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The Power of His Prompting
Jon Burgess11So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do.12Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
Prayer releases the power to make it possible to follow God's prompting for His good pleasure! Paul is encouraging the believers in Thessalonica that they don't have to wonder what the will of the Lord is. They don't have to wander the streets hoping to bump into the grand design God has for them. They don't have to worry about whether they are honoring the Name of Jesus through their actions to the world around them. All they have to do is pray. Prayer releases the power or ability to perceive the prompting of The Holy Spirit in any given situation. They will be able to discern the difference between doing something for their own pleasure and God's pleasure. They will be able to do the impossible because they aren't trying to do it themselves, but rather through the power of The Holy Spirit! Jesus describes the daily relational process this way: 17But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I...“I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. 20For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater works than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished." (John 5:17-20). Did you catch that? Jesus is saying He is healing the man in that room because that's what the Father was prompting Him to do. He then said that The Father would "show him" how to do even greater works. Wow! Jesus is following The Father's lead with such confidence that He can't wait to see what happens next. He has purposely limited His omniscience so as to model for His disciples what it looks like to live a prayerful, careful, powerful life led by The Holy Spirit.
Phil shared this morning how the Holy Spirit prompted him to pray for a man at Starbucks yesterday. The Holy Spirit moved in power and brought peace to what could have been a bad situation. I talked with a friend yesterday who was going to move into a new house but felt a "check in his spirit". Instead of moving forward He waited on God. God revealed an even greater plan and greater direction for his life as a result of this prompting. When ministering in Japan I felt prompted by The Holy Spirit to share a specific word at The Ohana Conference. I said, "There's a woman here who hates the way she looks. You don't even like looking in the mirror because of your appearance. You have been told by many and now tell yourself that you are ugly. The Lord says, 'that's a lie'. He doesn't make junk. He has made you beautiful and will begin to show you how He sees you if you will let him." A lady approached me the next day and said that her friend who was attending the conference had used those exact words to describe herself and thanked me for sharing that. These are just a few examples of the power of His prompting. It's a tap on the shoulder, a nudge of the heart, a still small voice speaking to our spirit to invite us to accomplish His will for His good pleasure. Every day becomes an adventure of faith when we walk throughout our day in prayer.
Every room I walk into today Father, You are already doing something amazing. Instead of being busy about my business let me be busy about Yours. You are moving in the hearts and lives of the people I haven't even talked to yet. Let me be actively conscious, purposely prayerful, quickly obedient to the simple promptings of Your Holy Spirit. Today's adventure of faith starts here and now as I follow Your prompting.
