Word Without Spirit & Faith Will Profit Us Nothing

by Anita Williams

We have been studying how the Word of the Lord, spoken in faith, can become a Shield of Faith to us and those that we are interceding for, however; let's consider the following instruction from the Word of God, lest we initiate a lifeless tradition, that will bear no fruit.

This is a Biblical truth, worthy of deep and personal consideration: If we only speak the Word of God as a method, or a way to get the results that we desire, and it is not a Word that comes from the heart of the Father, a genuine faith -- that springs from a personal and deep heart felt belief - and a desire to bring the Lordship of Jesus Christ into any circumstance that we are addressing, there will be no Heaven sent life and power in it, and therefore, no benefit to us, others, and the kingdom. This kind of faith and power is born not just from need and information, but must come from RELATIONSHIP, TRUST, COMMITMENT, TOTAL DEPENDENCE, REVELATION, AND INSPIRATION.

That is a sobering statement, but I believe that it is born out, in the Word of God and is evidenced and confirmed in the lack of fruit from some of our "learned prayers and confessions," that have unintentionally become soulish rituals.

Soulish repetitions, become vain repetitions, and they do not become Swords in the Spirit, nor Shields of Faith.

If we religiously spend our time saying memorized confessions and prayers, that are void of spiritual life, they will fall powerless in the spiritual realm, without producing the desired result. They will become dead works, rather that fruit in the kingdom, that is born of the Spirit.

Spiritual life, and fruit that remains, can only flow from, a deep and abiding relationship with our Father, our Savior, and in communion with the Holy Spirit. Abiding in the Living Vine, will always result in the outflow of spiritual inspiration and faith. This will prepare us to have the Holy Spirit and the Word conceive in us that which was sent from the heart of the Father. That conception will give birth to the works that we were created for. Those God breathed things, that were prepared ahead of time, that we should walk in. These divinely inspired works are brought forth in our lives, by the inner working of the Holy Spirit, as we abide in Christ and walk by faith. They are NOT DEPENDENT on what we say or do, independent of God, but in our total trust born of our relationship with God, and in believing, receiving, and obeying, what He speaks to our heart, through His Word and by His Spirit. (Eph 2:10)

Prayers that are coming only from a "trained soul," that is seeking a desired end, will be lifeless. Yet, the same prayer that is inspired and breathed on by the Holy Spirit, will have spiritual power and be alive and effectual. It is not the words that we speak, but the source of the words that are spoken. Memorized phrases coming from a soul that is seeking to get a desire end, will not bring the same results as the prayers that flow from listening to, leaning on, and being inspired by the Holy Spirit. Give Him your ear, before you begin. Acknowledge your need of His wisdom, direction, inspiration, ability, and power. In other words, make a place for the Holy Spirit. Don't try to do spiritual things without Him. There is no spiritual power that emanates from us, without it being the outflow of the Holy Spirit within us.

If our prayers or confessions come from the memory bank of our soul, without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, even if they are based on scripture, these soulish/religious confessions have no life in them. The difference is the difference between leaning on the arm of the flesh or trusting in and being led by the Spirit of the Lord.

Jer 2:13 For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken ME, the Fountain of Living Waters, and they have hewn for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, which cannot hold water.

Jn 7:38 He who believes on Me (Jesus), as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water."

v. 39 This He spoke of THE SPIRIT, whom those who believed in Him were to receive...

So, in Jer 2:13, we see that the reference to the Fountain of Living Waters, was a reference to forsaking the SPIRIT OF THE LORD.

