Easter Workshop 1981
OBEYING THE PROMPTINGS OF THE SPIRIT IN A WORSHIP-MEETING
-Andy Raine

Topic Summary 1. Obedience – an easy way?
2. Be yourself
3. Waiting for a tidal wave?
4. Feelings
5. Whose voice is it?
6. Come to share
7. Preparation
8. In the Spirit
9. When to prophecy
10. Fear of God
11. Grieving the Spirit

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1. Obedience – an easy way?

Look at this extract from the Sermon on the Mount sequence of Dennis Potter’s TV play “Son of Man.” (Peter is a big, burly fisherman.)

Jesus: “Do not set yourself against the man who does you wrong. No! If he hits you – ah, but what then you say? What about that, then? Well – if he hits you on the right cheek, turn and offer him the left cheek. Yes – it will hurt twice as much, my friends!!”

Peter: “Especially if I was to do it, Master.”

Jesus: “Or if a Roman Soldier was to do it- ? Then turn the other cheek. Turn the other
cheek.”

God never promised obedience would be easy, by he does demand obedience. It may be a small thing He asks us to do, and obey Him in, but often our pride holds us prisoner. The choice to obey is ours – how often we miss out!

2. Be yourself

Never say “I could never do that,” on the basis of past limitations too quickly. When God calls someone to a ministry He often awakens in the person a deep longing for this. This desire is a mixture of longing and fear. The fear is because the task seems greater than our capabilities. But the longing finally amounts to an ability to do otherwise! Wake up, be yourself. Don’t carry a big tag round your neck saying ‘WORTHLESS,’ for to do so is simply pride. As Arnold Bittlinger has put it:

“To say ‘I have no gifts’ is to lie to God and to the world.
Instead of giving yourself, you are burdening your fellow-
Christians with a superfluous facsimile of someone else.
Whoever doesn’t give himself to his neighbor in his
originality gives nothing, just hides his actual gift in a
napkin under the table. A copy of someone else does
nothing to help build up the Kingdom.”

3. Waiting for a tidal wave?

There are many people who have been known to pray, begin a song, lift their hands, dance, put a hand on someone’s shoulder or prophesy. Don’t wait to feel super-inspired- OR (worse still) wait for the atmosphere in the meeting to be spiritual. Obedience is the key. Learn to know God’s voice. The flow of the Spirit is easier to discern if you’re prepared to walk into deep waters in obedience. Any coward will move in the flow on the rare occasions that a tidal wave sweeps them off the bank! Don’t wait for a tidal wave.

4. Feelings

At the 1980 Easter Workshop John Skinner shared a mime about 3 men praying. The 1st man God came and spoke to clearly. The 2nd man God came and hugged –He did not speak, but allowed the man to feel His presence. The 3rd man God stood in front of silently and did not allow to feel His presence, but worshipped Him anyway, recognizing His presence by faith. God loves them all equally, but it is the 3rd man who knows Him best. He will at times, of course, feel God’s presence or hear Him speak.

5. Whose voice is it?

At the times we feel a prompting or sense a “voice” directing us, but are uncertain of its source we can in the name of Jesus take authority and silence the voice of Satan, and also ask to put aside our own imaginations (11 Cor. 10: 4-6) Usually we won’t even need to do this. We will recognize His voice. On the occasions we are not able to feel His presence what we know of Him will be a good guide. The relationship test enables us to say 1) He wouldn’t say that; I know Him enough to know that, or 2) He might say that- His logic is different from my own. (This is a good test when someone else brings you a word they believe is from God.)

6. Come to share

1 Corinthians 14: 26 says ‘How is it then, brethren? When you come together every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

7. Preparation

Whether or not you prepare what you will share (e.g. song, teaching or whatever) it is important that your own heart be prepared. (“Be still and know that I am God.”) Practice or preparation is not unspiritual – King David appointed singers, musicians and dancers who might become skillful to offer the fruits if their dedication back to God. There is room for practiced singing and new songs, for prepared teaching and spontaneous teaching from the Word of God and so on. The necessary balancing factor in both cases is that we be submitted to the Holy Spirit.

