Are you feeling dehydrated?
“But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” — John 4:14
“The Spirit is the divine empowering presence, without whom there is no real experience of life in Christ.” — Gordon Fee
Have you ever found yourself feeling lethargic, unable to focus, battling anxiety, and you have no idea why—until you suddenly realise that you haven’t drunk a single glass of water all day?
And as soon as you down a couple of glasses, you instantly feel 1,000% better?
Yeah, me too.
If our bodies need water every day, how much more our souls need to drink in the Holy Spirit through every moment of every day.
The Spirit gives life (Romans 8:11), fills us with power (Acts 1:8), teaches us the truth (John 16:13), prays for us in our weakness (Romans 8:26), pours God’s love into our hearts (Romans 5:5) and makes us flourish with all the aspects of God’s character (Galatians 5:22–23).
And yet, so often I forget to ask Him to fill me.
I so easily end up falling into the age-old trap of trying to live like Jesus in my own strength and wisdom, without relying on the Holy Spirit:
Hurtling out of the house in the mornings without spending time with Him in my Bible and in prayer.
Forgetting to ask Him to help me when I’m at work.
Scrolling on my phone during my spare moments instead of bringing myself into His presence.
Going through my days as if He wasn’t even there.
No wonder I can feel so spiritually dehydrated.
If you trust in Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9)—that can never change. But what can is whether the Holy Spirit has all of you (Romans 12:1).
Every day, we are tempted to sin against God in our self-reliance and distraction—and so every day, we must surrender every part of ourselves to Him, and ask Him to fill us afresh.
We simply can’t live for Jesus without the Holy Spirit constantly filling us and flowing out of us in all we say and do. As a river ceases to be life-giving if its constant flow of water dries up, so we cease to be fruitful for Jesus without His Spirit influencing us—literally ‘flowing into’ us—every day.
So, how do we allow the Spirit to do this?
1. Ask
“So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him” (Luke 11:13).
Every day, we need to recognise our need for the Holy Spirit, and humbly ask the Father to fill us afresh. When we wake up each morning, let’s make this our first prayer of the day: “Lord, fill me with your Spirit again today.”
2. Pray
‘Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere’ (Ephesians 6:18).
Prayer is the way we spend our lives with God. In this verse, Paul urges us to pray ‘in the Spirit’ all the time—and elsewhere, he tells us to ‘pray unceasingly’ (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Keep your conversation with the Holy Spirit open throughout your day: thank Him, worship Him, ask Him to help you.
We’re meant to not just live for Jesus, but with Him by His Spirit—and prayer is absolutely central to this.
3. Obey
‘Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives’ (Galatians 5:25).
While we can’t follow Jesus as the first disciples did when He lived on Earth, we follow His Spirit. That means immersing ourselves in God’s Word so that we can hear Him speak and know what He has called us to do, asking Him to give us the power we need to obey Him, and following His promptings to share Jesus with those around us.
Friends, let’s not allow our souls to become dehydrated.
Instead, let’s seek to be filled by the Holy Spirit and to follow His leading in every part of our lives.
Love,
Theo
