Skip to main content

Follow Me on Facebook

Gretchen Mure Rodriguez

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

Comments

  1. Elsie Montgomery3/10/2012

    Hi Gretchen,
    First, thanks for your comment on my blog. You are an encourager!

    This post of yours is super! And so true. While we fight wars in intercession, getting to the presence and heart of God is the greatest goal in prayer. He is so wonderful. Thanks for directing me to your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown3/12/2012

    Right on, LC! So nice to meet another with a "Burning Heart." Blessings and joy, Gretchen

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When Love Sweeps In (Day 22)

Today we celebrate the day Love took on human form and was birthed into the earth; Christmas day! Love comes and sweeps me off of my feet at times when I least expect it! At times Love comes and overwhelms me and at other times it feels as though my senses have dulled. In fact lately, the times which are usually the most amazing, have felt the driest. Recently, the times I feel Him the most is when I'm just thinking about Him and not making any effort of my own. He comes and initiates conversations with me, or just surprises me with overwhelming love for me that hasn't been earned by anything I have done;  it is a gift.   I now long for Him to come and reveal Himself to me in ways I have nothing to do with.  Such beauty in the absence of striving! Though He is in me, I cannot force a manifestation of His glory. Though I am FILLED with Him, I find myself craving greater consciousness of my holy union with Christ. I realize that I am as close as any human can...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Predicament of Desire

This has been such a beautiful season with the Lord for me personally. I've been so aware of the burning desire in my heart for Him, so grateful that He has fanned the flames of longing. There has been a fresh grace over me this year - a consistent desire to remain aware of the Lord's presence at all times.  Yet in my longing to hear more accurately, see more clearly, and encounter His Kingdom more profoundly, I was actually losing focus. It wasn't that I was getting distracted from this overwhelming desire to know Him more, but the desire itself was becoming larger than the Object of my desire. As I encountered Him more deeply, I also felt the frustration of wanting to be closer. The desire has been so deep, that the Lord finally revealed to me that the desire itself was distracting me. Focusing on what we aren't experiencing, causes us to come to Him with frustration instead of expectation. No matter how much we have experienced His love and have encountered His gl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Day #3 The Secret Power of.....

Fasting Yep, I said the "f" word, but don't stop reading! As I meditate on the various ways I encounter the Lord, the subject of fasting has been swirling around in my spirit. Let me first say that I'm writing on each subject as the Lord prompts, with no particular order of importance to me. There are so many different ways to fast and I was thinking about the fact that in different seasons of my life, I also fasted in different ways. It's not my intention to discuss a current trend in small groups that fasting isn't for today. The Bible is chock full of proof that we are to fast - period.  For many years I did full fasts with water and juicing only. Those were some of the most amazing fasts I have ever done in my life. There was something about the feeling of physical emptiness that enabled me to hear the Lord very clearly. It's something I don't fully understand, but the hunger and weakness quieted my mind. During those years of fasting I re...
Post a Comment
Read more