How to Train the Human Spirit
From The HeartPublish date: 01/11/2009
Foundation Scripture: Hebrews 8:10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will imprint My laws upon their minds, even upon their innermost thoughts and understanding, and engrave them upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Hebrews 8:10 AMP
I. How to train the human spirit:
- By giving the Word first place in your life
- By meditation in the Word
- By practicing the Word
- By instantly obeying the voice of your spirit
- By praying in the Spirit
II. Give the Word first place in your life
- First place means first place. First place means that you exalt the Word of God above all the words of man.
- First place means that when you have a choice, you believe the Word of God and not your circumstances, your feelings or what your head tells you.
- Proverbs 4:20-22 AMP - My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart. 22 For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh.
- Proverbs 7:1-3 NKJV - My son, keep my words, And treasure my commands within you. 2 Keep my commands and live, And my law as the apple of your eye. 3 Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart.
- The only way you can make the Word of God first place in your life is if you know it—if it is in your heart and mind—if it abides in you and you abide in it.
- This is how you make the Word part of who you are:
III. Meditate on the Word
- The Word of God will not work for you if you just mentally assent to it (agree with it). It will only be effective if it becomes part of you—if every thought you have, every word you say and every action you take is governed and regulated by the Word that is in your heart.
- Joshua 1:8 AMP - This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success.
- Meditate means to reflect on, contemplate, or ponder something.
- The Hebrew word for "meditate" means "to murmur. It is also translated in the KJV as "mutter"; "imagine"; "roar"; "speak"; "study"; "talk"; "utter".
- Psalms 1:1-3 NKJV - Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
- This man is truly blessed—because he fully embraces God's life-giving Word!
- Because you delight in the Lord, you drink deeply from His Word and you meditate on His Word day and night; the result is that you bring forth fruit in season, your leaf doesn't wither, and whatever you do prospers!
VI. Practice the Word
- James 1:21-22 AMP - So get rid of all uncleanness and the rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in a humble (gentle, modest) spirit receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted [in your hearts] contains the power to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the Word [obey the message],
and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth]. - If you refuse to be led, directed and changed by God's written Word, how in the world do you think that you will recognize or obey the voice of His Spirit?
- 1 John 5:8 NKJV - And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.
- Water is symbolic of the Word. The Spirit and the Word will never contradict each other.
- Matthew 7:21 AMP - Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven.
- Romans 6:17 AMP - But thank God, though you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient with all your heart to the standard of teaching in which you were instructed and to which you were committed.
V. Instantly obey the voice of your spirit
- Proverbs 20:27 NKJV - The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the inner depths of his heart.
- The Lord will lead and guide you through your heart—not your head.
- You can trust your heart when it is trained in the Word of God and submitted to God and His Word.
- Romans 9:1 AMP - I am speaking the truth in Christ. I am not lying; my conscience [enlightened and prompted] by the Holy Spirit bearing witness with me.
- Your spirit and your conscience are one and the same.
- Hebrews 5:14 AMP - But solid food is for full-grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law.
- When you spend a lot of time in the Word of God, even your senses become trained to know what is right and wrong.
- 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 KJV - (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
- Do not allow your carnal mind to rule you. Submit your thoughts completely to God's Word.
VI. Pray in the Spirit
- Praying in tongues helps you develop a sensitivity to the voice of the Holy Spirit and your own spirit.
- 1 Corinthians 14:14-15 NKJV - For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15 What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.
- When you pray in tongues, your spirit man rises up, even as your mind grows quieter.
- 1 Corinthians 14:2 NKJV - For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.
- Jude 20 NKJV - But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.
- Praying in the Holy Spirit builds you up in your faith, drawing you closer to God and His will for you.