How many times did you ask God for the Holy Ghost?

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by notofworks

That's not the argument, here. We're talking about someone "trying" to "get the Holy Ghost" and coming up empty. Look, come on Mike, if we're gonna run people through the salvation wringer repeatedly, forcing them to crawl to the altar and beg for something, and get rejected by God for reason that, apparently, only He knows, we ought to, at least, have some bible for it.

That's all I'm asking. Just find some scripture for it. But you know it, and I know it, and Billy Graham, and D.L. Moody, and Billy Sunday, and Walter Martin, and Daffy Duck, knows you CAN'T. That's just the absolute bottom line.

So pray for people all you want and have the finest strategy for "Praying them through to the Holy Ghost". And EVERY SINGLE TIME they come up empty, something just happened that NEVER.....ONE TIME, took place in the bible.

Like I said, there is no scripture that shows the million and one variables that could be holding people back from receiving from God. The world could not contain the books required to show all the variables.

The fact is lack of repentance keeps people back. It did me. You can interpret that any other way that allows you to shoot that thought down, but it is only lack of repentance that keeps people back from receiving anything from God. I think it falls under the category of asking amiss. There is a state of being which does not consciously seek to sin that is required for reception of the Spirit. Do you honestly think God will give His Spirit to someone just because they ask even though they consciously want to sin?

And the reason I raised the issue of OBEDIENCE is because it is associated. Consciously seeking to sin holds one back from the Spirit and that is a matter of obedience. To know where you are coming from, do you believe obedience is necessary to receive the Holy Ghost? If so, what is the obedience?