When we fail to give place to the Holy Spirit and acknowledging our need for Him, we are leaning on the arm of the flesh. I wonder if we will ever know this side of heaven how many things have failed to produce fruit in the kingdom and in our personal lives, because we initiated it in our soul, carried it out in the flesh, by leaning on our own abilities and strengths, and it was like a broken cistern, that held no water. Any thing that is living and life giving that comes from us, will have to be initiated in the heart of the Father, conceived by the Holy Spirit, and carried out in His strength, anointing, and direction. Jesus said it was that way for Him, and as He was sent into the world by the Father, He said, so send I you. He was sent to hear and do what the Father said, and we are sent in the same way. We hear from the Father, and we speak and work in the power of the Holy Spirit. That brings fruit that will remain. Jn 15:16 & 20:21

Jer 17:5 Thus says the Lord: Cursed [with great evil] is the strong man who trusts in and relies on frail man, making weak [human] flesh his arm, and whose mind and heart turn aside from the Lord.

v.6 For he shall be like a shrub or a person naked and destitute in the desert; and he shall not see when good cometh, but shall dwell in the parched places, in the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.

v.7 [Most] blessed is the man who believes in, trusts in, and relies on the Lord, and whose hope and confidence the Lord is.

v.8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters that spreads out its roots by the river; and it shall not see and fear when heat comes; but its leaf shall be green. It shall not be anxious and full of care in the year of drought, nor shall it cease yielding fruit.

This is a graphic picture of those who depend on themselves and what they can do, and those who trust in, lean on, and rely completely in the Lord. One is without the desired fruit, and the other never ceases to yield fruit.

Jn 15:4 Abide in Me, and I will abide in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you]. Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself, without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me. v. 5 I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him, bears much fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.

Abiding in Christ is a choice, and it is a faith position. Walking in the Spirit is a choice, and to walk in the Spirit, we must walk in faith. I once saw abiding in Christ like a two pronged plug that we use to plug in electrical appliances. One of the prongs was "we choose," and the other prong was "our faith." If we didn't have both of those things plugged in and activated, we weren't really effectively abiding in Christ. It is not some difficult and mystical thing that can only be achieved by a few super spiritual people. It is what we choose and Who we put our faith in.

I believe it was Neil Anderson that said on a video, that I once watched, "Faith is choosing to believe that what God said is true."

So, we have choices. We have a free will to examine the choices, and select or choose what we believe, and how to respond to that belief.

If we choose to lean on our own abilities and what man had passed on to us, instead of abiding in Christ and leaning totally on the Holy Spirit for instruction, wisdom, truth, direction, and ability, we will be as one who lives in a desert, producing no fruit.

Deut 30:19 gave the children of Israel a choice, and what they chose was recorded in the heavenlies and on the earth.

"I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, the blessings and the curses; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live." Amplified

To have choices, there must be two or more things to choose from. Once we select one above the other, we have made a decision.

Decide means: To cut off, End, Determine, To terminate,

Choose Heb = To try, i.e. select: choose, choice.
(select by preference)

Commit Grk 4100 = to have faith in, on, or in respect to, a person or thing; by implication: to entrust (especially one's spiritual well being to Christ: believe, believer, commit (to trust) put in trust with.

We decide, and we have made our selection, thereby cutting off the other choices, we have made a determination, based on what we chose. The results of how we follow up on the decision or determination that we have made, will be based on the depth of our personal commitment to abide, stand firmly, fixed, and immovable, with what we have chosen.

If this choice, decision, and commitment, is for us to take a spiritual position, that is based on the Word of God, we will have to decide whether or not we will believe what He says and follow through with that decision. Whether we finish our chosen course, will depend on how much we are personally willing to trust in the ONE that we are committed to.

If our decision is, to be led by the Spirit, and do only what He leads us to do and say only what He leads us to say, then each word that we speak and work that we do, must always be in agreement with the Word of God. This will dramatically and permanently affect how we pray and what we confess, especially if we really take to heart what

Jesus said in Mat 12:33-37. In a nutshell: our words come from what is deposited in our heart, for good or for evil, and by those words, we are either justified or we are condemned.

Rom 8:26 tells us: So too the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf, making intercession for us, with groanings and yearnings too deep for utterance. v.27 And He that searches the hearts of men, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession (and pleads before God on behalf of the saints) according to and in harmony with the will of God.

