you have to understand your main three enemies are greed pride and lust when
you give you overcome greed when you pray you overcome pride and when you
fast you overcome lust and so actually Jesus corrected these three aspects
because as a Christian when you begin to do these things what you're doing is
you're not just becoming religious you are sowing into the a relationship with
the Holy Spirit the Bible says where your treasure is there is your heart let
me give you 21st century update of that where you have your money there is your
heart that means I can pray for many hours but if my money is not where my
prayer is my heart is where my money is the Bible doesn't say where your prayer
is there is your heart Bible doesn't say where your fasting is there is your
heart where your money is there is your heart until my money shifts from the
bank account to whatever Holy Spirit wants to be Holy Spirit cannot have my
heart if he doesn't have my money in the natural when you have a lot of money you
are rich in the spiritual when you give it's when you become rich prayer is the
second thing that's very important how it strengthens our relationship with the
Holy Spirit I've learned a very very important secret to prayer it's so
simple it's unbelievably simple to have a great prayer life you have to have a
holy life if you sin during the day you will not
pray in the morning and if you pray good in the morning you will not sin during
the day and both affect each other we cannot have a good prayer if we have a
bad life and you cannot have a bad life if you have a good prayer we have to
fast one Holy Spirit leads us to do so but the problem is there are times when
the Spirit doesn't lead you have to lead the spirit you have to fast why because
your flesh always is flesh and you can't afford
there are times with Holy Spirit leads and those fastings when the Holy Spirit
is are so easy their five days or seven days or three days or one day it's so
much energy and when Holy Spirit doesn't lead you for a month not too fast
that means you just have to pick up a Bible and obey it you have to fast and
to say to sow into the Holy Spirit will be equivalent as to say when you sow
into a relationship with someone you do things so that your relationship can
grow I've been married for three years and I realize one thing about
relationship for my relationship with my wife to live i and her need to die this
is the only way a relationship will live and if we don't die and we hold on to
our own ways guess who dies relationship that's why
many marriages die because people refuse to the only way relationship can live is
when to die Jesus already did that now it's your part Jesus is death alone
cannot make the relationship thrive it's when I that's why the fasting the prayer
comes in I come and I see Jesus it's about a relationship and it's so much
about this relationship I am willing to turn my back toward everybody I'm gonna
point one more thing that helps us to grow in a relationship with the Holy
Spirit and that thing is it's what we feed ourselves with and who we walk with
see we have to understand something about spiritual hunger natural hunger
only comes when you don't eat spiritual hunger comes when you do eat when you
eat you become hungry spiritually when you don't eat you're not hungry
spiritually people get closer to the Holy Spirit because of what they read
what they listen to who they watch and who they hang out with we have to be
people who will allow other people bring us closer to the Holy Spirit do you
remember the Wiseman in the Bible the Wiseman the scripture says that they saw
a star shining and what happened they followed a star until the star
brought them to Jesus I remember being in Seattle and one preacher accused me
he said you guys are crazy about TB Joshua you guys are always you know following
it's either Bob Larson Benny Hinn always following those
preachers listen yeah we do and he said we should follow God and I was like and
we follow him too I'm like we followed them like wise men followed the star middle
worship stars but if there is a star that shines brighter I'm gonna follow it
not so I can't get to know the star so that the star can bring me to him
the stars in the world are not shining the stars God raises up shining and if
you follow them they will bring you to an encounter we're not following and
ministers whom God uses we're not worshipping stars that's a sin we follow
because we're wise we know direction that the anointing of God direction to
the Holy spirt to know God more it's not by following Hollywood stars it's by
following the men and women Elisha followed Elijah and the Spirit didn't
fall when he followed God spirit fell when he loved and worshipped God and he
says I will not leave you Elijah and the mantle fell on him
disciples didn't just lock themselves in the room they followed Jesus for three
and a half years and the Spirit came upon them Joshua follows Moses forty
years in the wilderness and Moses dies and his spirit comes upon him there is
three levels of knowing holy spirit one is when he is with you he is with you to
bring you to salvation then Holy Spirit comes to live in us at salvation to
produce character but then there's a third experience what the Bible says he
comes upon us to give us the power to do great things when he's in us
working inside of us but when his upon us he's working through us what that
means is there is a greater relationship you and I can have with Holy Spirit
prayer is not to make me a religious person fasting is not to make me very
spiritual giving is not so I can brag about it and following other preachers
is not so I can be somebody's just disciple it's so all of that could push
me to one thing so like a donkey I can be brought to Jesus and the Holy Spirit
can sit on me and the city can be changed for the glory of God