![How to exercise your will]()
A book that I have read and referred back to many times over the last dozen years is The Spiritual Man, by Watchman Nee. It’s available on Amazon but also free as a pdf which can be downloaded and read with most digital readers or in Adobe Acrobat. It’s a very deep read of three volumes.
There are large sections in his book on the body, soul and spirit.(the link is to a page on my website about body, soul and spirit) In the soul section, Nee writes a lot about the will. I recently read this section again and I believe that he has some great insight into what we call our will.
Nee suggests that the most important aspect of the Christian life is the degree to which our will and God’s will are in harmony, or union, with one another.
I believe that this is a hugely important point. God calls us to not simply be surrendered or submitted to His will but to be in harmony with His will. Nee writes about the importance of our will being in union with God’s will. When it is, this will lead to our natural obedience to God’s ways that we read about in his Word.
I believe that our ‘best’ work for God’s kingdom comes from living by the Holy Spirit and according to God’s will. This is how God can really use us to accomplish what He desires. And so, we must be ‘willing’ for God to work through us. We must be willing to die to ourselves, to our flesh and to embrace His will.
For the first time in my life, I’m beginning to understand that my deep desires are really my will for my life. And my desires will largely determine my thinking and behavior. The more I hold on to my flesh or self, the less apt I am to live according to God’s will. So, I must be aware of my desires – monitor my desires – and ask God to reveal to me if they are stemming from my flesh or from His will.
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4
And, I’m recognizing that one key is for me to have a hunger and thirst for God and His ways, His will. A pastor once encouraged me to monitor my hunger level for Jesus. This, he said, was the most important advise that he could give me regarding my relationship with God. Our level of hunger for God – to know Him, to experience him and to follow his ways – is a major aspect of our Christin faith.
I’m understanding the value of this because my hunger level, my desire for God and His ways, will determine the degree to which my will is in union with His.
We make a choice, in our own will, whether we will line up with God’s will. Nee suggests that if we do not yield to God’s will and are not in complete union or harmony with Him, then God will use circumstances and relationships in our life to get our attention. The longer we make a choice to stay outside of God’s will, the greater our trials and afflictions will be.
A key factor that will impact our ability to live in union with God’s will is our choice to place our complete trust in God. Because, if we trust God implicitly, and are willing to lose ourself completely, we will experience this complete harmony.
“Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:29
And of course, if we are in harmony with God, we’ll experience more contentment and peace and joy. When we experience this type of fruit in our life, it favors good health.
So, I’ll ask you…. what is your hunger level for God and His ways? To what degree have you submitted to God and asked Him to help you align your will with His? Have you cried out from your deepest level of your being for this to happen?
So, how do you ‘exercise’ your will? My encouragement to you, if you desire a more abundant life, is to cry out to God for His will to be done in your life. For your will to be in harmony with His. Desire Him more. Have an attitude of greater trust in Him. Lose your life.Abide in Him more often.Yield more completely to God. Give Him more of your heart.
Then, watch Him go to work by His ongoing outpouring of love, grace and power in your life.
“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways (his will), and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live (experience an abundant life) and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.” Deuteronomy 30:15-16
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