While walking the path of
Christ, you should not rely only on yourself. If Jesus Christ, our Great
Benefactor, had not given us help every step of the
way, no one could have reached salvation. Even the Apostles, when left to
themselves, were unable to follow Jesus and faintheartedly dispersed. But when
on Pentecost they received help from above, they joyfully followed His path,
and then neither dangers nor difficulties nor death itself could discourage
them.
What is this help given by Jesus Christ to Christians? This help is the Grace
of the Holy Spirit. God’s grace surrounds us, and with it the Lord draws us
to Himself. All who wish can receive this help and become filled with it.
The Holy Spirit, being God, equal to the Father and the Son, is the source
of life and strength. He gives to believers wisdom,
inner peace and inspiration, not according to their merits but for Jesus
Christ’s sake. How the Holy Spirit helps us, what are His gifts, and how one
should attract His Grace will now be explained in accordance with the Holy
Scriptures.
1. When descending upon a Christian, the Holy Spirit gives him faith
and light. No one can have a true living faith without the Holy Spirit.
Even a person most learned in Scriptures is totally blind without His
enlightenment. On the other hand, the Holy Spirit can make even the lowest
simpleton wise and disclose God’s mysteries to them.
2. Descending upon a Christian, the Holy Spirit brings true love
which warms his heart. This love inspires a person to do good deeds, so that
for him there is nothing impossible or terrifying anymore. God’s commandments,
which appeared to be difficult before, now become easy. Faith and love, gifts
from the Holy Spirit, are such powerful means that the person possessing them can
easily and joyfully follow the path of Jesus Christ.
3. The Holy Spirit corrects a worldly outlook and attitude, so that a
Christian is no longer overwhelmed by the temptations of this passing world.
Gratefully using what God has bestowed, a true Christian does not become
attached to anything temporary but considers himself a
stranger in this world and wishes most of all to be in contact with God. On the
other hand, a person without the grace of the Holy Spirit, despite all his
learning and capabilities, always remains a worshiper of the world and a slave
of the flesh.
4. The Holy Spirit gives a Christian wisdom. This is illustrated very
obviously in the case of the Holy Apostles. Because of their low social
position, they were the most simple and unlearned of men. However, after the
descent of the Holy Spirit upon them on the day of Pentecost, they received
such wisdom and power of speech that even philosophers and orators could not
stand up to them. The Holy Spirit always teaches Christians what they must do,
and when and how they should act. Thus guided by the Holy Spirit, they will
always find the time and the means for the salvation of their soul. Amid all
the turmoils of the world and in spite of being busy, they will be able to
collect their inner self to be with and pray to God. A non-spiritual person, on
the other hand, cannot focus or pray sincerely, even in church.
5. The Holy Spirit gives Christians true joy and undisturbable peace.
They feel this peace and joy even during external difficulties and in times of
trial. People, on the other hand, who do not have the Holy Spirit, can never
truly rejoice or attain inner peace. When they enjoy themselves, they find
their joy is transient, frivolous and pitiful, and on occasion even sinful.
After their revelry, a boredom greater than ever before fills their heart.
Similarly, when a non-spiritual person feels tranquillity, this is not a true
spiritual peace but a sort of dozing or apathy. Woe to the people who do not
awaken in time and do not start being concerned with the salvation of their
soul! They will remain spiritually dead even while alive physically.
6. The Holy Spirit gives true humility. Even the most intelligent
people, if they do not possess the Holy Spirit, cannot know themselves well
enough, because their internal illness and spiritual poverty are hidden from
them. When they do something good or act honestly, they become haughty, look
down on others, and even judge those who in their opinion are inferior to them.
