According to Scripture, believers can do nothing without the fullness and power of God’s Spirit. (Acts 1:8; John 15:5; Eph. 5:18) Without God’s fullness, prayers are weak, ministries are ineffective, and evangelism un-empowered. Yet sadly, many believers confess they have an inadequate grasp of daily fullness and power.
In fact, some saints are even a bit fearful to seek spiritual fullness. They are wary of the excesses fostered by some. While excesses can and do occur, they are by no means necessary and should never keep us from healthy biblical fullness.
Without God’s fullness and power, all the efforts and programs on earth cannot turn the rushing tide of evil or save our loved ones. Yet there is good news. Spiritual power is not complicated or out of reach. All believers can learn to live and pray in God’s power. Three simple steps release God’s incredible power in every area of life.
The Three Steps for Fullness and Power
1. Daily (or at least very regularly) take a few moments to allow God to search your heart for sin or unyielded self-will. Fully confess and forsake whatever He reveals. By this process, you are yielding to Christ’s Lordship. If you have only a short time, simply pause and ask God to reveal any need for confession in a few basic areas: (a) attitudes and thoughts, (b) words and social media, (c) relationships and (d) obedience/surrender.
Pause on each area and give God a chance to reveal any specific issues to confess and forsake. Be sure to pause long enough to let God speak (Ten seconds is not enough!). While believers are not to approach this process legalistically, it needs to be reasonably consistent and thorough. Simply confess and forsake the things God brings to mind. And remember—He buries our sin in the deepest sea (Micah 7:19)!
2. As you confess your sins, ask God’s direction in concrete steps of repentance. It is crucial to use confess and forsake our sins (Prov. 28:13). We must be specific in how we will change particular points of sin. It does little good to confess sins generally. Until we move to specific repentance and on-going change, we aren’t serious about following Jesus as Lord and Master. Repentance involves a major change of heart, attitude, thought and action. It is always concrete and specific, never general or vague.
3. Daily ask Christ to fill and empower you with the Holy Spirit. Claim His fullness by the choice of faith (Luke 11:13). Ask in faith for the fullness of God’s manifest presence. It is important to remember we receive and walk in daily fullness and power by faith, not reliance on works to earn it. (Gal. 3:2-6) Also we are not to rely on feelings. Christians are forgiven, filled and empowered by faith, not feelings. As we continually claim His fullness, we can pray, witness, teach and minister with full confidence. We do not have to beg God to fill us—He already desires to do so. Simply receive it by faith and believe that He does it!
The more we embrace these three steps in daily life, the more we will experience Christ’s fullness and power. Soon we are hardly even aware of steps because it becomes the natural pattern of life. May we settle for nothing less than the fullness and power of God’s Spirit.
