Walking in Agreement with the Holy Spirit

Without competition, the most powerful prayer I pray over myself on a daily basis is, “Holy Spirit, I agree with Your leadership in my life.” By simply coming into agreement with the Holy Spirit, I settle so many issues in my heart and draw nearer to God than I normally feel. What makes this statement, which really conveys a heart position, such a powerful way of encountering the Lord?

Being in agreement with the Holy Spirit makes it so much easier for Him to be at work in our lives. Who knows how many issues would be settled if we simply decided to trust His leadership and respond to it obediently and joyfully when He prompts a change in our lives? Rather than making every step a painful, dramatic process, when we learn to surrender our lives to His leadership we get through the painful process of dying to ourselves quicker, and open ourselves up to more blessing and favor.

By choosing to walk in agreement with the Holy Spirit, we are choosing to reject sin and unrighteousness in our lives. By saying “Yes” to Him, we are saying “No” to the devil and to temptation, and therefore we are not grieving Him by rebelling against Him. Though our reach may be weak, it is real, and when we sincerely position our hearts to obedience, we find delight and favor in His eyes.

There are so few people who actually, intentionally agree with the Holy Spirit’s leadership. It has to be intentional; you cannot accidentally walk in righteousness. So as God looks out over the earth, most of humanity is actively rebelling against Him. How refreshing it is to find a person devoted to Him amidst a see of wickedness! The Bible tells us that, in Noah’s day, “wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually…But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” (Gen. 6:5,8). What great fellowship with God, blessings and protection follows those on whom the favor of the Lord rests! His delight is in those whom He calls His friends. By walking in agreement with Him, we may be called as such.

How do we do this? Prayer often seems so mystical, but this is often times because we have de-personified God in our hearts. It is more natural to feel that if we feel sincere enough something will happen, when the desire to be sincere is what counts before heaven. We have no conviction that He actually takes at our word! When I choose to agree with Him, I simply quiet the traffic in my soul, and gaze upon Him by faith in my minds eye. Weighing all the aspects of my own agenda, feeling the desire to make a way for myself, I voluntarily lay them down and make the declaration over my life that I trust in the leadership of the Lord and delight to subject myself to it. As I gaze upon Him, I tell Him His leadership is perfect and that I trust Him in all areas of my life.

There is no uniform result to this prayer, nor is it a solve-all petition I make when I’m feeling compromised or discouraged. My immediate circumstances rarely, if ever, change immediately. What I can say happens, without fail, is I feel the delight of the Lord over my life. It is the relief one might feel when one suddenly ceases to swim upriver and allows the mighty rushing current of that body to sweep him along in its intended direction. This prayer is so powerful to me because the answer to it is an assurance of Christ’s faithfulness to see me through. As long as I remain in Him, He will never lead me astray, and my footsteps are made sure.

 

A Dry Season

We are, in this age, like plants planted in a dry season. The revelation of God is scarce like water in a desert, and what little rain we may receive does not touch nor quench our roots. While it is sufficient to sustain us for a while longer, we will never be wholly sustained by it. Our portion, in this present age, is to yearn for more, to hunger for the greater refreshing. It was designed this way. While Christ is in heaven, we ought never be content with the status quo. Extended periods of lack cause us to grasp and cry out for more.

So what should we say? That God is a cruel tyrant, rationing just enough of our lifeblood to keep us alive to serve Him? Not at all! Though it is not mistake that this age is a dry season, He is not miserly in times of refreshing. Those seasons in which He so graciously rains upon us His sweet presence He does so in measures that are so unmistakable and abundant that it may aptly be called intoxicating. Abundant, eternally satisfying rain is not sent so that we will not be abundantly, eternally satisfied with anything less than His Kingdom manifest on the earth.

Understanding this age as a season of drought does not imply that the revelation we get in this age is meager or insufficient, but that the blessings that come with the return of Christ are so glorious and magnificent that what we receive in this age truly is sparse when held in the proper perspective.