Quench not the Spirit

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1 Thessalonians 5:19
Quench not the Spirit.

Why do we feel such a need to be so full of ourselves that we quench God’s Holy Spirit? How do we not realize that we hinder His work? Can we be so blinded?

There was a time in church a couple years ago, when something happened and I reacted with a horrible attitude. I don’t remember what it was about, but I remember the Holy Spirit’s still small voice. “It’s your fault that I’ve been quenched.” Everything about that church service was dead. It was all my fault, and I knew it. It was an awful feeling, and one that Lord willing, I will never experience again.

Since then, I’ve been in services where it’s been obvious God has been moving. To quote a former pastor, “God shows up.” But I’ve also been in services that are so dead that it’s a struggle to even get through the song service.

I don’t want to quench the Holy Spirit. I want to be so Spirit-filled that people look at me and know there’s something different about me. I want it to be blatantly obvious that I’m a Christian. I want to walk so closely with God that people can say “ask Melody to pray about it. When she prays, God answers.”

There’s a family bluegrass group that Stephen grew up with called the Rochester Family. Their latest album has a song on it called Send the Rain (there’s a short clip of the song on that page. It’s #7 on the Following the Leader album). One of the lines in the chorus is, “Send the Holy Ghost in power.” But how can we ask God to send His Holy Spirit – how can we pray for revival – while at the very same time, we’re quenching that very same Holy Spirit?

We pray for revival, and we beg and plead for God to move in our church services. But are we truly sick and tired of the me-centered lives we’re living?

I know I am.

Lord, please send the rain. We need it. I need it.