by Charlie Rogers

After writing the first part of this teaching, I wondered how many concentrated on the wrong point in the letter. Maybe you focused on the possibility of having to cut back on your number of trips to Wal-Mart. Or maybe you focused on having to cut that extra garage off your house. If you focused on this, your focus was not on target for the teaching.

The whole point of the teaching was to not stop too quickly from receiving full instructions from God. I have found out myself and I know others have also, that when receiving something from God in the way of direction in some area of our life, whether it is financial or otherwise, to just stop with one thing and not wait on Him for the rest of the details. This is especially true on the “how to go about it details.” I don’t know about you, but I want to know every detail about His plan for what He is telling me to do for that moment. Not only all the details but His perfect timing also.

The Holy Spirit might give you an unction to give into this ministry and you give as you were given God’s unction to do so. Yet immediately the enemy comes to steal that word from your heart that the Holy Spirit directed. Immediately the thought comes “oh well, it’s just another offering,” or you start looking for a hundredfold return on the gift in the form of money, which is false doctrine, since it was never promised in the Word of God. When it doesn’t happen, immediately you lose all faith in what you just did, which was hear and obey God. Yet if a person follows up and stays in God’s presence and continues communing with Him, that person might find out what the big picture is concerning the offering, and have their faith increased concerning what God is doing in their life. So then faith concerning the ability to hear God is also being exercised in the process.

We as believers should not give to get nor should we expect to receive anything from our giving, with the exception of souls in heaven. Everything we receive from Him whether it is salvation, financial blessings, or healing in our bodies is all by His grace. I know you’re thinking, “Then why in the last letter did you tell me to follow through with praying in tongues when God gives me instructions?” We must always follow through with things in the Word of God after His instructions. That’s how we confirm HIS direction and HIS steps, by applying things in the Word of God.

It isn’t just praying in other tongues that brings us to the correct place and confirms what we’re doing to be of God. But there are other things in the Word that brings us to that place also.

Eph 5:17-21 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God. NKJV

Notice verse 17 says to be wise and understand what God’s will is for our life. That means if you don’t UNDERSTAND what His will is you’re going to be considered an unwise person. That’s because God has given us everything necessary to find His will and walk in it. You and I have no excuse not to be wise. We have no excuse to not be able to find the will of the Lord and walk in it in our lives. He goes on and says in verse 18 to not be drunk with wine but be filled with the Spirit. Now why did He liken this being filled with the Spirit to being drunk with wine? What He is saying here is be filled with His presence and be controlled by that new creation inside you, your born again man. A person who is drunk on wine or liquor has no inhibitions, his emotions are desensitized, and the liquor controls him, and not outside stimuli (for you redneck believers that means outside circumstances). His problems are covered by the effects of the alcohol. So what we have to do is to do things that render ourselves in control by our born again spirit and the Holy Spirit. Just like what alcohol does to our natural senses and emotions, worship turns our emotions toward and over to God. Not letting the circumstances control them.

19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,

20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

So He went on and told us what to do in verses 19 and 20, and what He is talking about is worship. To find the will of God and understand it is to begin to speak to yourself and one another in spiritual songs, and making melody in your heart to the Lord. When you begin to spend time worshiping the Lord, you begin to turn your emotions away from the circumstances that are dictating to your emotions to react a certain way. You are turning them toward and over to God, submersing them in His presence so that they can be controlled and led by your born again spirit, and what the Holy Spirit is communicating to it.

“So now Charlie, would you bring all this together for me?” Gladly, you are praying to receive direction from what you believe is God’s voice. In the past you jumped up from prayer and ran off out the door to do God’s bidding, with a temporary faith only to fail in a very short time. Now it’s different. You are praying and God gives you something He wants you to do. This time instead of jumping up and hurrying off, you continue lifting up what you have heard. You bathe it in the Holy Ghost by praying in other tongues. You combine that with worshiping God, making melody in your heart to the Lord, which will turn your emotions that are running rampant over to God, and then they aren’t as apt to talk you out of something God told you to do.

At the same time because of praying in tongues and all the worship you’re bathing the instructions in, you’re listening for further details and the timing on what you’re supposed to be doing. All the while you’re putting things into action to hopefully prevent a faith failure. We know when you pray in the Holy Ghost you’re building yourself up on your most holy faith. We also know that when you hang around God by spending time worshipping Him, you become more like Him, and end up with the God kind of faith.