1So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. 2 Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, 3 now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.
Dear God, I know someone who was recently baptized as an adult. I know she grew up in a Christian home where her parents did a lot of Bible lessons with her and through middle school she went to church, but I don’t know how much of that initial spiritual nourishment remained after her years of wandering away and trying to figure out her faith for herself. I know she examined other religions and toyed with the idea of not being “religious” at all, but ultimately she came back. Not to the faith of her parents, but a faith that seems to be her own. It’s not necessarily different than her parents’ faith, but it is not because of her parents that she has this faith. That’s a very good thing.
At the same time, my prayer for her is that she will crave pure spiritual milk. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will help mold her into the woman you want her to be and that, ultimately, she wants to be. It starts, I believe, with her being baptized in the Holy Spirit—having that pivotal experience of being truly transformed in you. It was eight years between my water baptism and what I consider to be the point in my life when the Holy Spirit changed me. For those who have deep spiritual walks, I think there is usually some sort of a lag. And maybe that lag can be that the Holy Spirit baptism happens before the water one. But I learned long ago that water baptism and baptism in the Holy Spirit is not the same. And I’m not talking about speaking in tongues or anything like that. I’m talking about a time of revelation and experience in relationship that is beyond description and lifechanging.
Father, I pray for this friend that she would know how to be nourished—both with milk and then how to move on to solid food. Put people around her who will be your voice and guidance. Direct her on her path. And direct me on my path as I continue to explore what I still don’t understand about you and your nature. In no way do I think I am where I need to be in my understanding of you or in my interactions with the world around me. Give me this day my daily bread.
In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen
Emails to God 