Hi all,
In
high school my friend Janny would tell me about the Lord, and then I
went on dates with Barb and would tell her what Janny told me. It wasn't
long before I believed and gave my life to the Lord, as I had watched
many answered prayers Janny and her boyfriend (and future husband)
received, and knew somehow in my heart all she had told me about the
Lord was true.
But
Barb and I had many, many dates over the course of a few months talking
through the merits of Jesus and my new-found born again state of
existence. Barb's home life was not a happy one and she never has made
decisions lightly nor quickly.
Looking back we might say 'the Lord was working on her heart' those months before
she got to the point she was willing to decide for Christ. In fact, it
wasn't until her lowest point in life that she called out to the Lord
saying in part, "God, if you're real like John says you are, then you
better show up or...." and at that point as she describes it, a warmth
and peace saturated her very being like a liquid blanket of love
falling directly on her - love she had never known swept over her.
Before you were born again...
That decision for Jesus we made as 16 year olds was quicker for
me than her, but it was still a process for us both. The decision was
arrived at only after discussion, thought, and seeing other's prayers
answered. The Bible describes this process as 'enlightenment'.
Different
words are used in the New Testament to describe the process by which
divine revelation is shown a person, including 'open the eyes of your understanding'*,
'enlightened', 'opened their understanding', 'spiritual wisdom',
'spiritually discerned', to name a few. *Ephesians 1:18, Hebrews 4:4, Luke 24:45, Ephesians 1:17, Colossians 1:9, I Corinthians 2:14-16
You were first 'enlightened' in your spirit man. That process is when your mind realizes something else is happening deep in your spirit - that you realize you must do something about the question of Jesus.
Jesus said it this way: "...everyone who sees the Son, and believes on Him, will have everlasting life..." and "...everyone who has heard, and learned of the Father, comes to Me." John 6:40, 45
First we see the Son, and then we believe. First we learn of the Father even though most of the time we never realize it is the Father God dealing with us way down deep in our hearts - our spirit man - and then we come to Jesus.
When
Peter exclaimed after hearing everyone's opinions about Jesus; "You are
the Christ, the Son of the living God!", Jesus said flesh and blood -
natural means- didn't reveal that to him, but it was the Father in
heaven revealing it. Did Peter realize it was the Father showing him who
Jesus was? The fact Jesus had to tell him it was the Father, makes me
think Peter didn't know it at the time.
Paul's
prayers always involved the request for revelation, which is another
word for enlightenment, as in "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, that the eyes of your understanding would be enlightened, and you would know the hope of His calling..." Ephesians 1:17-18
Know your spirit
For
people who have difficulty with their prayer language, I suggest
thinking back to that time of enlightenment before you knew the Lord -
what stirred down inside you? Realizing your mind notices things
happening down inside you, feelings, sensations, even thoughts and ideas
flowing from your spirit recognized in the mind as quiet suggestions your mind 'picks up on', is key.
We
live in such a cerebral world, an emotional world, people don't think
through what happens when our mind notices something down deep in our
spirit. This is what I'm describing. Learn to recognize when your
thoughts are picking up what your spirit is sensing - you know it
already, like when you argue with the Lord about something.
He isn't in your mind, but in your spirit, and you are weighing whether
to go with what you feel you should do vs what your mind is telling
you. Taking the step of faith to trust what you sense in your spirit is a
key first step opening the door to a new way of life.
Think
of your mind as the middle point of a teeter totter with your spirit on
one end and your body on the opposite end. Your mind can shift
attention outward to the body and natural senses, and can look the other
way down inside you to your spirit man and what it senses. Your mind
can argue against either one - your body wants to go one way but
your mind overrules it, or your spirit wants to go one way and your mind
overrules it. Learn to agree with your spirit, end the argument, take
the step of faith. Hebrews 5:14 says it is by
reason of use (trial and error) that we train our senses to discern
between good and evil. It doesn't just happen to you, you must live it
and walk it out.
My
experience is most Christians don't know how to flow in worship (or
prayer) out of their spirit. The proof is when I'm leading a meeting and
I have the music stop or go into the background and I ask people just
to worship - and there is silence. I spend a lot of
time in meetings teaching people how to flow out of their spirits - and
when they do a whole new world opens up - the Lord opens their eyes to
His realm, they feel and sense things they never have before. But this
is a way of life, flowing in worship, in prayer, in pure motivation of
love towards others - with no other strings attached than wanting them
to grow in Christ.
Practice
by worshipping on your own, just you and the Lord. Do so not by putting
on a cd, but just get in touch with the thankfulness down in your heart
you feel, the love you feel, the appreciation you feel to the Father
and Lord for saving you - then once in touch with how you really feel
about your salvation, express that in words - put that love and
appreciation and thankfulness into words and tell Him. That is pulling
from your spirit man out your soul using your body - spirit to soul to
body in the divine flow of life.
Jesus said in John 4:24
the Father is seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and truth.
The Greek word 'worship' is proskuneo, 'pros' means 'toward' and 'kuneo' means
'to kiss'. Literally, worship is 'give a kiss to the Father'. You can't
do that with the mind wandering, singing beautiful lyrics outwardly
while your mind wanders about whether you turned the light over the sink
off before you left the house. Spend time on your own, get in touch
with yourself deep down inside as to why you appreciate and are thankful
for being saved, and then with your mind focused on forming those
feelings into words, speak them out.
Walk
through your daily life being aware of your spirit man by switching
your attention from the outward things happening to inside, for instance
to see how what the boss says feels in your spirit, how what the
co-worker says, what the neighbor says. Often there is no feeling, but
when someone does say something that is from God for you, whether they
are aware or not, it will cause a surge of excitement or revelation
in your spirit that your mind will notice - that is your
spirit. When you open your mouth to hurt another person or exalt
yourself and your mind notices you feel grieved down inside - that is
your spirit. Live
by switching attention continually back and forth between the natural
senses and your spirit man's senses...a whole new realm awaits.
New subject next week, until then, blessings!
John Fenn
www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com
New CD/MP3 Series
Have
you longed for greater sensitivity to the Father in your spirit 24/7
apart from just going to Him when you have a need? Have you wondered how
your personality fits into His, perhaps feeling like you don’t fit
anywhere in the body of Christ? The deepest level of knowing the Father in scripture is as Creator, flowing to us His creation, and that is foundational to fellowshipping with Him. This
series shares how to live with Him from His Spirit to our spirit, and
is also a very practical series with many real life examples (from
John's own life) to help you know the difference between your spirit and
His Spirit, and how to walk on a core level with the Father no matter
what life throws at you. 
Just a word about our On-line Video Bible School
- these classes, so far; Old Testament I & II, Righteousness and
Our Authority in Christ - are a go-at-your-own-pace, no test, investment
in your own faith and understanding of the Word and Lord. Once
registered, your password is good for a whole year so you can take your
time, but as I'm hearing from students, once they start they have a hard
time stopping! Each class is about 45-55 minutes long, so they are in
easy to receive segments...consider investing in a deeper study of the
things of God!
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