Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.
– 1 Samuel 10:6
What a verse. This is Samuel anointing Saul to be the king of Israel. And listen to what Samuel says. He says, “Saul, the Spirit of God is going to rush upon you.” What a phrase. The Spirit of God rushing on you. And the result is, you will prophesy with them. So you’ll speak God’s Word along with the people around you. That’s the result of the Spirit of God rushing upon you, you prophesying and you’ll be turned into another man. The Spirit of God rushing upon you will totally transform you.
1 Samuel 10:6 pictures the life-changing impact of the Spirit.
What a picture in 1 Samuel 10 here in the Old Testament, and this is one of those times, we just can’t leave this here in the Old Testament, we’ve got to jump over into the New Testament and realize, well, just think what Jesus said to his disciples right before he was about to ascend into Heaven. Remember what he said? Acts 1:8, “And you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” Holy Spirit’s going to rush upon you, and you will be my what? You’ll be my witnesses. Speaking the good news of my love for all the people around you in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, to the ends of the earth. You’ll prophesy, you’ll speak.
That’s exactly what Jesus was saying in Acts 1:8. And then we keep reading the New Testament. I think about 2 Corinthians 3, “The Spirit of God is in us to transform us more into the image of Jesus from one degree of glory to another.” What a picture. Turning us into another man, another woman turning us into the image of Jesus in us.
1 Samuel 10:6 pictures the Spirit’s desire to make us more like Christ.
And this is where I just want to encourage you to realize this is what is happening in your life today. As a follower of Jesus, the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit is in you. It’s not just like rushing upon you and then leaving you. He actually has rushed upon you and now, dwells in you, so that you might be turned into a totally different person and be conformed, transformed into the image of Jesus more today. That’s the Spirit’s desire in your life today, it is to transform you more and more and more into the image of Jesus. More tomorrow at this time than you are right now at this time, looking more like Jesus, thinking more like Jesus, loving more like Jesus, speaking more like Jesus.
And he wants to give you power to spread the word of Jesus to people around you. To lead people to eternal life, from eternal death to eternal life. You have the power to do that, to lead people from death to life through speaking the Word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit on you.
This verse pictures the boldness that comes from the Spirit.
So, I just want to encourage you to live in this today. What a day this is going to be. I don’t know if you’re listening to this in the morning. If you’re listening to this at night, what a day tomorrow is going to be. Just let it soak in as we pray. God, we praise you for your Holy Spirit coming to dwell in us, rushing upon us, filling us, even now, as your children, as followers of Jesus. Help us to realize that we have your Holy Spirit in us and we pray that you would transform us today. Holy Spirit, do your work in us. Make us more like Jesus today, we pray, than we were yesterday. And make us more like Jesus tomorrow than we were today.
Transform us to think more like Jesus, to desire more like Jesus, to speak more like Jesus, to act more like Jesus, to love more like Jesus. And we pray you would help us to speak your Word in the power of your Spirit. God, help us to be bold with the gospel, to share the gospel with somebody today, with your Spirit upon us. We pray that you would use our lives to lead people today from death to life.
God, help us to experience the fullness of all your designs and desires for us in your Holy Spirit today. And God, we pray this for the spread of your glory around the world.
Prayer for the Iranian People
God, we pray specifically today for Iranians in Iran and all around the world. Spread in so many different places. Including the city where I live and the man I was talking with about the gospel just recently from Iran.
God, we pray that the Gospel would spread to Iranians specifically, today. You would draw Iranians to faith in you, through Spirit-empowered witnesses in Iran, through the church in Iran. We pray that for all the places where Iranians are scattered in the world, we pray that for the church that I pastor in. Wherever there are Iranians, we pray that your church would speak your Word and the power of your Spirit in ways that draw Iranians to faith in Jesus. Oh God, we praise you for this reality, for the foretaste we read about here in 1 Samuel 10, and the reality, and fulfillment we have in our lives today. Help us to live in this, to live in the fullness of your Holy Spirit in us today. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
