The "HOW TO" of Walking in the Spirit
“Yes, brother Scott, but HOW DO I walk in the Spirit?!”
“Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh” so says Galatians 5:16. And often after attempting for forty-five minutes from a pulpit to motivate people toward a desire to walk in the Spirit, the HOW TO question is one I get rather often.
One might assume that one of the great problems in the Church is that no one seems to really want to walk in the Spirit as they ought.
And while that may be the case, perhaps more as often than we think is the case of those who have a desire to walk in the Spirit over the flesh but find the “how” to be rather elusive.
Perhaps you’re in that category.
If you are one of those people constantly asking, “how do I do that?”… APTAT may just be your answer.
APTAT is an acronym heard John Piper suggest in an open forum and is the best thing I’ve seen or heard to date that gets this practical in helping you and me to practice walking in the Spirit.
When in the face of a situation wherein we are aware of a need to act in the Spirit, whether a matter of obedience, surrender, resistance, speech, action, reaching a goal or whatever – remember the following:
A – Admit you are powerless. Jesus said “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” The efforts of the flesh yields nothing of godly nor eternal value. Admitting that is the first major step toward victory. “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
P – Pray. Ask God to help you to operate in that moment or situation according to power and direction of His Spirit.
T – Trust. Believe that your admission of powerlessness coupled with a prayer of faith positions you to receive what the Lord has promised. He is present, His is powerful, and He is accessible to you. He is faithful and He will do it.
A – Act! Don’t just sit there. Move ahead into action! Move, trusting that it is His strength and power bringing you toward your godly goal. “If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised.” Act in that strength!
T – Thank God. Thank the Sovereign Lord that He supplied the ability to do everything that you just did to set these Spirit-wheels into motion.
While no one can claim to have all the answers on this mysterious aspect of our sanctification (we are all certainly always in process of learning how to walk in the Spirit until we die), APTAT is, for many of us, a starting point.
And a starting point is exactly what you may not have had until now.
Even with APTAT, we would be wise to remain open to any suggestions for improvement or further insight on this matter. God is ever informing us on the topic.
Nonetheless, you and I can live to the limit of this light and get started today and use APTAT to meet out our victory by tapping into the ever-present, indwelling power of the Spirit of God within us.
Remember! APTAT!
