You must desire to know and understand what the exact will of God is for your life at this time. You can know it!
Ephesians 6:18 (NKJV)
Welcome to Day 11 of our 40 days of Prayer and Fasting. This week we have gone into a deep emphasis on prophetic leadership. We’ve been training our spirits to trust the LORD to lead and guide us in our daily living. We’ve been learning that prophetic leadership is a supernatural advantage that every believer has access to and can grow in. Meaning that it is an acquirable competence that we can grow and mature in, so that we become more accurate and exact over time. Today, we’d take it a notch higher, as we discuss sensitivity in the Spirit.
The bible gives us an account of a time in the church in Antioch where the apostles, prophets, and teachers gathered together to pray and fast, just as we have begun in this season together.
Acts 13:2-3
New King James Version
2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.
They gathered together to minister to God, and the Holy Spirit spoke! We are not told what exactly was the focus of their meeting, but they had just returned from a ministry assignment and then went in to fasting and fellowship with God, in this moment of consecration, God opened their hearts to a burden He had on His heart, and they all picked it in the spirit, it was a unanimous leading that they had, that God wanted to send Saul and Barnabas on another assignment. God interrupted their meeting and gave them a focus, because we are told that even after they had heard, they laid hands on them and prayed for them. God made known to them what was on his heart.
This is so powerful! That you can be in the comfort of your home, or at work, or on the road, and pick up the frequency of what God is saying to you! This is what the early church lived and experienced, and your life should never be any short of this. The next step you need to take in your life could just be waiting on the other side of prayer and fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Some of you might know this, but you need to understand how crucial it is so that you never take it for granted. Sometimes being sensitive to discern the move of the Spirit can actually be for preservation.
Exodus 13:17-18
New King James Version
17 Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.”
18 So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.
By prophetic providence, God led his people through a more difficult and longer path, because He knew that if they had taken the closer and shorter path, when they met with the Philistines, they would change their minds and return to what God was delivering them out of. God could see that they needed pruning; they needed to be grounded in Him before facing the rest of the world. So, He took them through the wilderness, but their experience there was also crucial in their story; God revealed Himself in many powerful ways to them. So, it might have looked like a delay, but God knew what He was doing.
There are times when the leading of the Spirit would not be the typical go-ahead; sometimes the leading of the Spirit would be to restrain you, so that He could build and prepare you for what is to come, but sensitivity to discern correctly what is the will of the Father is absolutely crucial; missing it could have disastrous effects. Imagine for a second they were not sensitive to go in the direction God led them.
Look at the life of the Apostle Paul,
Acts 16:6-10
New King James Version
6 Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia.
7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them.
8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.
9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.
God gave him specific instructions on what to do and what not to do. He entered a new city, and as is his custom, you would expect that he would be looking for the nearest synagogue to start preaching the gospel, but God had something else in store for him. Some of you have only trained yourselves to hear GO, but haven't ever heard a STOP, and this can be dangerous. You must desire to know and understand what the exact will of God is for your life at this time. You can know it!
The bible says;
1 Corinthians 2:9-10
New King James Version
9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
By the Spirit of God already living in you, you can know the deep things of God; you can discern the next move of the Spirit for your life. It's not being hidden from you; it's yours to know!
This is why, in this season of consecration, you must make it a habit to devote yourself to activities that can sharpen your sensitivity, that cause your ears to hear more clearly and precisely
1 Thessalonians 5:19
New King James Version
19 Do not quench the Spirit.
If there are things you can do to quench the influence of the Spirit in your everyday life, there are things that can ignite them as well.
Ephesians 6:18
New King James Version
18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
This was the Apostle Paul’s instruction to the church, as he told them to be strong in the LORD and in the power of His might, to be able to withstand the wiles of the enemy, and he tells them to pray always in the Spirit! Because when you pray in the Spirit, you build supernatural capacity; you become more attuned to the frequency God is at; you can see a trap and escape it; you can see a divine opportunity and seize it. This is what prophetic leadership affords you.
Today,wherever you find yourself at the moment you are reading this devotional, devote yourself to fellowship and to prayer, and just as it was for the apostles in Corinth, the Holy Ghost would speak, and you would hear.
Prayer
Father, as I pray today, let there be a rise in sensitivity in my spirit! My heart is open to know your will and desires for me. Let my eyes be opened today to behold visions about my now and my future. Let my path be directed in the way that I ought to go.
