Page 48 - The Importance of Prayer Student Textbook

According to the NLT we will discover that the Holy Spirit is passionate to use us for the glory of God.
The Spirit is jealous to use us for the glory of the Father and when we walk in the flesh the Spirit is
crushed by our unfaithfulness. Other verses call this grieving the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 4:30) NKJV tells
us that the Holy Spirit yearns longingly to use us to His fullest capacity. How can we allow Him to work in
us as He longs to do? Notice I chose to use the words, He longs to do.

Again, I have called this gold nugget the lust of the Holy Spirit or yielding to the Holy Spirit. This begins
by recognizing we are to live as a living sacrifice to God, according to Romans 12:1-2. I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is your reasonable service. (NIV spiritual act of worship) And be not conformed to this
world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. Here is a problem we run into as we closely
examine this verse. The sacrifice that is to be offered is a living sacrifice and can wander off the alter of
surrender. Yes, our hearts are prone to wonder, prone to leave the God we love. What then is our hope?
Romans 6:13 has already taught us to, Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness
unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as
instruments of righteousness unto God. (KJV) NLT translates this verse this way, Do not let any part of
your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you
were dead, but now you have new life. So, use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for
the glory of God.

To understand these verses James 4:5, Romans 12:1-2 and Romans 6:13 I believe that we need to put
them all together. In James we see that the Holy Spirit longs jealously with deep passions to use us for
the glory of the father. But in Romans 12:1-2 we recognize that we are a living sacrifice that can climb
off the alter. But in Romans 6:13 we are encouraged to present every part of our body to the Holy Spirits
power, to do what is right for the glory of God. Let me expound a bit more.

Both above translations pay special attention to the fact that we are not to “Yield our members” or
“Parts of our body” unto sin, but we are to present every part of our body to God. What does this look
like practically? Here is a practice that I have put into action almost every day. I start by yielding or
presenting my mind to our Lord. I want to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
(II Corinthians 10:5) I ask the Holy Spirit to let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart to
be acceptable in His sight, oh Lord my strength and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14) I recognize that the
battlefield is the mind and I want every thought to be pleasing to Him. Something that I have begun to
pray about is that my dreams would even be dreams that would be pleading to Him.

The next part of my body that I yield to the Holy Spirit is the unruliest member of our body. The Bible
teaches us that death and life are in the power of the tongue. (Proverbs 18:21) I encourage you to be
mindful of the truths found in James 3 about our tongue. If we could control our tongues, we would be
perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. We can make a large horse go wherever we
want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot
chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that

makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And among all the parts of the
body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can
set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. People can tame all kinds of animals, birds,
reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes
it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God.
And so, blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is

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