Sweet, Sweet Spirit

Galatians 5:25 (NIV) —

‘Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.’

Doris Akers was a mixed-race, African American gospel music composer, arranger and singer and has been described as 'one of the most ‘underrated gospel composers of the 20th century.'* 

On one Sunday in 1962, Doris stopped her choir at Sky Pilot Church in LA from going onstage because she felt that they had not prayed enough to be fully prepared to lead worship. Although they had already prayed once, this second wave of prayer felt different, and Doris started to wonder how she could possibly stop such a wonderful and intimate time of prayer to start the service. In the end she said: ‘I hate to leave this room and I know you hate to leave, but you know we have to go and do the service. But there’s such a sweet, sweet Spirit in this place.’ Then and there, the gospel hymn ‘Sweet, Sweet Spirit’, was born. **

Imagine if the same thing happened each time we prayed? Imagine being so caught up in the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit that it was hard to leave that moment? So often we are rushing to the next thing whether that be the start of a church service or to get out of the door in the morning. But what if we committed to being more expectant that the presence of the Holy Spirit would change the atmosphere in our homes, workplaces, public spaces and quiet times? What if we were so in tune with the Spirit that we could instantly perceive what the Spirit was doing at any given moment? What if walking step by step with the Spirit meant that we could sing the words of Doris Akers's hymn and mean every word: ‘There’s a sweet, sweet Spirit in this place, and I know that it’s the Spirit of the Lord.’ 

Google/YouTube Sweet, Sweet Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill and guide you…perhaps take note of any moments throughout the day where you saw the Holy Spirit moving.

*Uncloudy days: the gospel music encyclopaedia, Bil Carpenter (2005)

**Not ready to go in,’ Stories Behind Popular Songs and Hymns, Lindsay Terry (1990)