If you contemplate God long enough, something surprising happens in the brain. Neural functioning begins to change. Different circuits become activated, while others become deactivated. New dendrites are formed, new synaptic connections are made, and the brain becomes more sensitive to subtle realms of experience. Perceptions alter, beliefs begin to change.

Our research team at the University of Pennsylvania has consistently demonstrated that… the more you think about God, the more you will alter the neural circuitry in specific parts of your brain. That is why I say, with the utmost confidence, that God can change your brain. [4]

Ellen White anticipated this research when she wrote, “The brain nerves which communicate with the entire system are the only medium through which Heaven can communicate to man and affect his inmost life.” [5]

She goes on to write, “The divine Spirit works through the faculties and powers given to men.” [6]

I am reminded of a skilled neurosurgeon who carefully touches various areas of the brain with an electrical probe to discover the boundaries of a tumor. With a small current he/she can activate thoughts, muscles, memories, emotions, and other reactions. The Spirit works in a similar way to stimulate existing pathways and lay down new ones. Scripture tells us that His neurological work will:

Bring certain thoughts to remembrance. (John 14:26)  If the Spirit is bringing things to remembrance, they must already be recorded in our brain. The Holy Spirit simply activates that memory to bring it back to our consciousness.

Fill us with joy. (Acts 13:52)

Lead us into truth. (John 14:17)

Teach us. (John 14:26)

Activate hope and peace. (Romans 15:13)

Guide our prayers. (Roman 8:26)

Here is just a partial list of areas of the brain that the Holy Spirit can impact:

Hippocampus. The hippocampus helps preserve and retrieve memories.

Amygdala. The amygdala helps coordinate responses to things in your environment, especially those that trigger an emotional response. This structure plays an important role in fear and anger.

Limbic cortex.. This part impacts mood, motivation, and judgement. [7]

I am saddened when I hear people talk about the workings of the Spirit as if they were entirely mysterious. They point to texts like 2 Timothy 1:14 where we are told that the Spirit “lives in us.” They also talk about each of us being a temple for the Holy Spirit dwell in. (1Cor 3:16-17) Then they say, “No one can know how that happens.”

Just because we do not know everything about the Spirit’s working doesn’t mean we should ignore what we do know. The Bible writers didn’t understand about the human brain and neurons and synapsis but we do. Much is at stake because, the more clearly we understand the Spirit’s working, the better we can cooperate with what He is trying to accomplish.

Misconception #4 – Setting up False Barriers

I have often heard it said that in order for the Holy Spirit to have a greater influence on my life I need to do one or more of the following:

Repent more

Desire the Spirit more

Have more faith

Have a pure heart

The biblical reality is that all of these things are, in fact, gifts from the Holy Spirit Himself. Focusing on the supposed prerequisites only turns our minds inward upon ourselves which is just the opposite of what needs to occur. Instead we can thank the Spirit that He will actively work on our behalf to bestow these gifts upon us. Ellen White reminds us, “You cannot change your heart and make yourself holy. But God promises to all this for you through Christ.” SC 51

Of course, we have to ask and give our consent, but even the desire to submit, pray, and read our Bibles comes from the Spirit. The Spirit of Prophecy offers this wonderful statement:

“You are not able, of yourself, to bring your purposes and desires and inclinations into submission to the will of God, but if you are ‘willing to be made willing,” God will accomplish the work for you.” [8]

It’s all amazing grace ministered to us by the Holy Spirit.

Misconception #5 – What Kind of Power the Spirit Brings

Before His ascension, Jesus said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 NIV)

My question is what kind of “power” is Christ talking about? I used to think that when the Holy Spirit came in power, He would turn introverts into extroverts so they could become good spiritual salesmen and frantically accost their neighbors with the gospel and the beasts.

I then thought about what the apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13: 2, “And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” What matters most, then, is the power of love. That is the greatest gift the Spirit can bestow. He even gives us Spiritual Gifts so we can each love in our own way. (1Cor 12)

The apostle underscores the central focus on Christlike caring in his iconic passage: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” (Gal 5:22-23 NKJV)

With that verse and others in mind, I now think of believers as water pipes through which the love of Christ flows, as another alternative to the image of being containers. If we imagine ourselves to be containers for the Holy Spirit, then the focus is placed on purifying ourselves so we can be holy enough to pass muster in the end-time. But becoming a water pipe creates an entirely different mindset. No longer is it only about us but ultimately about uplifting and loving the people within our sphere of influence. Jesus made that clear when He taught,

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” The verse goes on to say, “But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive.” (John 7:38-39)

Ellen White underscores this theme when she writes, “The indwelling of the Spirit will be shown by the outflowing of heavenly love. The divine fullness will flow through the consecrated human agent, to be given forth to others.” [9]

