Unfortunately, it is very easy (and this is the norm), after having been filled with God’s love, for it to ebb away, that one becomes lukewarm and sluggish and slacks off again; that one, without wanting to, loses one’s first love. Nevertheless, now we are extremely thankful to God because He has inspired Jude (not IscariotJude is spelled “Judas” in Norwegian) to write his very valuable letter! Among many other useful things in his short letter, he gave us what we need so we can avoid losing our fervent love for God and His commandments, for each other, and for everyone. Hallelujah!!! The recipe covers two points: 1) Build yourselves up on your most holy faith! What we believe is God’s Word. The most holy part of it is that we are called to become like Jesus to the extent that we are presented to Him holy, blameless, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, peaceful and joyful as a mature bride for Him, and that this might happen now during our time of sojourning! We must therefore nourish ourselves abundantly with all these words of faith! This produces the flame of love in our inner man. 2) In addition, it is necessary to pray in the Holy Spirit! This second point is likely what is neglected the most! And it is also possibly the point that people understand the least. It does not say to pray to God, but to pray in the Holy Spirit. According to 1 Corinthians 14:15 there are two different ways in which we can pray. One way is to pray with our understanding, and the other way is to pray with our spirit in the Holy Spirit. Both ways are correct and are prayers to God. Most prayers are prayed with one’s understanding, and even with little understanding. Such a prayer easily ends up dry so that it barely reaches the ceiling. Such a prayer does not lend itself to preserving us in God’s fire-filled love. The statement in 1 Corinthians 14 to “pray with my spirit” is made with reference to speaking in tongues. When it concerns speaking in tongues, our understanding is completely disengaged. When Jude writes about and exhorts to pray in the Holy Spirit, he does not think about speaking in tongues but about surrendering to the work of the Holy Spirit while we are praying. This corresponds well with Romans 8:26 and Romans 5:5 where it says that God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. It is truly of vital importance for the Spirit to come over you when you pray and when you speak, for God’s love is poured into our hearts by the Spirit, and He knows what we need much better than we can comprehend!!! Let us take this exhortation to heart so we can always be aflame in the love of Christ! In this way everything will be restored in our life, but not otherwise!Elias Aslaksen