Depending On God

The Bible says we have the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:16
For 'who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?' But we have the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 6:17
But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

It also says that "as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My thoughts higher than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:9
"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts."

So when we want to hear God, we need to both believe that His mind is in us through His Spirit Who is one with our spirit, and that our thoughts are not His thoughts. By meditating in listening prayer, starting out by asking God to quiet our heart so we can pick up His still, small voice, we can hear what God is speaking to us.

Now, by doing that, we enter into a state of dependency on Him.

I notice that sometimes when I'm asking God for a word, that the motivation of my heart is so I can have something to share with others.

Another thing I notice is that sometimes when I am asking of God to direct my path that I am just seeking for Him to point me in a direction so I can take off and go that direction by myself.

If we don't receive either a word from God or a direction from God, it might be because we're trying to extract a nugget of gold or a snippet of God's word and then run away with it to spend it on ourselves. If we don't receive something, that's a sign to remain in His presence and not to leave. But if we DO receive a word or direction from God, that is also a sign to remain in His presence and not to leave.

The reason some people get words from God and direction from God consistently is because those people aren't trying to get something from God. They're not planning to grab His gift and run off with it. They're not seeking the gift; they're seeking Him. They're fully submitted to Him so that His word and His direction does not signal the end of a process. When they hear Him speak, they continue listening. When they receive His direction they walk in that way and continue to seek Him where they go. So His guidance is not a command like "go over there" but an invitation like "come here with Me."

As the Apostle Paul encourages us, we should eagerly desire and pursue the gifts of the Spirit, and especially that we should prophesy, but not that the gifts are ends unto themselves. The point is a deeper relationship with God, evidenced by stronger faith, more complete submission, quieter peace, less friction, less doubt, more trust, less effort.

This is the "Sabbath rest" the writer of Hebrews refers to in chapter 4, I think.

Hebrews 4:9-10 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

We're not asking God what He is thinking so that we know what "work" to do or what words to say, but rather we are quietly resting in Him and allowing His power to effortlessly accomplish His perfect will without us interfering in it or polluting it with our own self-centered perspective or tainting it with our own understanding or our own ambitions.

The difference is this: What we are currently doing is fitfully coming in and going out of God's presence. The rest and peace He is talking about is when we *abide* in His presence. No longer going in or coming out but entering into and abiding in His rest. This means abandoning the ego with its ambitions.

Philippians 3:12-14
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Another thing we need to beware of is the motivation of asking of God for His word or His direction or for some gift or some work from Him; are we asking for some form of proof? For example, proof that He loves us, or that we are in right standing with Him, or that He is faithful? Because that's a wrong motive and reveals a lack of faith. Remember Job said (Job 13:15) "though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." Job wasn't asking for evidence of God's love or faithfulness; Job was fully assured of that even in the face of suffering and contrary circumstances. The reason we ask of God is not to prove something but because it is our rightful inheritance. Jesus said that healing is the "childrens' bread," for example (Matthew 15:26).

God will give you the answers to your prayers not because there is anything special about you, but because there is something special about His relationship with you. You are His chosen; you are adopted; you are sons with full inheritance of His kingdom; you are His treasure. God knows what you need before you even ask and has promised to provide all of your needs in Christ Jesus.

Luke 12:32
"Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

If the kingdom, does not that also imply everything else?

Romans 8:32
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

So what does our rest come from? It comes from Jesus Himself.

Matthew 11:28-30
"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Notice how this is a 2-part promise. Number one: Jesus says "come unto Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." It is a free gift, and it is a supernatural gift. It is the gift of abiding in Him. It is a gift of supernatural peace and tranquility and total restoration. But notice that His gift of "rest" does not involve not getting any work done! He immediately follows His promise of rest with "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." A yoke is what they put on oxen who were plowing a field or treading out grain or pulling a cart or turning a mill. That ox was doing work. But notice Jesus says to take HIS yoke upon you. "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

This reminds me of when the Apostle Paul says not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. Notice this. A yoke was commonly a double yoke; there would be two animals yoked to do the same work. And so if we are taking Jesus's yoke upon us, then we are yoked with Him doing the exact same work. Now, if you are yoked with the God of all creation who is almighty and all powerful, who do you think will be doing most of the work? So what might that look like? It might look like you just taking one step after another. Psalm 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way. Meanwhile Jesus is redirecting mighty rivers and reshaping landscapes using the power harnessed by that yoke. But the amount of effort that is required from you is nothing more than walking in the path He lays out before you. You are indeed experiencing rest while at the same time performing mighty works, because you are abiding in Christ.

Not working for Him; resting in Him.

Colossians 3:3
For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

2 Corinthians 5:14
For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died

Romans 8:9-11
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.