Yes. There is a connection.
Recently I have been growing closer to the Lord. One of the great truths I have been spending time learning, is that we have the ability, through the Spirit of God, to do amazing things (John 14:12). The problem is that we don't ask for it with the right heart (James 4:3). God wants us to produce much fruit in His name! In John 14:13, Jesus says, "Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son."
There is just one little difficulty in this. It really ticks off Satan when we are living fully for the Lord and learning to become better disciples. He doesn't want us to have it too easy when we are producing much fruit, so he tries whatever tactics he can, to get to us. In fact he is so predictable in this, it is often one of the clues that I am pleasing the Lord.
This is when the verse comes to mind from Luke 12:48. "...Much will be required of everyone who has been given much. And even more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more." If we ask God for greater empowerment through the Spirit, we need to understand that much will be required of us. That includes putting up with the tactics and antics of the Fallen One.
The funny thing is that every time I read Luke 12:48 I think of Spiderman. When Peter Parker is learning to cope with his new found spidey-skills, his uncle Ben tells him "With great power comes great responsibility." It becomes a sort of motto for him throughout his crime-fighting career. This is exactly what I feel like when asking the Father for the Spirit to empower me to do even greater works, to the glory of the Father through the Son. With them comes a great responsibility to honor the Lord and not myself in any way.
All the way through my sin-fighting career...
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