Through their own blindness, many self-satisfied
falsely righteous ones did not ask the Holy Spirit for guidance and
strengthening, and consequently, perished. The Holy Spirit always comes to
those who ask for enlightenment and help. As a bright ray of sun penetrates the
darkness, enhancing the smallest details found within, so does the Holy Spirit,
having descended upon people, disclose to them all the weakness and
wretchedness of their soul. Enlightened by the Heavenly light, Christians can
no longer boast about their good works, because they realize their soul needs
healing and complete renewal. This realization makes them more humble, and they
begin to repent and decide to live more carefully. They stop relying on
themselves and ask God for guidance and help.
7. The Holy Spirit grants true fervent prayer. Until they receive the
Holy Spirit, people cannot pray in a manner truly pleasing to God because they
cannot control their scattered thoughts and feelings. Christians in whom the
Holy Spirit resides, however, vividly feel the presence of God; their prayer
flows evenly, and they know how and for what to ask God. In this inspired
state, they can beseech God for anything, even the seemingly impossible.
This is a short list of the most needed gifts of the Holy Spirit.
In summary, it is impossible to enter the Kingdom
of Heaven or even come close to it
without the assistance of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we should implore the
Holy Spirit with all earnestness to come dwell in us
and help us, just as He helped the Holy Apostles. In order for the Holy Spirit
to be kind toward us, to descend and reside within us, it is important to know
what draws Him to us and what pushes Him away.
Jesus Christ said that the Holy Spirit blows where it wills and you hear
the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes (Jn.
3:8). This means that a person cannot force the Holy Spirit to come to him or
predict the time when He may decide to do so. You can only feel His touch when
this happens. Indeed, the book of Acts states that when the Holy Apostles and
other Christians received the gifts of the Holy Spirit, it was always
unexpectedly. He seldom descends immediately on those beseeching Him but does
so when it suits Him, as God, to do so. No one should attempt to foretell when
or what gifts, if any, he will receive or to consider himself worthy of His
descent! The Grace of the Holy Spirit is a gift of His endless mercy.
And gifts by definition are given when it suits the giver, and only those
deemed suitable by the giver.
It is the Holy Spirit Himself Who established within the Church the means of
distributing His blessings to the faithful: the Holy Mysteries and other
liturgical services. Non-Orthodox Christians are sadly mistaken when they
assert that they can always, whenever it suits them, receive the Holy Spirit
through well-known means (which are unfortunately also used during spiritual
seances and pagan mysteries). Those who dare to orchestrate these means will
not only remain empty of the divine gifts but also commit a terrible sin
against the Holy Spirit.
Anyone who considers asking the Holy Spirit for beneficial gifts must know
that these gifts are meant only for those who possess true faith.
Indeed, the Lord first of all enlightened the Apostles with the true doctrine
and then bestowed upon them the Holy Spirit. Similarly, the Apostles did not
bestow beneficial gifts upon newly baptized Christians immediately, but only
after a certain period of testing and affirmation in the true faith. That is
why the Lord called the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Truth, and His Church,
the beatified community of the faithful, is called in Scripture the pillar
and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15).
Therefore, when a Christian, humbly and obediently, has accepted Christ’s
faith in all its purity, without any corrections or misinterpretations, then
the following are the requirements to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit:
Purity of heart and chastity
Humility
Listening to the voice of God
Prayer
Self-denial
Reading the Holy Scriptures
Sacraments of the Church, especially Holy Communion
To receive gifts from the Holy Spirit, you must, first of all, cleanse your
heart of sin, self-love, and pride. The Holy Spirit always surrounds us and
wishes to fill us, but the evil nesting within us, like a wall, impedes His
path. Any sin keeps the Holy Spirit away from us, but carnal impurity and pride
are especially offensive to Him. So, if we do not want the Holy Spirit, Whom we
received in Baptism, to depart from us, or if we have pushed Him away through
our sinful life and now want Him to return, here is what we must do:
1. Cleanse yourself with repentance and sincere confession. Then shun
all sinful thoughts and wishes. In view of the terrible lewdness of
contemporary society, a Christian must protect himself from all that may
pollute his soul and keep his flesh from lustfulness. Indeed, our body was
designed to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. When a person is clean internally
and externally, the Holy Spirit settles within him. In the presence of
chastity, the only obstacle for the Holy Spirit is your pride in your
righteousness and your regard of His gifts as your just reward. If you have
unfortunately defiled yourself, then stop sinning and repent. With a contrite
heart regret that you have offended God, your most loving Father, and strive to
live with greater vigilance. Then even you will be able to receive the Holy
Spirit.
