed one. Every Saturday 2.30-4pm, I’m there. All my boxes are checked. And I’ve also received the Holy Spirit! I believe what the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of my inheritance. Guaranteed already! Check check check check check. Thank God. That is the basic standard. That is the start. But have we allowed the Holy Spirit to sanctify us? As we reflect on our lives, on how we were in the past and how we are now, have we become better? Have we become better and better and better? This is something for us to deeply reflect about.

The Holy Spirit is there to sanctify us; to make us more holy; to help us to be more spiritual and less carnal.

Titus 3:5
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit

Here again the Bible talks about our salvation. There are two aspects here. He saved us “through the washing of regeneration” - that is baptism. But the second part also says “and through the renewing of the Holy Spirit”. As the Holy Spirit sanctifies us, we must continually be renewed. Let us consider: Are we being continually renewed?

2 Cor 4:16
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

Here it once again talks about our inner man being renewed day by day. Yes indeed everyone of us is growing older and older each day. While we may look at younger people and think they grow stronger and stronger each day. Yes, perhaps for a while. Very soon it will reach the tipping point. But actually some young people are already deteriorating day by day. We often say the coffin is not only for old people, it is for dead people. Regardless, the irony of life is this: there’s a phrase that says ‘from cradle to grave’. The day we leave the cradle, we are only walking in one direction, which is towards the grave. Yes, we’re all alive today. But are we living? Or are we dying? Actually we’re living, but we’re also dying! Each day we live is each day we’ve died. That’s the sad irony of life. Unless, inside us, we’re being renewed again. Then while our outer physical life becomes more feeble, our inner spiritual life is growing stronger and stronger everyday. Stronger and stronger unto eternity. That is what really matters! That is what the Holy Spirit is given to us also to do. So that we can continue to have a very vibrant spiritual life deep inside us.

For many of us who have received the Holy Spirit, have we laid hold of this privilege that we can have? That’s why we need to pray constantly. To deeply reflect upon our lives and ourselves. Let the Holy Spirit truly fill, change and renew us from within. To strengthen our spiritual lives. To reorganise our perspectives in life. To bring to remembrance the things that the Lord has said to us. That’s what the Bible says. When the Holy Spirit is given, Jesus told His disciples, “Do not worry. I’m going. But I will come back to you. When I go, I’ll send the Comforter/Helper/Holy Spirit (the Spirit of truth). He’ll bring to remembrance all the things I say to you.” The Holy Spirit - the Spirit of truth - will guide us into all truth.
As we listen to the word of God, as we read the Bible, let these words come to start dwelling in our hearts. As we pray, let these words be truly entrenched in our hearts. Let these words through the Holy Spirit be used to reflect upon our lives. This is a necessary and very powerful way Christians should lead their lives. So prayer is not just a ritual where we just take something and repeat without knowing what we’re talking about. Prayer is not just about clocking the hour. “I must recite this 100 times!” Some people’s prayers might be that; it’s about reciting. Ours is not about reciting. Ours is about speaking to/communicating with God; about letting the Holy Spirit refresh us from the inside; about letting the Holy Spirit bring to remembrance the things Jesus has said, which are the words we have heard in sermons and read in the Bible; about seeking the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth, to renew us, so that we have the strength to really do the word of God that we read and hear.

Gal 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

These two verses talk about the fruit of the Holy Spirit. There are 9 aspects of this fruit. If the speaker were to talk about this, it would require multiple sermons. This is not his intention. But he wants to point out to us as we read these words, he wonders how many of us can rattle this off without reading. As the Holy Spirit works in our lives, we must manifest this fruit of the Spirit. These aspects of the fruit must be able to be seen. People must be able to see this Christian nature in us. When we look at a tree and see an apple, we know it’s an apple tree. When we see a durian, we know it’s a durian tree. When people taste the fruit, they say, “Ah this is an apple,” or “Ah, this is a Mao Shan Wang durian.” “It’s a good apple!” Or, “It’s a good Mao Shan Wang durian.”
When people look at us and experience us, will they say, “Ah Christian. Good Christian!” How do they know? What is the fruit?
When people interact with us, do we bring forth love? Or do we always bring forth anger and hatred? Or the opposite?
Do they see joy? Or are we always incredibly grumpy sorrowful people that complain about everything and anything? Too hot, we’re not happy. Too cold, not happy. Raining, not happy. Sunny, not happy. No joy in our lives.
For the aspect of peace - Are we always fighting with people? Quarrelling with people? Always confrontational and adversarial?
For the aspect of longsuffering or patience - Many of us are impatient with people. Some of us are impatient with people, some of us impatient with things, some are just impatient! “Tak boleh tahan” (Translation: “I can’t take it anymore”) is always on our lips. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control. These are all different aspects we can all reflect upon to become a better person.

What is praying constantly to God? What is half an hour of prayer to God? If we truly understand the power of God, and the need for God, there’s not enough time. As we pursue the Holy Spirit, yes, it’s for salvation. But it is also because we want to glorify God in this wretched life. For those of us who have received the Holy Spirit, let us not receive this grace upon the grave.