Tag Archives: Not my will but yours

How to be filled with the Holy Spirit

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This talk of “how to be filled with the Holy Spirit” may sound formulaic. But it’s not the same as how to build a deck or make a fancy dish. Actually, I believe God intends us to be filled with the Holy Spirit when we first accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord. It is both a one-time event and also a life-long process. But far too often, as in my own rebellious walk, being filled with the Holy Spirit came later. I asked Jesus into my life but did not quickly or totally surrender all to his authority over me. How thankful I am that God doesn’t apply my personal level of patience with me!

 
Being filled with the Holy Spirit is not an academic process. We aren’t filled by knowledge. Rather it is a matter of readiness and desire. That said, AW Tozer poses a number of preliminary questions for us to consider while examining our readiness and desire:

1. Am I ready to be filled?
Can I accept that Jesus accomplished everything at the cross and my good works don’t add to my salvation? Have I been accustomed to “considering the interests others before my own?” Am I ready to replace “my will” with “your will, Oh God?” The Spirit calls you to himself through prayer, meditation and scripture reading, and sometimes through the inspiration of others lives.

 

2. Do I want to be filled?

“Are you sure you want to be possessed by a spirit other than your own? That Spirit, if he ever possesses you, will be lord of your life!” Do I want to hand over the keys to my house, job, relationships, finances, personality, and even my motives and desires to the Holy Spirit and say, “I come and go as you tell me?” Am I convinced that I need to be filled? Have you come to the end of self and found it a futile way to live?

 

How to receive the Holy Spirit: (Reference AW Tozer)

1. You must present your whole self to his authority.
Just as we present ourselves to God to become clean before his eyes, so we must present all our body to the Spirit’s leading. (Romans 12:1-2) This may seem simple, but your response determines your readiness to let the Spirit have control over your whole life: your mind, your ambitions, and even your personality to his authority.

2. You must ask:
The Holy Spirit will not force himself on us but rather he only acts on our invitation.

3. You must obey.
It is senseless to submit ourselves to an authority unless we plan to willingly obey. The Holy Spirit is given to those who obey God. (Acts 5:31). Our obediance affirms what we believe. It seems simple to say this involves living by what the scriptures tell us but in today’s reality it is quite revolutionary.

4. You must have faith.
We receive and submit to the Holy Spirit by faith just as we submit to Jesus for our salvation – by faith. It is like building a house without knowing the whole purpose of its design, becoming a habitat of God. It’s like going on an adventurous journey without knowing all the details of the trip, letting him guide us, shape us, and lead us as only the Spirit of God can do. It’s considering yourself a vessel whose purpose is to be filled with God’s truth and grace and poured out on others for his redemptive plans.

 

Will you ask and believe him for the perfect plan he offers?

 

“We ask you, almighty God, let our souls enjoy this their desire, to be enkindled by your Spirit, that being filled as lamps by your divine gift, we may shine like burning lights before the presence of your Son Christ at his coming; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
– The Gelasian Sacramentary

 

“Prayer changes things”

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Maybe you’ve heard it said:

“Prayer changes things.”

 

In fact, the prayers of those who seek after God are powerful and effective. Sometimes they release God’s power to willfully change a particular circumstance. The sick are healed, the lost are found, the blind receive sight, sins are forgiven, the dead are raised. That’s what happened when Jesus prayed to his Heavenly Father. And that’s what happens when devoted followers of Jesus follow his example in praying, “Yet not my will but yours be done.”

 

Pray changes things…but does it change you?

 

Prayer isn’t so much about changing the mind of God as it is about changing the heart of the one who is praying.

 

The heart of prayer is in drawing near to God.

“Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” James 4:8

 

How do you draw near to someone you love? Do you give them a chore list of things to do and then leave them to accomplish it? Of course not. Instead, you find fulfillment in the enjoyment of their presence. You take interest in what they’re thinking and their desires. You discover of ways to please them and then act on them. You commit to a lifelong relationship of love and find new ways of expressing it, even when you don’t feel like being particularly loving or when you don’t feel you have the power to carry on. Some of the closest times Marcia and I experienced during our journey with cancer was when we were in our weakest and most helpless moments.

 

Isn’t this a picture of what drawing near to God should look like? It’s only when we humbly confess how weak and helpless we are that we can really draw near to him. It’s recognizing that it isn’t our righteous efforts that bring us close to him; he was drawing us close when we weren’t even looking for him! He sent his Son, he gave us his Word, and he brought his people across our path to demonstrate his truth and grace. Maybe you didn’t realize it at the time, but now you see how God has orchestrated events and people to draw you even closer to himself.

 

We don’t see this when we’re going our own way. We let busyness and prideful ambition and other sins keep us away from him. We draw near to God not by spewing a a to-do list, but by humbling ourselves, submitting to his will, resisting selfish temptations, and seeking his presence. Then he will draw close to you. (James 4:6-8)

 

Humbly drawing near to God changes us in transformational ways. And when we are changed by his grace, we see everything around us differently through his eyes. When this happens, prayer not only changes things…

Prayer changes US!