The Fullness of the Spirit

After a while, the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. (I Kings 17:7)

Read: I Kings 17:1-7; John 1:16; Acts 11:24, 13:52

What Is God Saying?

The name, Elijah, means Jehovah is my God. The name is well-suited. He was an instrument in God's hand. Miracles were a matter of course throughout his spectacular life. He was, at the same time, ‘A man of like nature with ourselves’ (Jas. 5: 17). This statement precedes a summary of why he was used by God- ‘He prayed fervently.’ God provided even for his physical nourishment in miraculous ways. He ordered the ravens to feed him with bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening and there was plenty to drink from the brook. Our key verse has to do with the way the brook which had been so abundant was now ‘dried up because there was no rain in the land.’

How Does This Apply To Us?

This brings us to the spiritual significance of dried-up brooks in our own lives. We have all known times of plenty. We have also had times when there was a real need. Flowing brooks became rivulets and then trickled out. The sun shone on barren rocks. The dancing joy of flowing water was no more. Have we wondered why? Our key verse tells us the reason, ‘There was no more rain in the land.’ When we watch the streams of spiritual vitality and nourishment dry up, it is because we have not allowed the always available, heaven-sent, healing rain to fall in the highlands of our souls. There has not been enough stillness nor enough openness for the healing rain to gather there. The stream runs dry and causes our lives to become deserts instead of gardens. Sometimes it is because we have allowed a dam of doubt and willfulness to be thrown across our life of prayer which prevents the fullness of God's Spirit from flowing into and through our lives. God can send the rain. We must be willing to receive it and share it. Prayer brings rain to the land. Our connectedness to God's Word and Spirit brings that fullness to our lives.

Pray With Me

With Elijah, Lord, I went at Your command to drink from the brook. In my thirst, I was refreshed. In my discouragement, I was cheered. In my need, I was satisfied. Drinking deeply, my soul revived. It was the place of Your choosing, and the fellowship I had with the living God was sweet. But, Lord, I have also known what it means to watch the brook die away from great fullness to a small trickle. I seemed to be kneeling beside a creek bed of hot stones and scorching sands. Before me was the bleak and blistering evidence of no rain in the land! O God, send the refreshing rain of Your Spirit to the highlands of my soul. Let it be poured out until the brook is full again.

Yet I should know that the heavens of our loving Father are always full of healing rain, always full and always ready. Emptiness is only possible and always inevitable out of Your presence. In Your presence, there is fullness of joy. Even as I ask You to send what I need, I realize I must bend to what You command. The barricade is in me. The dam that keeps back Your mercy is across my own heart. The wheel that opens the floodgates of Heaven's joy lies within my reach. It wants only the yield of my will.

O God, I kneel beside the brook and even now it comes to life. You are waiting only for my willingness. The channel that I have allowed to run dry is now being filled with life that You never fail to supply. For this I am thankful and by this, I shall live.

In the name of Him who is the joy of loving hearts. Amen.

Moving On In The Life of Prayer

The fullness of God's Spirit is the secret of joy and victory in our lives and this comes when we wait in quietness and expectation beside the brook. It may seem dry and empty now, but there is rain in the hills, and there is a snowpack in the mountains. We have only to be receptive in our spirits and obedient in our lives. God has enough refreshing grace. Do we have enough faith to submit to His will? ‘God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us’ (Rom. 5:5). That's the cure for the dry stream beds of life.