Contend With I

2 Cor.10:⁵ [ERV] “and we tear down every proud idea that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We also capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ”

We have established that there are voices in the atmosphere around us and all that we need is the right gadget to tune-in to those voices. Note that the fact that your gadget can receive does not mean you will be tuned-in automatically. You will still need to tune it right? Again while you are tuning, you will notice that some channels came easily. But some other channels need to be fine-tuned for clarity.

Spiritually, the channel that needs a lot of fine-tuning is the expressions of the Holy Spirit. To get clarity in the expressions of the Holy Spirit, we need to understand that when it comes to prayer, to fine tuning, and to hearing God accurately, there are two things we need to contend with. The first is our Commitment and the second is our Conscience. With commitment for instance, you would discover that it is only when you decide to pray that you start to remember things that need urgent attention – work, bills, your children’s fees, medical emergencies. Does this happen to you too? Meanwhile, when you are not praying not one of those things comes to mind.

There are different ways to respond to commitment distractions. The first way to respond is to ignore the thoughts as they pop up. However, if you choose to respond like this, you will discover that those thoughts can be persistent. They simply do not go away. The second way to respond is to speak louder than the voice you are hearing. Not everyone who raises his or her voice in prayer is doing so in response to the Holy Ghost. Some people are trying to drown out another voice. This response also does not work because the commitment also raises its voice and then it becomes a shouting match.

The third way, which is the most effective way I have discovered to deal with this, is to write down the thoughts that are coming at you. Once you write them down, you are acknowledging that these things are important and you will give them the attention they deserve. Write it down and move past it, then tune to His voice distraction free.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I pray that this revelation will eliminate every commitment struggle in my place of worship, in Jesus Name. Amen!