Misconception #6 – Learning Where to Put My Focus

I was taught that to have more of the Holy Spirit’s influence in my life I needed to think more about the Holy Spirit. I have since learned that that is incorrect. Biblically, in order to have more of the Spirit’s transformative power in my life I need to focus more on Jesus. The apostle Paul put it this way:

^“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory [character], are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2Cor 3:18 NIV)

Paul is telling us that the more we study the life of Christ (His “glory”) the more the Spirit can transform us to be like the Savior. There is, therefore, a direct relationship between the Holy Spirit’s activity and (1) the clarity with which we understand the character of God and (2) the extent to which we let those perceptions flow into our daily lives.   

Christ Himself declared, “He [the Spirit] will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.” (John 16:14 NIV) The Spirit’s primary work is to help us understand Christ’s ministry and teachings and change us so we can love like He loved.

That vital truth becomes clear when we compare the activity of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and the New. The Holy Spirit is certainly present in the Old Testament, but those appearances can’t hold a candle to His numerous, high-profile, manifestations in the New Testament. The difference? The life of Christ. The Old Testament understanding of God was like looking at the Grand Canyon through a hole in a wall. In the New Testament, the wall is removed. The more brightly the character God shown upon this world the more active the Spirit could be in opening minds and changing hearts.

The same concept can be seen in what happened during Pentecost in Acts 2. After Christ’s ascension, the disciples and other believers waited ten days for the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit. During that time they worshipped, confessed sins, repented, prayed, and put aside differences. [10] When the day of Pentecost finally arrived, the Spirit came upon the 120 gathered in the Upper Room in a profound, and unprecedented way.

Several years ago, I remember at least one seminar that taught that, if modern day disciples would simply gather together for several days and do what the 120 did in the upper room, we too could receive a similar outpouring of the Spirit. I strongly disagree.

There are two things that made Pentecost possible:

(1)  Christ’s sacrifice was accepted by the Father. (Acts 2:33)

(2)  The disciple’s hearts were prepared because of the time they had spent with the Savior. For them, walking with Jesus for over three years was the essential precursor. Seeing Him up close and personal, hearing His teachings, contemplating their puzzling meanings, being blown away by His compassion and grace, having Him rescue them from more than one near-death experience, chatting with the Lord around campfires and during walks from town to town, putting concerns over their own reputations in the trash, being stunned by eye-popping miracles, hugging healed lepers, making friends with people they had been taught to hate, staring up at a horrible cross, feeling like their hopes had been crushed, and being overwhelmed with joy at the impossible sight of the Resurrector raising Himself. All this was a prerequisite, an essential preparation, for the Upper Room and Pentecost. No shortcuts. No programmatic substitutes. No abbreviation of the journey.

No amount of time in prayer will substitute for immersing ourselves in the life of the Savior and learning to be like Him. We should not engage in spiritual practices in order to bring about another Pentecost. It is up to the Spirit how He acts, when He acts, who He acts upon. That needs to be left to Him.

Ellen White writes,

(1)  “There are some who, instead of wisely improving present opportunities, are idly waiting for some special season of spiritual refreshing by which their ability to enlighten others will be greatly increased. They neglect present duties and privileges, and allow their light to burn dim.” [11]

Considering this perspective, it is especially inappropriate for our denomination to pin its hopes on a future outpouring of the Spirit, the latter rain, as an excuse for current ineffectiveness, irrelevance, and neglect.

It is important to note that the conversion of 3,000 people on the day of Pentecost was not primarily the result of evangelistic preaching. It happened because of the countless seeds of caring and kindness that Christ had sown all over the region for 3 ½ years. [12]

Because of the direct relationship between knowing Christ and the activity of the Spirit, I spend most of my study time in the Gospels. I am not a fan of reading the scriptures through each year. I would rather allocate my time according to what I know will impact me and those around me the most. Therefore I spend about 60% of my time studying Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 20% in the New Testament, and 20% in the Old Testament. That’s just me. Choose your own allocation of study time. But do it for a well thought out reason, not simply force of habit.  

When I was a pastor, I used to preach from the Gospels much of the time. I remember one frustrated member approaching me after the worship service and saying, “Why do you keep focusing on the easy stuff? Don’t you know we’re living in the end-time! You should be talking to us about “meaty” topics like prophecy, and the book of Revelation with its’ time periods, and seals, and trumpets, and beasts, and all that!”

I wondered how he had gotten so mixed up. There is nothing as “meaty” in the Bible as the life of the Savior.

The apostle Paul summarizes what this article is about so well:

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Eph 3:16-19 NIV)

Notes and References: