From Prayer Intern Ryan:
We heard last week a little bit on the “how to” live into the lifestyle of Romans 8 by not feeding the “big dog” sin, and by feeding the little dog “our spirit, or spiritual life” to over come that sin that is hindering us. My goal is to expand on the “how to” feed our spirits in a healthy way.
The first thing I have found helpful in my personal walk is to truly picture and believe that Jesus is a man! It is possible to have an alive, loving, affectionate, passionate relationship with the man Jesus. An easy way to do this would be to open up Revelation 4 and read it a few times and then just sit, close your eyes and picture Jesus on the throne. Once you get your mind clear begin to speak with that man. He wants to talk with you more then you want to talk with him. I have recently found myself sitting and listening/ gazing more then I talk. About 15-25% of my prayer time I actually talk. The rest of the time I just sit in the presence of God and slowly but surely the very presence of God begins to transform you!
Now this doesn’t happen over night. It takes a long time to develop this habit. I still become unfocused every 1-2 minutes thinking about what I need to do and I have to refocus myself. Jesus is not concerned about the amount or effectiveness of the time. He is filled with joy because deep down we want to spend time with Him. All He asks of us is that we would continue to try and spend time with Him. If we put the time in He will give us the power to stay focused on him and live a life lead by His Spirit! (Romans 8)
The first thing I have found helpful in my personal walk is to truly picture and believe that Jesus is a man! It is possible to have an alive, loving, affectionate, passionate relationship with the man Jesus. An easy way to do this would be to open up Revelation 4 and read it a few times and then just sit, close your eyes and picture Jesus on the throne. Once you get your mind clear begin to speak with that man. He wants to talk with you more then you want to talk with him. I have recently found myself sitting and listening/ gazing more then I talk. About 15-25% of my prayer time I actually talk. The rest of the time I just sit in the presence of God and slowly but surely the very presence of God begins to transform you!
Now this doesn’t happen over night. It takes a long time to develop this habit. I still become unfocused every 1-2 minutes thinking about what I need to do and I have to refocus myself. Jesus is not concerned about the amount or effectiveness of the time. He is filled with joy because deep down we want to spend time with Him. All He asks of us is that we would continue to try and spend time with Him. If we put the time in He will give us the power to stay focused on him and live a life lead by His Spirit! (Romans 8)
Ryan