8. In the Spirit

Often we hear someone ask “Oh, but was it in the Spirit?” Paul tells us not just to be filled with the Spirit, but also to walk in the Spirit day by day (Gal. 5:16.) The obvious answer is that we should not only know the Spirit to be within us, but ourselves be “in the Spirit,” in tune with Him. In Rev. 1:10 John tells us he was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s day” and then the revelation came to him. The confusing aspect of the phrase “in the Spirit” is that we are often unclear what is being referred to – the thing? The action? Or the person? For example “dancing in the Spirit” means different things to different people. It can mean that the person is in the Spirit who is perhaps hopping from foot to foot in sheer joy, much as a solo or congregational singing always is far better when the singer or singers is/are in the Spirit. It could be that someone will share a dance that God the Holy Spirit has previously given them, just as someone may share a new song the Holy Spirit gave them in their own devotional time. Thirdly, and this is what I would properly call “dancing in the Spirit,” the Spirit may release to someone at a given time movements which are at the same time spontaneous and directed by Him, but like all prophecy or worship usually expressed through that person in their uniqueness, much as ‘singing in the Spirit’ is a song spontaneously given but directed by the Holy Spirit whether it be in tongues or the singer’s native language. All three types of manifestations are valid, though different
a) Singer, dancer or teacher in the Spirit
b) Song, dance or the teaching previously given by the Spirit
c) Singing, dancing or teaching as directly inspired by the Spirit

9. When to prophesy

The following is Don Basham’s answer to the question?

Q: How can you tell if God is nudging you to prophecy in a meeting? Does He tell you everything that you are to say or just give you a few words or sentences to begin with? How can you discern whether it is really God, or just your emotions, or even satanic influence?

A: A basic spiritual principle needs to be applied in our understanding of how spiritual gifts are to be manifested. The principle is this: All progress in the Christian life is by faith. As I understand the operation of the gift of prophecy, God seldom overwhelms us with such a powerful revelation that we serve merely as a kind of dummy for a Divine Ventriloquist. Rather the “nudge” to prophecy will most often be so slight that it takes a certain boldness and courage to speak out. God doesn’t move on us in a way which violates our free will. He waits for us to choose to be obedient to His leading. Frankly, I’m suspicious anytime I hear a person say, “God made me say that,” or, “I just had to speak out!” The devil or an unholy spirit may compel, but the Holy Spirit never compels. More often than not the Holy Spirit will prompt us only with a spiritual thought, or a sort of inner quickening, or even a brief verse from scripture. But the whole prophecy seldom is made known to us until we begin to speak. This means we are seldom sure of the exact content or even whether or not it is God until we actually speak forth the words. We have to run the risk of being “in the flesh” – in other words, making a mistake. But if we are mistaken, or are in error (which will not happen too often) God has means to check on the prophecy. It is to be evaluated or judged by those who hear (1 Cor. 14:29, 1 Thess. 5:19-21)

10. Fear of God

If we pray for the fear of God on a gathering it will usually have two effects: a) it will quieten the noisy and b) it will goad the lazy or fearful into participation. In addition, because of free will and man’s stubbornness the occasional meeting-monopolizer may need actively discouraging, just as a weaker member may need to be actively encouraged to open their mouth.

11. Grieving the Spirit – (or Three Ways to flunk it when God gives you a prophecy to speak out

From my own bitter experience, here are 3 ways to grieve the Spirit with disobedience when He wants to use you in prophecy in a meeting. All disobedience is sin, but the worst of the three is
(i) Hold on to what God wanted you to speak out. Go home miserable, realizing that whoever the word was for has been cheated out of it by your disobedience.
(ii) Pray that God will give it to someone else (and then watch them struggle to give a word God had chosen to communicate through you.
(iii) – still disobedience – Compromise it (e.g. translate an ‘I the Lord your God, would say to you’ word into a ‘The Lord says that He…’ word or an ‘I think the Lord is saying that’ in order to not seem presumptuous. Instead you distract from the word by bringing attention to yourself, the very thing you sought to avoid!