Psalm 143:8—Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to You I lift my soul.
My two sons and I enjoy watching Star Trek Voyager. We regularly follow the space adventures and mini-plots that revolve around the homesick Voyager crew desperately trying to reach the Alpha Quadrant. As I sat down to view a new episode I felt a direct nudging by the Holy Spirit to go and pray.
“But Lord, do you really want me to go pray right now!” Immediately I recalled a lesson our home group recently learned from our Experiencing God study. When God speaks that is the time to act. I could make excuses not to pray until later and potentially miss God’s leading or be obedient and in accordance with His will. I got up to go pray.
“Okay Lord, what do You want me to pray about!” The Holy Spirit brought several things to mind. Later that evening, while reading John Maxwell’s book, The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, I was inspired with an idea directly related to what I had been in prayer over earlier. It gave me hope about a course of action that seems crucial to our ministry. It was exciting and encouraging for I believe had I blown-off praying, I would have missed what God wanted me to discern from a chapter in Maxwell’s book.
Inspiration from the Holy Spirit when immediately acted upon in obedience never fails to yield godly fruit. God speaks—the more pressing question is am I listening! The key is not to live for inspiration for then we become weary and dissatisfied with our daily duty. We begin looking for the exceptional and miss what God is doing in the ordinary.
There are times when I know a song is inside me that God wants to breathe into life. Therefore, when I pick up my guitar I don’t have to struggle to write—the song forms naturally. But if I tried to write a new song every day I would quickly become a frustrated artist—prolific perhaps but with a binder of mediocre music. Ultimately, the way I know if a song is from the Lord is by the effect it has on people’s hearts.
That is the way it is with inspiration. God will take us when He is ready to the mountaintop to give us that fresh word or blessing we need to serve Him so long as we do not lose sight of Him and start worshiping the mountain!
Inspiration
