Page 26 - HowTo'sOfChristianLife

Prayer isn’t God up there and you down here. It is the Holy Spirit
speaking within you, bearing witness to your spirit so you may
know the mind of Christ. In fact, you do have the mind of Christ, but
how do you utilize it for yourself in any given moment?

By receiving, in the moment, by faith, that the Holy Spirit living in you
will answer your petitions, speak to your heart, and give you directions.
To receive God’s directions, you must have a right relationship with
Him. To have that relationship, you must be filled with His Spirit. You
must learn to walk in His Spirit, not grieving the Holy Spirit of God.

If you grieve God by saying “yes” to sin and quench the Spirit by
saying “no” to God, how can a Holy Spirit Who is both receiver and
communicator to your spirit declare God’s revelation?

One of the primary reasons people do not hear when they talk to
God is they are not living in the Spirit. Their lifestyle is one of quiet
rebellion against God. One of the reasons God commands you to
be filled with the Spirit is so He not only empowers you for service,
but because He is also essential to your hearing God. If the Spirit
is quenched and grieved, He cannot deliver the message of God;
because you are not listening.

If you refuse to hear what the Holy Spirit says to you, then your
praying is useless babbling into heaven and God does not hear it.
How you live makes a difference in what you hear. A believer can
live what most would characterize as a normal Christian life and
still be in error, because he is not listening to the Spirit.

You will never get enough education or experience, to live independently
of the Holy Spirit. He must give you the mind of Christ, or you do not
possess it. He is not going to speak until you admit, apart from His
genuine work in your life, you are helpless to receive anything from Him.

You cannot make God tell you anything one split-second before He
is ready. You can fast and pray and weep and give, but that doesn’t
impress Him at all. The only way is to come humbly before Him,
dependent upon the abiding, effective work of the Holy Spirit within you.

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