498‘These Boots were made for Walking’ was the title of the last Langstaff Letter about ‘Walking in the Spirit’ and we looked at the first key to doing that – ‘Be a life time learner and be committed to grow.’

Today we will look at two further ways we can grow as we learn to walk in the Spirit.

PRACTICE
If we are going to grow, we have to put into practice what we learn. Come to think of it, that is how people grow in all areas of life. Doctors practice medicine. Even though we don’t like the thought of doctors practicing on us, that is part of the process of them developing a doctor’s skill. The same applies to golf. I had no chance of becoming a good golfer, no matter how much I liked golf, because, very simply, I didn’t practice enough. That is how it is with most people. We would like to be good, even very good, at a certain activity, but unless we pay the price and practice it will never happen.

The same thing applies in our ‘Walking in the Spirit.’ We have to practice what we have learned.

Why don’t Christians grow? Very simply, they are often filled with knowledge and not experience. They don’t put what they have learned into practice. We hear a message at church, but we don’t apply it to our lives. ‘We need to be doers of the Word, not just hearers.’ James 1:22

I remember when I first came to America, I kept running into one specific lady at conference after conference. Even when I went back to Australia, there she was at a conference ‘Down Under.’ Now, I am not against conferences, as they can be very dynamic and powerful times, but it we don’t apply what we have learned, it is of little lasting value to go to conference after conference.

Last January, Craig Nelson ministered at our church and we had a wonderful service. Soon after that my wife Dorothy was listening to one of his CD’s, where he shared a testimony. Craig had been a Christian for many years, had gone to Bible School, been a Youth Pastor, and then a Senior Pastor, as well as a successful businessman, started ‘Miracles in the Marketplace’ ministry where God used him greatly in the healing ministry.

Then he received a word from a minister friend Andre Ashby that he had a prophetic call on his life. A call to prophetic ministry. After initially rejecting this word, Craig came to realize it was from God. So what did he do?

  • He studied prophetic ministry.
  • He listened and observed prophetic ministries.
  • He hung around people with a prophetic ministry and then . .
  • He began to put all that he learned into practice and God released a powerful prophetic anointing.

It’s not enough to have a call on your life to a particular ministry. You have to study, learn and then you have to practice and put it into action as you move in the Spirit.

The third key to ‘Walking in the Spirit’ is to –

LET THE HOLY SPIRIT FLOW THROUGH YOU
It is the Holy Spirit working in and through you that enables you to learn and grow in the knowledge that you need and then enables you to put it into practice.

Ezekiel 36:25-27 foretold the work of the Holy Spirit in peoples lives, ‘I will put my Spirit within you and I will cause you to walk in my statutes and you will keep my judgments and do them.’ I like that word ’cause.’ That’s the Holy Spirit at work in you, leading you, impressing you with things to do, causing to you move in certain directions, decisions.

Let me give you an illustration – Years ago, when we lived in Minnetonka, I was leading a Missions Care Group in our home. Midway through the gathering, while people were praying, I felt impressed to walk out the front door and down the driveway to the back of the house. I didn’t know why, but it was like the Holy Spirit caused me to do it. I ended up in the horse barn and to my surprise, I discovered the other door to the corral had been left open and one of the horses was eating all the grain he could. That was dangerous, as he could easily eat too much and get colic and even die, if I had not been led to go down there without knowing what I was doing. It was the Holy Spirit that caused it to happen.

So, there are three steps to walking in the Spirit –

  • Be a life time learner
  • Practice
  • Let the Holy Spirit flow through you

Just remember, ‘These boots were made for walking.’ So, just let us keep walking – ‘Walking in the Spirit.’