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A fresh, personal visitation of the Holy Spirit is the only way to remain in the stream of God's vision. In every fresh move of the Holy Spirit there are those God uses in great ways to ignite people. They are motivated by the vision of His sweeping power.

In Acts, chapter 10, we find one of the most significant events of the early Church. It opened an entirely new dimension of God's redemption.
There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band. A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always.

He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.

And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, "What is it Lord?" And he said unto him, "Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God."
(Acts 10: 1-4)
Cornelius was a Gentile—a man without a covenant—who had a deep hunger for God. This was expressed two ways in his life: he gave alms and he prayed.

There is a deep spiritual connection between giving, praying, and a fresh moving of the Holy Spirit. God looks for those who pray and give. The significance of these two areas is that one reaches into the spiritual realm and the other into the material realm.

Through prayer, the channels of the Spirit can open to release God's anointing. Through giving, our willingness to obey links spiritual power with the material need of our lives. God honors our giving.

A Constant Memorial
Our acts of faith to pray and give serve as a constant reminder, or memorial, that we are pressing in to activate the riches of God.

Cornelius had built something before God. His prayers and giving because the vehicle God used to open His redemption to the Gentle world. Until that time the Gospel had not been spread to the Gentile population. The apostles had accepted God's redemption as being only for His chosen people: Israel.

Through his giving and praying, Cornelius paved the way for the Apostle Peter to come into a deeper revelation of God's redemption. As a result of this memorial Cornelius built, God gave Peter a vision.

He revealed to Peter that He was no longer to be isolated from the Gentiles. He instructed Peter to take the message of salvation to them. Peter acted on the direction of the Holy Spirit, journeyed to Caesarea, and found Cornelius. For the first time the power of the Holy Spirit fell on a Gentile household.

Notice that this memorial Cornelius built not only brought salvation to the Gentiles, it brought the revelation to Peter that God was no respecter of nationality. The message of redemption was for all mankind.

If you will not grow cold and discouraged, but remain a person who gives to God and prays, God will bring you into new personal dimensions in Him. If necessary, He will even speak to another person to bring it to you.

God was looking for someone to move through. Cornelius had certain qualities that separated him from others. He was devoted to God in his giving and praying. If you will give God your money and the effort and discipline to be a person of prayer, He will pass over the hard-hearted, self-serving people to move in your life.

Second Chronicles 16:9 says, "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him."

A Devoted Heart
God looks for a heart that is perfect or devoted to Him. Moffatt's translation says it this way: "he exerts his power on behalf of those who are devoted to him."

God will move for you if you will. So, with an honest and devoted heart, reach out to Him through your prayers and giving.

Begin to build your own memorial to God as you respond from your heart. The hunger for Him that stirs in your heart will do for you what it did for Cornelius: set in motion a visitation of the Holy Spirit that you will not miss.

It is not merely your intention to give and pray that brings God's move into your life. The devoted person will follow through with his intentions.

Today, as the Holy Spirit works through His people, He is infusing a renewed inner strength, a fresh vision for His plan, and enhanced revelation of His Word. He is speaking to the spirit of people, and they must hear and adhere to what He imparts.

Source: Yielding to the Holy Spirit by Dennis Burke
Excerpt permission granted by Dennis Burke Ministries

Author Biography

Dennis Burke, Ph.D.
Web site: Dennis Burke Ministries
 
Since 1979, Dennis Burke has led multitudes of believers into the biblical principles of faith, healing, love, prosperity, and righteousness. Through the Insights: the Way to a New Life magazine, books, eBooks, CDs, and mp3 resources, Dennis has brought revelation knowledge on the truths of God's Word. He has taught Christians everywhere to know God more deeply and overcome the challenges life brings through faith in God's Word.
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