chapter 7
"Let us now believe this. As we pray to be filled with the Spirit, let us not seek for the answer in our feelings. All spiritual blessings must be received, that is accepted or taken in faith. Let me believe, the Father gives the Holy Spirit to His praying child. Even now, while I pray, I must say in faith, 'I have what I ask, the fulness of the Spirit is mine.'"
Here, Murray exposes one of the greatest hindrances to believing prayer: our feelings (or lack thereof). Feelings are not inherently evil and they are not the root of all of our problems. They can be redeemed and utilized and enjoyed in the Christian life. However, in prayer, our feelings can, at times, be a roadblock to us as we attempt to live out the things we are asking for.
He instructs us here to simply accept God's Word for what it says with or without the confirmation of our feelings. When our feelings line up with the truth of the Bible, then enjoy your blessing from heaven. When they do not, you must allow faith to rise above and have a higher place of importance than your feelings.
The Holy Spirit, at times, will show Himself in the most clear and experiential ways. Yet, at other times, He is so gentle and quiet that only faith can resolve that He actually is working in our lives. Let us allow God to be God, in which ever way He chooses to demonstrate and reveal Himself to us, and let us allow our faith to accept His goodness no matter what we feel.
I always go back and forth about this. It is such an essential aspect of the human experience - how we perceive and filter most everything.
ReplyDeleteLet us trust in His Spirit, that it really and truly is as he says, and I think our faith will simply be strengthened. If you are running and feel tired, well, you'll probably stop. If someone tells you that there is endurance and reward if you keep going, you have the choice to believe them and keep going or sit on the side and wait for a ride.
I am wondering why no one ever acknowledges the "mother heart" of God? Sure, he is the Father, Sonship, all that jazz, but surely there are other aspects of God in the feminine.