Four Questions to Ask God Every Day

Excerpt taken from, "Living in the Power of the Holy Spirit" by Charles F. Stanley

"From time to time I meet people who are having a hard time and who sometimes admit they are discouraged and depressed. As I ask them for details about their lives, I often discover that they are acting totally on their own strength and energy. they are trusting in their experience, their education, their acquired skills, and their natural know-how. In some cases, they are trusting in others to provide for them. Their discouragement is rooted in the fact that they are failing in some way or others are failing them. They are disappointed in themselves or in others."

Anytime you try to reach your full potential using human resources alone you are likely to fail. The real key to reaching your potential lies in trusting God to help you become your best. We do this by actively (and verbally) placing our trust in the Lord.

There are 4 questions to ask the Lord daily:

1) What do You want me to do? Then be open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit deep within your heart. Trust Him to give you precise guidance and direction. God speaks using a still small voice deep within you. You might sense a "bubbling up" of words or thoughts. * Keep in mind, the voice of God, the direction of God, will always - always agree with scripture and ultimately bear the fruits of the Spirit (which are "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" Galatians 5:22-23).

2) How do You want me to act? Ask the Holy Spirit to show you how you are to accomplish whatever goals He sets before you...then listen up for that still, small voice!

3) When do You want me to act? We often fail because we get ahead of God (my personal struggle) or we lag behind Him (my husband's personal struggle). When you act can be as important as how you act and what you do.

4) How can I best represent You today? The Holy Spirit wants to use you to influence others not only through what you do and say, but simply by your presence in any group of people. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you the joy, peace, and forgiving spirit that will act as a witness to Christ and allow others to see Christ in YOU!

We ourselves can not be "good enough" on our own. As a child, growing up in church, I was taught that in order to get to Heaven you must be "good enough"...do good works...go to church... obey the 10 commandments, etc... The problem is that none of us is "good enough" ~ we were born with human sin nature - that is why we were given the cross and more importantly the resurrection. We will never be good enough on our own. We must put our trust in God and believe that Jesus died on the cross for us, and that if we repent and turn from our sins, we can know that His blood covers and washes them away, and as we turn from our sin and are born-again/resurrected just like Jesus was, that we can have eternal life. (eternal does not mean just after we die either....TODAY is part of eternity - you can have an abundant peaceful, joyful life by knowing God TODAY!)

It is only as we allow the Spirit to do his work in us, and open ourselves up to His power and presence that we will be transformed until we develop the same character and personality 'traits' that are truly loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and under control at all times (Fruits of the Spirit, Gal 5:22-23)