As usual, there is so, so much that I want to share. So, rather than bog down in a long introduction, let’s look at the next commandment.
Commandment #7 Thou Shalt Acknowledge, Welcome and Honor His Presence
The words of the chorus “Holy Spirit, Thou Art Welcome in This Place” are far easier to sing than to demonstrate. Often, we sing the words of the song while our mind is thinking about the time and how much still needs to be done in our service. We have before us a carefully crafted agenda. The puppets are in place. The object lessons are lined up. The PowerPoint slides are prepared. The games are planned. All that we need is to get on with the service. All the while, the One whom we just welcomed with the words of our song sits idly by. The Holy Spirit knows that once again He has been restrained from accomplishing the will of the Father.
One of the greatest steps that we can take in learning to flow in the supernatural is to learn to acknowledge, welcome, and honor His presence. I know that you’ve prepared before the service. You’ve prayed. You’ve been in the Word. You’ve put together an awesome lesson. But while all of this is tremendously important, to restrain Him would make all of our preparation utterly useless.
Acknowledge that He is present. Verbalize your thankfulness for His presence. Finally, make Him feel welcome by listening to and obeying His promptings and leading. While the lesson is planned and the staff is ready, recognize that everything is subject to His step-by-step direction. There have been times that I’ve sensed His voice speaking to my spirit to push the lesson aside to do something that wasn’t in the lesson or to spend more time in a particular area than originally planned or to pause where we were in the lesson so that take action to back up what we’ve just taught with the understanding that we could pick up where we left off in the lesson next week. The Holy Spirit loves to be welcomed and obeyed!
One note of caution: Am I suggesting that we should abandon lesson preparation and “just flow”? NO!!! That is far from what I’m teaching. At one of our meetings, I had a young man come to me to tell that he had learned from my teaching that he wouldn’t have to study any more before a service. Instead, he could now just walk into the service and “flow” with the Holy Spirit. I have NEVER taught that. Instead, I encourage you to follow Paul’s advice to Timothy. “Study to show yourself approved unto God.” Study. Prepare. Study some more. Prepare some more. At the same time, recognize that the Holy Spirit is present and looking for an opportunity to speak through you and lead you step by step. Those that see the supernatural are ones who study and prepare while welcoming, acknowledging, and being sensitive to His presence.
I’ll see you next week with Commandment #8.
