Elizabeth: Full of the Holy Spirit Before the Story Began
May 28, 2026
Elizabeth: Full of the Holy Spirit Before the Story Began
She had prayed this prayer so many times it must have felt worn smooth — Lord, give me a child. Year after year, the answer seemed to be silence. Luke 1:5-6 tells us that Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all His commandments. This was not a couple whose barrenness was a judgment. This was a couple being held in the hand of God, waiting for a moment they could not yet see.
And what a moment it was.
An angel appeared to Zechariah in the temple and announced that Elizabeth would conceive a son — a son who would go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to prepare a people ready for the Lord. Zechariah faltered at the word, and Gabriel silenced him until the prophecy was fulfilled. But Elizabeth — Elizabeth believed. Luke 1:25 records her quiet, wondering response when she conceived: “Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
She knew this was God. She had always known God. She had just been waiting for Him to move.
But the greatest moment was still coming. When Mary arrived at Elizabeth’s door, carrying the newly conceived Jesus, something extraordinary happened — the baby leaped in Elizabeth’s womb, and she was filled with the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:41-42. She didn’t need to be told who Mary was carrying. The Spirit told her. She prophesied with a loud voice — “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” — and became the first person in the New Testament to proclaim the lordship of Jesus Christ.
The woman the world had overlooked became the first voice to announce the King.
Friend, God has not overlooked you either. The years of waiting, the unanswered prayers, the seasons that felt like silence — He has been at work in every one of them. And when His moment comes, the Holy Spirit will make sure you are ready to recognise it.
Elizabeth was ready. May we be too.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.