I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:16-18

You are not alone.  You’re not alone if you’ve felt overcome by inadequacy, exhaustion or fear.

It would be great if we could do what a woman in the New Testament did when she was overcome.  Her daughter was severely oppressed by a demon. The book of Matthew tells, “The woman came and knelt before [Jesus]… “Lord, help me!” she cried (Matthew 15:25). Jesus isn’t physically on earth today but He did send a Helper called the Holy Spirit to work on His behalf.

“I will ask the Father,” He said, “and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:16-18).

This was a brand-new way of God interacting with man. Before Jesus, the Holy Spirit would only come upon certain people who had big jobs to do—think: Moses, Aaron, Joshua or Samson. But Jesus knew that you and I would need His power to live our lives.  Every person who surrenders ownership of their life to Jesus Christ receives God’s Spirit, the Helper, to come alongside us.

Andrew Murray beautifully described our access to the power, encouragement, and wisdom that we need: “When we pray for the Spirit’s help…we…simply fall down at the Lord’s feet in our weakness.  There we will find the victory and power that comes from His love.[1]

[1] Murray, Andrew. “The Prayer Life,” Chapter 6. Google Play e-book, Simon & Schuster, Apr. 2013.