Begin with the Spirit. Begin in prayer. Intercession is a great way to start. The gifts have a purpose. They are to build up the body of Christ and to empower us to reach those far from Christ. Therefore, praying for your fellow Christians and for preChristians is a great place to start.
As you pray, ask God how you can help answer these prayers. God will help you begin to see opportunities. As you pray for the people around you, you will begin to recognize God's voice as he speaks back to you. You may not have a great deal of time for your prayers, but if you are consistent God's voice will become clearer. He doesn't hide from us, but we need to learn how to hear his voice.
Respond to God's prompting. Take some chances and reach out and help others. As you do, God will make up for what you lack, but you have to take faith risks. If things don't work out each and every time, that's no big deal. The world isn't going to end, but you will grow. On the other hand, if you never risk, you'll never experience all God had for you.
Paul also tells us that we should specifically pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Pray in preparation for our Tuesday night meetings. That is a great place to experiment as you learn to let God use you in new ways. Pray specifically for the gifts as they are outlined in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4.
These are the Holy Spirit's gifts for us, so begin your pursuit of them by talking it over with him.
Hi Gene! :-D
ReplyDeleteCool Blog! I don't have a lot of time (I'm procrastinating right now) so I only read Romans 12. This is my favorite line:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Romans 12:20