Check out Luke 11:5-13
“I woke up with the power out,” sings Arcade Fire. You ever wake up with power out, alarm didn’t go off, no silent hum of the AC? The presence of power makes a difference.
If you want to grow food in the ground, you have to break up the dirt. Only God and my back know how many hours I spent last summer digging my backyard with a shovel. 300 square feet. That’s some hard work.
Last week, I went out and bought a gas-powered rototiller. Now, all I have to do is walk behind it as it grinds up, mixes, and aerates the dirt. Bam, healthy soil makes healthy food. Same job as the shovel, but it happens in a mere fraction of the time, with a mere fraction of the work, and the end result is even better.
What if this is like the difference the power of the Holy Spirit makes in our lives?
The power in prayer is receiving God’s Holy Spirit.
If you could ask God for one thing, what would it be? Winning the lottery? That everybody loves you? Perfect grades? Perfect career? Perfect spouse/family? World peace? The end of poverty?
In 2 Kings 3, we’re told a story of how God spoke to King Solomon with just such a scenario. “Ask what I should give you.” And of all the things a political leader might ask for–wealth, victory over enemies, peace, long life, high ratings in the polls–Solomon asks for wisdom. And he gets it. Amazing.
In Luke chapter 11, Jesus is giving his disciples, us, a hint about what to ask God for in prayer. Did you see it? Go back to verse 1 and read through verse 13, if you need to. He gives them a scripted prayer–the Lord’s prayer–and follows it with these illustrations of a persistent neighbor and a good father, and then closes with this radical statement: “How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”
The power in prayer is receiving God’s Holy Spirit.
So when a disciple asks Jesus how to pray, the place where Jesus ultimately lands is the Holy Spirit. How does a disciple pray? A disciple prays by asking for the Holy Spirit.
When it comes to your faith, are you using a shovel or rototiller? The presence of the Holy Spirit is the power that makes a difference.
Question: Have you asked God for the Holy Spirit today? What difference might it make in your life?
Fiftyeight 
