In this exchange, Paul asks a group of new believers about their experience of the Holy Spirit. Prior to this, they had not even heard of the Holy Spirit, so how could they possibly have experienced it, they wonder. As United Methodists who profess a Wesleyan understanding of grace – prevenient grace, specifically – we have a view that the Holy Spirit was blowing in the lives of these Ephesians long before they were aware of it. The breath of the Holy Spirit warmed and softened their hearts, created a longing to be reconciled with the One who created them and the One who redeems them, and brought them to a point of belief and transformation.
That Spirit offers the same invitation to us each day. Day to day, what is your experience of the Holy Spirit? When have you sensed a softening of your heart, a conviction that something needs to change, or a change in perspective? Could that be the Holy Spirit at work in you?
Today, offer this hymn as a breath prayer: “Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me. Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.”