Emotions and Your Spirit

God gave us emotions on purpose. It wasn't for us to be led by them, but for the expression of the deep things that stir within us. The other day I sensed I needed to birth something in the spirit which emotionally can really get to me. I wanted to be sure my desire to hit this thing in prayer was coming from Him and not what I was feeling in my soul, so that I wouldn't become vulnerable to an emotional burden He doesn't want me to carry.

This morning as I began to pray with focus, faith, and determination, I sensed the joy of the Lord's presence. This was my key to know that I was, in fact, being led by the Spirit. My prayers fueled the faith in my spirit, positively affecting my emotions. When I was done praying I began to understand how our prayers can be hindered or helped by our emotions.

When we are led by the flesh into prayer, it is a lot of work! It is true that circumstances which influence our emotions, will lead us to pray, but if we remain centered on the commotion of our soul we will miss the power coming from our spirit. Let me explain it another way. When we are upset about something, we go to God in prayer. However, if we continue to focus on the problem and/or the way we feel about it, we won't be able to tap into the answer which comes by the Spirit. Our emotions can lead us into prayer, but there must come a point where we go beyond what we feel in our soul (mind, will, & emotions) and discover the answers that are found IN HIM! 

On the flip-side, our emotions are indicators of what is happening in our spirit. They are an outlet for what you feel from the Lord. When we go into prayer with our baggage (cares, worries, etc.) we feel one way, but when we leave those natural feelings at His feet and go straight into His presence, we will come out feeling a totally different way ~ emotions turn from heaviness to joy, from worry to excitement, etc. God gave us our emotions on purpose, but, we must come to the place where our spirit affects our emotions instead of our emotions affecting our spirits.

To me this was the key! As we grow stronger in our spirit by spending time focusing on the Lord, our spirit influences our emotions in a greater way than our emotions influence our spirit. If we pay attention to our emotions, we will have a good idea of our faith level, what we are thinking about, and where we must re-adjust the focus of our thoughts. 

"In His presence is fullness of joy!" ~Psalms 16:11