2. One of the surest ways of attracting the Holy Spirit is by humility.
Even if you are an honest, just, good, and merciful man, in a word, even though
you may have achieved much goodness, keep considering yourself as an unworthy
servant of God. Indeed, if we examine our good works more closely, we will see
that none of them are completely beyond reproach. For
example, if we give alms or help someone, how often do we add conceited,
regretful, self-interested, judgmental, or other such unkind thoughts to our
alms or help. Of course, every good deed always remains good, even when
it is imperfect. It can be likened to gold which has value even before it is
purified. But as gold becomes more precious when an experienced craftsman
purifies and works it, so let us entrust our good deeds to the Heavenly Master
that He will make them even more valuable.
Thus, if you wish your good deeds to please God, do not boast about them.
You are not the master but only an apprentice. As craftsmanship gives value to
gold, so a pure and unselfish Christian love, which stems from the Holy Spirit,
gives value to our good deeds. Everything that is done without Christian love,
i.e., without the Holy Spirit, is not yet a fully valued good deed. Without the
Holy Spirit a person remains poor and pitiful.
But humility consists not only of realizing your unworthiness but also of
bearing the various sorrows and adversities of life with patience and
without grumbling, considering them as sent or allowed by God for our
benefit. Do not say, "How unfortunate I am!" But say, "I deserve
a still greater punishment for my sins!" And ask God not so much to
deliver you from adversities as to give you patience and courage to bear them.
3. The Holy Spirit can also be received by listening attentively to the
voice of God. God speaks to us by means of the internal voice of our
conscience and through external circumstances. It is very important to develop
sensitivity in order to hear more clearly what God suggests to us. He, as a
most loving Father, cares for you. Daily He calls you to Himself, warns you and
enlightens you. For instance, are you unhappy, has someone offended you, has
misfortune befallen you, or are you ill? In these you can hear the voice of
God, calling you to repent and improve. In time of sorrow, instead of seeking
help from others or consoling yourself by frivolous distractions and
amusements, turn to God and seek guidance and help from Him alone.
Or suppose that you are prospering and living well and that everything flows
smoothly. Consider this also to be the voice of God. Here God teaches you to be
as merciful to those in need as He is merciful to you. It is dangerous and
sinful to ignore the voice of God, to remain unrepentant and unimproved during
times of hardship, to fail to thank God, or not to help others when you have
plenty. Even more ruinous is to do the opposite of that to which God is leading
us: to grumble and become embittered in difficult circumstances or to forget
God and live only for pleasure in fortunate surroundings. What might then
result is that God, after repeated teachings, will turn away from you as from a
stubborn child and will abandon you to your own desires. Then passions will
easily overcome you, your intellect and conscience will become dulled, and you
might reach a point at which you will justify even your vilest crimes as
natural and common human weakness. In order to avoid such a fall, it is
necessary to become sensitive to the voice of God in the Holy Spirit and to
follow His admonitions.
4. The Holy Spirit can be received through prayer. Prayer is the
simplest, surest, and most available means to receive the Holy Spirit. Because
we are composed of body and soul, they both should participate in prayer. The
primary elements of prayer are concentration and sincerity, which are
attained by inner effort. Nevertheless, the body should not remain uninvolved;
it can and must assist the soul in prayer by standing in reverence, making
prostrations, making the sign of the cross, raising the hands, and reading the
prayers aloud. Other favorable external conditions also help in prayer:
solitude, silence, ikons with burning lampadas before them, incense, and when
in church, church art and architecture along with soft and harmonious singing,
beautiful ceremonies, etc.
