What Jesus says about "the acquisition of the Spirit"

We associate the expression “acquisition of the Spirit,” if we do at all, most readily with St. Seraphim of Sarov (1754 – 1833). It’s not my intention here to discuss St. Seraphim or his teachings on the subject; one can find that elsewhere, both online and offline (I recommend, incidentally, the first volume of The Little Russian Philokalia, translated and edited by Fr. Seraphim Rose [1]). Instead, I wish only to borrow that expression and look at how it helps us to elucidate Jesus’ teachings on prayer. When we ask the question, “Why should we pray?” it’s to our benefit to know that that question has a definitive answer in the canonical sayings of Christ himself. Indeed, the answer he gives is clear and concise, though we need to unpack it in order to appreciate what it means for us in practice. In a recent post, the subject of “possession” was broached, and so perhaps it won’t be an entirely brand new idea for us to learn that Jesus’ teaching on prayer has intimate associations with the subject of exorcism. But those associations will require us to connect a few dots. Conveniently, and no doubt, by design, those dots show up in a single chapter of Luke’s Gospel.