All of us as His children want to please God with how we pray, read His Word, and in general live our Christian life. But often this seems like more of a struggle than it should be. We usually end up doing what we know is right to do, but sometimes it seems more like we are serving and following a Christian set of beliefs, going to church, living the life, but without the fervor and strong desire that would make it much easier and enjoyable. We look at other Christians almost jealously as we see their excitement and hunger for God. We have no doubt that we are saved and on our way to heaven, and there is often no wavering in our commitment, but we know inside something is missing. We seem to have lost that first love we had when we first were born again.
The exciting news is that God has already put within our spirit a great spiritual engine, a dynamic force that all we have to do is release it and we will shortly find the power of God Himself within our own hearts creating Godly desires, a growing thirst for the things of God, a love of serving him that is not a result of our own willpower or worked up desire, but supernaturally rising up from inside by the Power of the Holy Spirit.
Philippians 2:13 shows us this amazing truth “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure”
God is not only working in us to help us do the things we should, He is also creating in us the desire to seek Him as we ought and to do the things we should! The Amplified Bible translation expounds on this by saying “energizing and creating in you the power and desire both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
So how does God do this?
Romans 8:15b, 16 gives us the answer “…but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God”
See what is going to happen? The Holy Spirit’s own desire for the things of God will rise up within your own heart as you are filled with more of His Spirit. He already lives inside your spirit once you asked Jesus to come into you heart. In fact Ephesians 5:22 tells us that our spirit has become one with The Holy Spirit. All we have to do is stir Him up and as we are filled with more of His Spirit His desires and longings start to become yours. You repulse at the thought of sin as Jesus would have. Your time with God and reading His Word comes to an end too soon. You start looking forward to and almost counting the hours until you can get back to prayer again.
Look what Paul said he prays for to happen to the believers in Ephesians 3:16,17a “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…”
He was praying for believers, not the unsaved. They already had Jesus in their hearts through the person of the Holy Spirit, but Paul was praying that the character, the desires, the very personality of Jesus Himself would rise out of the believer’s hearts, in a sense that He would dwell there abide, become a permanent resident, not just legally in the sight of God, not just as little spark in a believers own heart, but in action, thoughts, words and deeds.
Okay, how do you make this happen to you? Well, do you notice something else Paul said? “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…” This is not going to happen overnight or in a quick few minutes of prayer before bed. You have to seek Him in faith, believing that he will rise up in your spirit like this. You have to take the initiative to seek Him first, even when you are feeling nothing spiritual, no anointing, no joy, no nothing.
“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” James 4:7
What does this mean? Hasn’t God already draw near to us by sending Jesus to die for us? Didn’t he send the Holy Spirit to the earth to draw all men to Himself? Yes, but once you have received of His wonderful gift of Salvation, being gloriously cleansed by His blood, and being born again, not of the flesh but by the Holy Spirit of God, it is now your turn to take the initiative, to seek after God.
“And that God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him” Hebrews 11:6
You have to act in faith that as you make a commitment to seek God diligently, whether you feel anything or not, if you get absolutely nothing out of it, if in prayer the minutes seem like hours, that you are going to keep seeking God. How hard do you need to seek Him?
But once you begin to experience what God has promised, you will be amazed as you start to sense what is rising out of your heart. Hunger for God that you know is not your own, nothing you worked up by your own effort, which seems to be getting stronger and stronger as time goes on, the wonderful sense of a supernatural miracle going on in your own heart continuously.
Then, even after your are done with prayer and His Word, the residue of the Holy Spirit’s stirring will stay with you through out the day, refreshing and inspiring you to live the like God ask of you.
Stir up the Gift of God given to you.
Then, all the other attributes of God inside of you, Joy, Love, Peace, Contentment and the other Fruits of the Spirit will rise up from within your spirit to bless you all daylong.