But to achieve concentration and warmth during prayer is not easy. Here,
first of all, it is important to establish a regular time for prayer (for
instance, mornings and evenings), and to develop stability and patience. You
should constantly overcome haste, distraction, indifference and insincerity. In
addition, you must strive to warm your heart with love for God. Only a sincere
prayer brings comfort and peace to the heart. Much effort is necessary in order
to learn to pray properly, and, as we well know, all the righteous ones strove
throughout their lives to learn the art of prayer. Nevertheless, your personal
effort is not enough. It is the Holy Spirit who makes our prayer to be fervent
and to come from the bottom of our heart. This was well known to the saints
who, inspired by the Holy Spirit, stood day and night in prayer in sweet
rapture, failing the while to notice the time fleeting away.
Pray even though at first your prayer may be weak and imperfect because of
your sinfulness and estrangement from God. Pray with diligence and fervor;
train yourself to be sincere in your conversation with God. Thus, little by
little you will learn to pray and will start to feel a sweet comfort. The Holy
Spirit will have mercy on you and will come and reside in you if you show
faithfulness in your efforts at prayer.
The Holy Scripture teaches: Pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17). How is this possible for people living
in a secular world? If you are to pray all the time, how then are you to
perform your other duties? The advice of perpetual prayer is directed not
toward outward but toward inner prayer. If desired, you can turn to God internally
whether you are alone or with others. Only he who does not want to pray will
not find time for prayer.
5. Fasting and works of mercy aid prayer. The Fathers of the Church
recommend: If you want your prayer to fly up to God, then give it two wings,
fasting and almsgiving.
What is fasting and why is it necessary? Fasting is a voluntary
self-restriction in food, drink, and pleasure. The purpose of fasting is to
quiet or calm and lighten the body and to make it obedient to the soul.
Overfilled flesh demands comfort and rest, disposing us to laziness, which
hinders prayer and meditation. In the manner of an unbridled servant, the
well-fed body rises up against its master, the soul, and wants to rule over it.
While fasting, you should limit not only the type of food (dairy and meat
products) but also its amount, restricting yourself to the minimal needs of the
body. Then your fasting will become useful.
While fasting outwardly you should also fast internally, restraining
your tongue from sinful, idle chatter and moderating your desires and your
anger while driving off unkind thoughts and impure fantasies. Experience shows
that there is nothing harder than to stop the wandering of thoughts and to
direct your mind to thoughts of God and prayer. This may be likened to the
taming of wild horses who have long been stubborn and
unruly.
Non-spiritual people do not even suspect how difficult it is to control the
wandering of thoughts. Being occupied with worldly affairs, they consider their
thoughts to be busy with worthwhile concerns. Only when they begin to strive
toward a spiritual life and try to reflect on spiritual topics, do they begin
to notice that their thoughts are murky. This is somewhat like the waters of a shallow
lake. As long as its surface remains undisturbed, it looks clear; but when it
is stirred, the silt from its bottom darkens the water, making it appear murky.
Likewise, in the depths of our heart there lay various passions. Like silt,
they rise and darken the soul when a Christian attempts to expose and struggle
with them. As the Holy Fathers have explained, when people turn to God, the
devil strives to darken their soul with bad thoughts and feelings in order to
confuse them and distract them from their good intentions. But do not yield to
his snares, and do not stray from the path of salvation. Remember that no one
can simultaneously think about two subjects. If you occupy
your mind with good thoughts (reading spiritual books or studying some worthwhile
subject), the bad ones will not be able to linger in your mind.
Love reveals itself in works of mercy. Among such works are to feed
the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to visit and
help the sick and the imprisoned, to give refuge to the homeless, and to be
concerned about orphans. All this should be done with sincere and unselfish
love, without any boasting or expectations of gratitude. The Savior teaches
regarding this: Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret
will Himself reward you openly (Matt. 6:3-4).
