For a long time I have longed to be filled with the Holy Spirit to the fullest extent. I was sitting at a church service at CCF in the Philippines and the pastor said, “to be full of the Holy Spirit is to walk like Jesus, to be dependent on Him.” In order to be full of the Spirit we must be dependent on Him for everything.
Thankfully, the pastor went on to describe the four ways you know whether or not you are truly dependent on the Lord. I realized, unfortunately, that I have failed each of the tests just in the past six months, if not daily.
If you are truly dependent on God, you will pass these four tests:
1) FEAR. Are you worried, fearful or anxious about anything? This can include paying off loans (a kicker for me), safety, future, relationships, etc. If you are anxious or fearful of anything, you are not depending on God to take care of you.
Psalm 56:3-4 “When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?”
Matthew 6:25-34 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
2) ANGER. Do you find yourself to be angry? People who are angry are trying to control others because of broken expectations created for them. If you find you are angry, ask why you are angry and if you are trying to manipulate people to be the way you expected them to be instead of the way they are. Controlling people are angry people. They use anger to manipulate people when they should trust God to change people. He does not need us to do that for Him. And if people curse you, God has allowed it, so our attitude should be complete trust that God has control of the situation and will care for us
2 Samuel 16:9-12 “Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head.” But the king said, “What do you and I have in common, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the LORD said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why do you do this?'” David then said to Abishai and all his officials, “My son, who is of my own flesh, is trying to take my life. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone; let him curse, for the LORD has told him to. It may be that the LORD will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today.””
3) PRAYER. Are you prayerful? One of my favorite quotes goes, “Prayer is the activity of pulling ourselves out of control.” If we fail to pray, we are essentially telling God that we do not need Him and we can take care of whatever our need is on our own. We must recognize that every good gift comes from God and that He is the One who provides for us. We are not.
Psalm 57:2 “I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills His purpose for me”
4) THANKFULNESS. Are you thankful? If you are not thanking God for everything, in everything, you are demonstrating a reliance on yourself. You do not need to thank God because you were able to provide for yourself. In difficult times we often fail to thank God because we do not trust that God has something greater in store than we could have ever imagined. All we see is what is in front of us and not what God is doing in and through the situation.
Phil 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
I don’t know about you, but I have failed miserably in this test. I have been anxious and worried about so many things that do not matter it is obnoxious. I have been angry because of broken expectations, and it was not until I realized the source of my anger that I had peace and was no longer angry.
My prayer life is often pathetic. I tend to pray occasionally throughout the day but fail to set time aside just to talk with God. I have failed to meet with Him and tell Him of my need of Him.
As for being thankful, forget it. I continue to fail to thank God for every gift He has given me. And He has given so much more than I could ever fully say or know. As I have been thinking and praying for a more thankful heart, I have noticed that God has helped me to be thankful for the silliest things. For example, I was standing in a line alone, one of those lines that takes forever to move an inch, and instead of being annoyed, I saw an opportunity to be thankful that God gave me a moment to be still and talk with the Lord.
I have been praying that God will give me opportunities to be dependent on Him. That I will cultivate a heart of trust that God will provide for me will trust God with others, that I will be more prayerful and thankful. I challenge you to do the same.
I really believe that intimacy with God grows when we are dependent on Him. I long for intimacy with the Lord, but I need to learn to be dependent on Him first. I really believe He will take us up on every opportunity we give Him to care for us. And He is worthy of our time, dependence and thanks.
