The Secret Of Spiritual Power

The basic need of a disciple of Jesus Christ is not seeking for more power from God, but more brokenness. Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong”. When we look into the lives of those twelve disciples, we observe them arguing over who is the greatest; asking to sit on the Lord’s right hand and on His left; desiring to call down fire from heaven upon those who are against them; hesitating to wash each other’s feet; standing against the need for the Lord to go the cross, even drawing the sword to defend them in the garden. They were not filled with power from above until they were of one mind and one accord, together in one place on the day of Pentecost. Until the day of Pentecost, they were just individuals seeking for themselves.

What a pathetic situation it would have been to pour out the Holy Spirit in His fullness upon the disciples in such a condition! They were thoroughly unfit and unprepared to handle such power. Why? Not because they were insincere. No doubt they were very sincere. After all, they had forsaken everything and were following the Lord. Nevertheless, they were yet unbroken. They were following the Lord and even had a taste of spiritual power, but they had not yet taken up the Cross. They did not understand when the Lord told them repeatedly, they must take up the Cross, but they themselves could not understand what He meant. They even sought to prevent the Lord from taking up HIS cross (Matthew 16:21-24). They could not be entrusted with much power because they were not sufficiently dead to themselves. The slightest accomplishment would only be grounds for foolish boasting and further arguments to see who was to be the greatest among them. Hence, they were told to tarry in Jerusalem and wait until they would be endued with power from on high. As proud men they were found arguing on many occasions, but as broken men they were finally in one mind and one accord. Thus, the Spirit came, and with the Spirit, the fullness of power.

A broken spirit is a peaceful spirit and able to abide with others. While waiting for the power in those days in the upper room, they must have been praying fervently, sharing their testimonies of walking with the Lord and how they could not understand Him fully, and how they had left Him alone and fled away when He was arrested, Peter must have been sharing his heart breaking testimony of how he was denying the Lord, even though he was warned of it by the Lord. These all have led them to brokenness, and they came to the end of themselves. Contentious, unbroken, hard and stubborn people can never be in one accord.

Christians today are encouraged to seek more power, more anointing, and more gifts. Indeed, as the Lord calls us back to the Cross to become disciples of Jesus, He intends to first humble us before empowering us. The Lord’s Life is a rich Life, and it fills the believer with the ALL fullness of God. The question is not how to get more of the Lord, but how to release the Life, which is already hidden within us, concealed behind the veil of our flesh. To put it another way, it is not more of the Lord that we need, but less of ourselves. We must be broken. With less of us, there would be more of Him in our life!

Despite this spiritual truth, notice how little attention is paid to the necessity of brokenness among those who so eagerly speak of the power of God. We should keep ourselves away from listening to anyone who teaches us about the power of God but does not emphasise the necessity of brokenness. Invariably the power, once received, will pollute the spirit and pride will set in. Humility, brokenness, suffering, pouring out our lives, weakness, self-denial, taking up the Cross – these spiritual secrets seem to be disappearing among the seekers of power. How deceptive it is!

Brokenness is a stage where we come to the end of our self-life and recognising that our only hope is our total dependence on God for anything and everything. It begins the path to true repentance. A broken spirit is a peaceful spirit which is ready to be unnoticed and will never seek for position and popularity. Discipleship is the process of tearing down in order to build us up. He makes us humble before empowering us. Any power that comes not through brokenness will ruin us. We must never seek the power of Pentecost, without first going through the suffering of the Cross. This would result in a life which is totally free from the circumstances.