Training Your Heart to See (3)

9 October 2011

1. Introduction

Acts 2:4 “They spoke with other tongues as the Spirit gave them the utterance.”
Praying in Tongues

- Your spirit is praying (1 Cor.14:14)

- The language is given by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4)

- You open a direct line of communication with the Holy Spirit

- You begin to build and develop your spirit (1 Cor.14:4)

An overflow of this activity of the Holy Spirit is that you receive revelations from the Holy Spirit.
Act 2:11-16 – Prophecy – visions – dreams = language of the Holy Spirit.

2. The Holy Spirit wants to speak to you

1 Cor. 2:9-12 “…that we might know the things that are freely given to us by God.”
Holy Spirit reveals to us what God wants to give us.
Jn. 16:13 He will guide you unto all truth – He will tell you things to come. The Holy Spirit wants to speak to us continually.
Language of the Spirit - not reasoning or logic – flows, spontaneous.

- enters heart as pictures, words, thoughts, impressions.

Must train our spiritual senses to receive the pictures and impressions of the Holy Spirit.

3. Harnessing Your Imagination

Eph. 1:18 “…that the eyes of your understanding (heart) might be opened.”
‘Eyes of your heart” is your imagination.
Your imagination is a faculty of your spirit –

- it is like a TV screen – neither good nor bad

- it is a sense you have been given for a purpose

- it enables you to create images, pictures within your mind

· Things of the past – both good and bad

· Things of the present – current situations, struggles and challenges

· Things of the future – projects, goals, fears.

· Everything that exists started in someone’s imagination – they “saw it”.

· E.g. Creation – started in God’s imagination first

Building – started in someone’s imagination

Sin – started in someone’s imagination then when they step back into physical world they bring the stain with them. Mt.5:27-28.

God uses our imagination to give birth to His plans for us, e.g. Gen – Abraham – look at the stars and at the sand – dream!
Children have strong imaginations – often very sensitive to spirit presence.
Your imagination can give birth to good and to evil.

4. How to Train Your Imagination To “See”

2 Cor.4:18
“Looked at” =4648= to take aim, look around like a sentry, for attention upon
Temporal =4340= endure only for a season
Eternal =166= without beginning or end, never cease
One key way of focusing attention and training your imagination is meditation.

Josh 1:8 Note the progression – Meditate – Speak – Do.

Meditate =1897= to imagine – to repeat over and over the same picture.

= to ponder dwell on continually.

Prosper =6743= to advance, succeed, push forward.

Practical Keys

(i) Fasting – fast off images that dull senses.

(ii) Cleansing – present your mind and imagination to the Holy Spirit for cleansing

- break attraction, attachment to negative thoughts

- speak to old “thought trees” in your mind – curse the thing

(iii) Focus Attention –

(a) As when pray in tongues – picture who or what you are praying for

-and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal something about that situation

-look for spontaneous images/pictures

(b) As we go to sleep – focus on a word or person, take it to Jesus and ask

the Holy Spirit to reveal something during the night in a dream.

(iv) Meditate upon – practise meditations

(a) Word of God - 2 Tim.3:16-18

(b) Lord Himself – Ps.63:6 (His names) – Ps.23

(d) Prophetic Words – 1 Tim. 4:14/1 Tim.1:18

(e) Things that are good – Phil.4:8

5 How to See into the Word of God

Heb. 4:12 Word of God is alive – living, not dead – speaking. Full of real people, real events, spirit and natural world connecting.
Take a story in the Bible e.g. Luke 7:11-15

- Read it over and over until familiar

- Pray quietly in tongues – ask the Lord to speak to you

- Picture the story in your imagination – enter the story

- Look around - what do you see?

- What do you feel?

- What is happening?

Expect to experience Jesus in the story!