2.20 The correct definition of the Holy Spirit is the thinking and power of God. It works through God's word. The Bible was written by inspiration of the Holy Spirit and is therefore God's word.

Read The Bible And Let It GuideYour Prayer Requests

The sort of things we ask for in prayer will be affected by this; and we will read God's word with real reverence and fervour, knowing that this really is God's voice speaking to us, and that this really is the source of God's Holy Spirit which can work in our characters to bring about that transformation we fain would see. The wonder of the Bible, as God's very own self-revelation, will remain with us. True response to belief in the inspiration of the word is that we will truly believe (Jn. 19:35), and we will see the secrets of our heart disclosed (1 Cor. 14:25). Likewise, if we grasp the reality of the cross, the thoughts of our hearts will be revealed (Lk. 2:35). The power of basics leads to real self knowledge and self examination. If His words abide in us, we will ask what we desire and receive it, because we ask according to the will of God revealed in Scripture- and will have made His will, our will. And thus we will enter a positive upwards spiral in our prayer life with the Father.

Freedom From Guilt

The incorrect definition of the Holy Spirit as a force which uncontrollably 'zaps' a person and takes them over seems to me to be a way of avoiding taking responsibility for our own feelings and behaviours. Such an incorrect definition of the Holy Spirit deciding ever issue of life for us can lead to unrealistic and simplistic approaches to life, giving us permission to avoid life's complexities and problems. It is a form of spiritual denial which provides pat solutions to our essential struggles. When it becomes evident that it hasn't worked, the individual excuses it by saying the Spirit left them or they have fallen into sin.

" The belief in the Holy Spirit, demons, and Satan removes responsibility for behaviour from the individual and places responsibility in the realm of spirits. A much healthier belief is that you are responsible for your own behaviour. Belief in external powers which invade and control is destructive" of the human person. Likewise a belief in Holy Spirit miracles as the solution to everything, at least in the way many Pentecostals express it, suggests that the power and responsibility to act exist somewhere outside the person. This results in fuzzy ego boundaries, confusion about what is self and what is separate from self, about who we are. Beliefs in Spirit or demon possession make us feel out of control. But consider how well Jesus knew Himself. In the wilderness He could speak to the 'devil' of His own temptations. He saw how clearly divided was the flesh and spirit within Him. This perhaps is why people could become so close to Jesus- for He was close to Himself, in touch with who He really was. And this, to me, is the great practical consequence of our understanding of the devil as being a personification for our inward sinfulness and tendency to sin. We know ourselves, we separate out what is us and what isn't, to the point that Paul could write what he did in Romans 7 about the separation of the two people within him. He underst