In I Thessalonians 5:19, we read Paul’s simple command to the believers in Thessalonica: “Do not quench the Spirit.” It’s short, concise and certainly minces no words! The truth is, if we keep the Holy Spirit vital and active in all that we do, say, think and feel, we are certain to produce the fruit that is evidence of our salvation, and which Jesus requires of those who profess to love Him. Yet, while Paul’s instruction tells us what not to do, it begs the question: “What must we do to ‘un-quench’ the Holy Spirit?”

There is a powerful story in I Kings 18 about Elijah, prophet to Israel, and an event that transpired on Mount Carmel that proved Baal was nothing more than a false god. To make his point, Elijah called together the 850 prophets of Baal and challenged them to a competition. They were to build an altar to Baal, cut up an ox and lay it on the wood, then call upon their god to light the fire. Elijah, in turn, would do the same and whoever’s god was most successful would be the one true God.

The false prophets went through all sorts of gyrations trying to get Baal to ignite the wood and nothing worked. Eventually they gave up. Then it was Elijah’s turn. He built the altar, cut up the wood and ox, and arranged everything on top of the altar. When all was ready, he saturated the altar with water; then dug a trench surrounding it and filled even the trench with water. How much more “quenched” could a fire be? Then after he had everything in order, he cried out to God and said, “..today let it be known that You are God in Israel… answer me… that this people may know that YOU, O LORD, are God and that you have turned their hearts back again.” And God lit the fire!

There it is! When we feel lacking in the Spirit, all we have to do to “unquench” the Spirit is to cry out to our Lord and ask Him to light the fire. We can be confident that He will answer our cries so as to show us that He is God and to remind us that only He has the power to turn our hearts back to Him!