Spirit IS Essential

1 Corinthians 14:15

What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.

Those who try to push their false message often misinterpret the word spirit. In the book of 1 Corinthians, you will notice spirit and Spirit seem to be interchanged; however, there is a difference between the two. Notice the capitalized “S” in Spirit. When you see this word with the capitalized “S,” it is talking about the Holy Spirit. For instance, 1 Corinthians 12:3 says,  Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Notice the Spirit is capitalized, which means it is talking about the Holy Spirit of God.

In the verse above, you see that spirit is in the lowercase, which means it is talking about your spirit. God wants our spirit involved in what we do as much as our actions. God wants obedience in action, but He also wants you to have your spirit involved with it. We have all seen children do what they are supposed to do, but they are not doing it with their spirit, but they are doing it because they have to do it. Likewise, in the Christian life, we have seen believers who do right, but they don't have their spirit involved as they do it.

Your spirit about serving God is essential to others deciding whether to follow or not to follow what you do. Have you ever visited a church that seems dead? The reason it seemed dead is because the people were there in body, but their spirit was not involved in the church services. When you left that church, you had no desire to go back because it seemed so dead. Putting your spirit into what you do for God is the advertisement to others that what you have is real. There are a few areas we ought to have our spirit involved as we serve the Lord.

First, pray with your spirit. Your prayer life should not be one that sounds like you are repeating words. There ought to be passion and energy in your prayer. This truth is emphasized in James 5:16 when it says, … The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Having your spirit involved in your prayers is essential to getting answered prayer. Luke 22:44 shows us that Jesus prayed this way: And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. There ought to be energy when you pray. Don't pray lethargically, but pray with the spirit.

Second, sing with your spirit. Every believer ought to be one who puts their spirit into singing the hymns and spiritual songs in the church congregational singing. There ought to be voices ringing aloud the songs of praise that we sing during the congregational singing. Nothing will prepare your heart and the hearts of those attending more for the preaching than singing with your spirit.

Third, you ought to bless with your spirit. Verse 16 says, Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest? Blessing with the spirit is saying a hearty “Amen” during the preaching time. The “Amen’s” in a church service affects those who are visiting the church for good. Blessing with your spirit during the preaching is essential to God’s Word making an impact on all who are listening.