How to Walk in the Spirit?
Walking in the Spirit involves starting the day in prayer, feeding on the Word of God, and doing the things that your hands find to do with faithfulness and diligence, while depending on the Holy Spirit to guide and direct you.
William MacDonald teaches on 'How to Walk in the Spirit,' emphasizing that it involves starting each day with prayer, confession, and worship to become a clean vessel for God. He explains that walking in the Spirit includes feeding on the Word of God, performing daily tasks with faithfulness, and being responsive to God's will in everyday interruptions and disappointments. MacDonald encourages believers to continually confess sin, praise God, and obey the Holy Spirit's leading throughout the day, ultimately resting in His guidance and management of their lives. The sermon highlights the importance of depending on the Holy Spirit to produce fruit in our lives for God's glory.
Text
Â"This I say then, Walk in the SpiritÂ...Â" (Gal. 5:16)
Exactly what is involved in walking in the Spirit? Actually it is not as complicated and impractical as some tend to think. Here is what a dayÂ's walk in the Spirit would be like!
First, you start the day in prayer. You confess all known sin in your life; this makes you a clean vessel and therefore usable by God. You spend time in praise and worship; this gets your soul in tune. You turn over control of your life to Him; this makes you available for the Lord to live His life through you. In this act of rededication, you Â"cease from needless scheming and leave the ruling of your life to Him.Â"
Next, you spend time feeding on the Word of God. Here you get a general outline of GodÂ's will for your life. And you may also receive some specific indication of His will for you in your present circumstances.
After your quiet time, you do the things that your hands find to do. Ordinarily they will be the prosaic, routine, mundane duties of life. This is where a lot of people have wrong ideas. They think that walking in the Spirit is foreign to the world of aprons and overalls. Actually it is mostly composed of faithfulness and diligence in oneÂ's daily work.
Throughout the day you confess and forsake sin as soon as you are aware of it. You praise the Lord as His blessings come to mind. You obey every impulse to do good, and refuse every temptation to evil.
Then you take what comes to you during the day as being His will for you. Interruptions become opportunities to minister. Disappointments become His appointments. Phone calls, letters, visitors are seen as part of His plan.
Harold Wildish quoted the following summary in one of his books:
Â"As you leave the whole burden of your sin, and rest upon the finished work of Christ, so leave the whole burden of your life and service, and rest upon the present inworking of the Holy Spirit.Â"
Â"Give yourself up, morning by morning, to be led by the Holy Spirit and go forth praising and at rest, leaving Him to manage you and your day. Cultivate the habit all through the day, of joyfully depending upon and obeying Him, expecting Him to guide, to enlighten, to reprove, to teach, to use, and to do in and with you what He wills. Count upon His working as a fact, altogether apart from sight or feeling. Only let us believe in and obey the Holy Spirit as the Ruler of our lives, and cease from the burden of trying to manage ourselves; then shall the fruit of the Spirit appear in us, as He wills, to the glory of God.Â"
Sermon Outline
- I. Starting the Day in Prayer
- A. Confess all known sin
- B. Spend time in praise and worship
- C. Turn over control of your life to God
- II. Feeding on the Word of God
- A. Get a general outline of God's will for your life
- B. Receive specific indication of God's will for you
- III. Doing the Things That Your Hands Find to Do
- A. Faithfulness and diligence in daily work
- IV. Confessing and Forsaking Sin
- A. Confess sin as soon as you are aware of it
- B. Forsake sin and obey every impulse to do good
- V. Taking What Comes as God's Will
- A. See interruptions as opportunities to minister
- B. See disappointments as God's appointments
Key Quotes
“As you leave the whole burden of your sin, and rest upon the finished work of Christ, so leave the whole burden of your life and service, and rest upon the present inworking of the Holy Spirit.” — William MacDonald
“Give yourself up, morning by morning, to be led by the Holy Spirit and go forth praising and at rest, leaving Him to manage you and your day.” — William MacDonald
“Cultivate the habit all through the day, of joyfully depending upon and obeying Him, expecting Him to guide, to enlighten, to reprove, to teach, to use, and to do in and with you what He wills.” — William MacDonald
Application Points
- Start your day in prayer, confessing all known sin and turning over control of your life to God.
- Feed on the Word of God to get a general outline of God's will for your life and receive specific indications of His will for you.
- Do the things that your hands find to do with faithfulness and diligence, and see interruptions as opportunities to minister and disappointments as God's appointments.