6. The Holy Spirit may be received by piously reading and listening to
the Holy Scriptures. Being the Word of God, they hold a great treasury of
spiritual enlightenment and wisdom. The Holy Scriptures are one of God’s
greatest blessings, which can be used by anyone wishing to do so. In them, the
divine wisdom is presented in such an easy, approachable manner that even the
simplest and most uneducated person can understand it. Many cases are recorded
throughout Church history and in the lives of the saints, in which the simplest
of people, while studying Holy Scripture, were enlightened, became pious, and
received abundant gifts of the Holy Spirit even while some scholars and
intelligentsia read the Holy Scripture and became confused and fell into
heresy. The difference was that while the first read it with simplicity of
heart, seeking in it spiritual direction, the second approached it with
criticism, attempting to uncover inconsistencies. Considering themselves wise
and all-knowing, these last succumbed to pride and even became false teachers.
Be aware that our small and imperfect intellect cannot encompass God’s wisdom.
God enlightens those who with a pure and kind heart turn to Him in search of
enlightenment. Therefore, in reading the Holy Scriptures,
lay aside all worldly wisdom and inquisitiveness. Submit to the word and the
will of Him who speaks to you through Holy Scripture, and beseech Jesus Christ
to enlighten you and show you the path to salvation.
There are many other books besides Holy Scripture that are beneficial for
reading: the works of the Holy Fathers, the lives of the saints, inspirational
stories, sermons, and other praiseworthy writings of Orthodox authors. From the
books available to you, read those that are based on Holy Scripture and are in
accord with the teaching of the Orthodox Church. Beware of those poisoned by
heresies and non-Christian ideas.
7. Communion is another source for receiving the Holy Spirit.
Regarding it, Jesus Christ said: He who eats My
flesh and drinks My blood, abides in Me, and I in him. (He) has eternal
life, and I will raise him up at the last day (Jn. 6:54-56). When Christians partake of Holy Communion they
unite inexplicably with Jesus Christ and start partaking of His divine life.
Therefore, you must go to Communion with faith, having cleansed your soul by
repentance, with a realization of your unworthiness, and with the hope of God’s
mercy. Since God is one and indivisible, when Christians accept Jesus Christ
into their heart, they accept the Holy Spirit and the Heavenly Father at the
same time and thus become a living temple
of God.
As witnessed in the Acts of the Apostles and other ancient Christian
writings, the faithful of the first centuries took Communion every Sunday,
which then was called the Lord’s day. Undoubtedly, because of this
constant communion with Jesus Christ, they were as "of one heart and
one soul" (Acts 4:32). My
God, what a difference there is between them and us. How many among us seldom
partake of Holy Communion, sometimes avoiding it for years!
Those who neglect to take Holy Communion do not love Jesus Christ and will
not receive the Holy Spirit, and consequently will not enter the Kingdom
of Heaven. So, for the sake of your
salvation, partake of Communion as often as possible. The Body and Blood of
Christ is a true cure for many spiritual and bodily infirmities. And who among
us is perfectly healthy? Who would not want to receive helpful relief? The Body
and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is the nourishment which sustains us on the
path to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Is it possible to complete a long and difficult journey without sustenance? The
Body and Blood of Jesus Christ is the holiness bestowed on us by Jesus Christ
Himself for our sanctification. Who would refuse to be a partaker of such
holiness? Therefore, do not be lazy in stepping up to the Chalice of Life, but
approach it with faith and fear of God.
In summary, these are the means of receiving the Holy Spirit: purity of
heart, chastity, humility, listening to the voice of God, prayer accompanied by
fasting and charity, reading Holy Scripture, meditation, and partaking of Holy
Communion. Of course, each of these individually is effective for receiving the
Holy Spirit, but it is best to resort to all of them for our salvation.
To this it is necessary to add that if we somehow fall into sin and thereby
distance ourselves from the Holy Spirit, we should not despair and think that
we have irrevocably lost all blessings, but let us quickly prostrate ourselves
before God with deep repentance and prayer, and the All-merciful Holy Spirit
will again return to us.
Return to the first page
