Fellowship With The Holy Spirit Volume 2 By Onifade Olayinka

ONIFADE OLAYINKA

Recall from volume 1 that: Fellowship with the Holy Spirit involves a strong intimacy with God; therefore, our fellowship with the Holy Spirit is very significant in our relationship with Him.

Fellowship is all about the time spent in relating, interchanging, most especially communicating with someone.

It is clearly evident and factual that the more time you spend with someone closely, the higher the chance of having a strong bond with the person, and the more intimate and familiar you become with the person. The Yoruba adage that says: “Bi ewe ba pa lara ose, a di ose”, buttresses that position.

Also, we have heard the saying that married people look alike as time goes on and in correspondence to people who act like one another just because of their close but constant relationship.

There is something called a rub-off, this is when you (we) start talking or acting like the person we are closed with, and this shows how strong and powerful fellowship is.

If we tend to act like the person we are close with, then imagine how our life will become when we decide to spend time in fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit; we will definitely become like Him (the Holy Spirit) in deeds and representation as a true child of God.

It is through our fellowship with the Holy Spirit that we experience a daily conformity to the fullness and stature of Christ.

It is in the place of Fellowship with the Holy Spirit that God’s interest becomes our interest, and what God loves becomes what we also love.

There are various means, ways or channels to which we can spend time with the Holy Spirit. And each of these ways are very significant independently. We cannot afford to replace one with the other. They all have various roles they play and the importance they carry. Hence it is given that each of these channels must be strictly adhered to and followed.

The book of Acts 6:4 says “But we will continue to devote ourselves steadfastly to prayer and the ministry of the Word”.

Starting up with one of the channels that we can use in fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit which is PRAYER.

Prayer is one of the greatest acts of fellowship with God.

Prayer is not only about asking God to solve our problems, but a communion with God. Whenever we commune in the place of prayer, we become one in everything through our conversation.

Whenever we pray, we are able to express ourselves to God and build a strong relationship with Him. The more we converse with Him, the more we build a level of intimacy with Him in fellowship.

In Luke 6:12, it says: “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God”. From this bible verse, it is stated that Jesus Christ our Lord continued all night in prayer and the reason for this is because He saw (viewed) prayer from a different perspective.

He saw prayer as a means of engaging in a conversation and discussion with God who is His Father. He saw prayer as a time to spend with His Father, telling him about His day and inquiring for His thoughts and plans for the next day.

As Christians it is very necessary for us to know that it is in the place of prayer we know the mind and intent of God concerning everything about us. And this is why we must engage in the channel of prayer effectively and consistently so as to build and enjoy the relationship we have with the God.

But it has become very difficult for believers in this generation today to engage in consistent act of prayer, mainly because they see and consider prayer as a burden. They see it as a burden because they only perceived prayer to be a warfare (that is fighting against devil and it demons), and because of this they do not enjoy prayer. They only see the need to pray when they want or need something of which is not a good attitude towards prayer, it is a wrong perception concerning prayer.

Prayer is not just limited to asking or making requests. Prayer goes beyond requests and supplications .

Prayer is COMMUNICATION, and communication is the best way of fellowship in any kind of relationship. Prayer is a dialogue between ourselves and God, the place of prayer is the place where our thoughts and feelings are conveyed.

It’s a place where we are free to express ourselves in telling the Holy Spirit everything. It’s not just about we making request but a heart to heart talk with God.

The place of prayer is a place where we make our pains and disappointments known to God, it is a place where you share with God our triumphs and successes.

The place of prayer is place where we find solace. We feel safe in the place of prayer. The Holy Spirit loves to communicate to us in the place of prayer because it is a place where He gets to express his thoughts concerning us.

When we see prayer as a means of fellowship with the Holy Spirit, we will never consider praying as a burden. Prayer becomes a fellowship when it is a dialogue, but it becomes a burden when it is a monologue (just talking to oneself).

When we perceive prayer as being a conversation with God, it gives us more joy in interceding.

Prayer should be daily, and we must not go a day without communicating to our Father and Friend. 1Thessalonians 5:17 says “pray without ceasing..”