Fleeced

This is quoted from "How You Can Be Led by the Spirit of God" by Kenneth Hagin.

Sometimes I'm guilty of putting out a fleece when I pray. It saves me some time praying and getting alone and waiting on God, just to put out my fleece. I have been guilty of asking God for a physical sign to make a decision or to see what He has planned for me!

In putting out a fleece, I pray something like this, "I'll do x,y,z if God shows me a certain sign." Or "God if you want me to do this, You must show me with a sign." Or "Lord, shut this door, or open that door."

Some of those doors the devil might open or he might shut himself. They are on his territory. The Bible calls him the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4). Satan can move in the sense realm. He's the prince of this fleshy world.

Sometimes praying like this works, but sometimes a door is opened that in retrospect you wish you had never crossed the threshhold.

God has a better way of leading His children than a hit-and-miss method. Romans 4:14 does not say, "For as many as are led by fleeces, they are the children of God." It says that we be led by the Spirit of God!

"Yes," someone argues, "but Gideon put out a fleece in the Old Testament."

Didn't Jesus die to give us a new covenant? Why in the world would I want to go back to the old covenant? Jesus died for me so that I can be spiritually alive. The old covenant is for spiritually dead people. I am not spiritually dead. I have the Spirit of God living in me and it makes me alive!

Remember Gideon was not a prophet, a priest or a king. Only those, under the old covenant, were anointed by the Spirit of God.

The Shechinah Glory, the Presence of God, was kept shut up in the Holy of Holies. But when Jesus died on Calvary, the curtain that curtained off the Holy of Holies was rent in twain from top to bottom - and God moved out. He dwells in us!

I no longer put out fleeces. I'm learning to pray and wait on God. I'm learning to talk to God long enough until I know right on the inside what to do! I have the Holy Spirit living inside of me and I'm learning to wait for His directions!

Sometimes in my prayers, I don't get an immediate response in my spirit. It may take days or weeks for me to get that response! I need to work on my patience in waiting for that response! Sometimes I jump forward with both feet, following my own agenda! And sometimes I really hurt the feelings of people without intending to do that! I need to wait, wait, wait, wait until I get either the green light or the red light in my spirit!

Dear God, please give me the patience that I so direly need in talking and praying with You! Thank you, once again and again and again for forgiving me of the mistakes that I make on a daily basis! Thank you for Jesus' and His gift to me! I fall short of your glory every single day that I breathe! Please help to me to see what the Holy Spirit is telling me and to drop my agenda at your feet!