Jn 6:63 Confirms this truth: "It is The SPIRIT Who gives life [He is the life-giver]; the flesh conveys no benefit whatever [there is no profit in it]. The WORDS (truths) that I have been speaking to you are SPIRIT AND LIFE.

Because of this, we cannot depend on memorized prayers and other's suggested confessions of the Word, but we must always be in communion with the Holy Spirit and have a listening ear and a willing and humble heart that agrees with God, that: we don't know what to say or do apart from the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said that the Spirit of Truth would guide us into all truth, and that He would be our Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby. He would teach us all things, and He would cause us to recall, remind us, and bring to our remembrance everything that we have been told.

Once the Lord gives us a revelation of the truth of His Word, it is Spirit and Life to us. But now, we are told that we must mix that Word that is in our heart and mind, with faith, in order for it to please God, and bring the accomplishment and fruitfulness of that Word into our lives and into the kingdom.

Heb 4:2 For indeed we have had the glad tidings [Gospel of God] proclaimed to us just as truly as they [the Israelites of old did, when the good new of deliverance from bondage came to them]; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith (with the leaning of the entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness) by those who heard it; neither were they united in faith with the ones [Joshua and Caleb] who heard and did believe). Amplified version

Those two scriptures speak volumes to us about why the Word of God comes ALIVE and is powerful and sharper than a two edged Sword, as it is declared to be in Heb 4:12. Jn 6:63 Makes it clear that the flesh can not bring life to anything, and there is no benefit or profit to anything that is born of the flesh. Heb 4:2 Declares, that even the glad tidings of the gospel, will not be of any profit or benefit to a man, who does not mix it with faith.

When the Word of God is spiritually alive in us, it will be evidenced by the dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit. If we are praying prayers and making "supposed faith confessions," that are coming from nothing deeper than soulish training, there is no Spirit in them, therefore; there is no life in them. We can know that that which is born of the flesh will profit or benefit nothing and no one. It is as wood, hay, and stubble in the kingdom, and the spirit realm will never be influenced or moved by it.

Jn 6:63 and Heb 4:2 are confirming and amplifying the truth in Jn 4:24. God is a SPIRIT, and those who worship Him must worship Him in SPIRIT and in truth ... and that the truth that we receive as revelation from the Holy Spirit, must be mixed with faith and ministered in the power of the Spirit, if it is to bring forth what God intended.

Paul gives us an example of the difference in ministry that is done in the power, anointing, and ability, of the Holy Spirit, and that which is done in the strength of the law, ministered through the ability of man, and apart from power of the Holy Spirit.

2 Cor 3:5-6 Not that we are fit (qualified and sufficient in ability) of ourselves to form personal judgments or to claim or count anything as coming from us, but our power and ability and sufficiency are from God. [It is He] Who has qualified us [making us fit and worthy and sufficient] as ministers and dispensers of a New Covenant [of salvation through Christ], not [ministers] of the letter (of legally written code) but of THE SPIRIT; for the code [of the law] kills, but the Holy Spirit makes alive.

Another reference to man's ministry of the Word -- law, tradition and doctrine of man, making the Word ineffectual is in: (Mk 7:7-13)

Mk 7:7 In vain (fruitlessly and without profit) do they worship Me ... v.13. Thus you are nullifying and making void and of no effect [ the authority of ] the Word of God, through your tradition, which you [in turn] hand on, and many things of this kind are you doing.

We might say, what does that have to do with my confession of the Word of God, which can become as a SHIELD OF FAITH to me and those that I am praying for? It can and will affect us, when we operate out of our soul and not from the spirit. Let me explain.

There is a difference between a Christian, whose soul has received a transmission and recommendation of precepts, and therefore has in his soul just a Biblical teaching, that has not become revelation and truth in his inner man. A spiritual revelation is received not just as a logical concept, that can be given mental assent, but as a revelation that enlightens the spirit of a man.

When there is only mental assent, the information, that is not revelation, becomes just a method for the soul to initiate, in order to get a desired result.

This is different from a soul that has been transformed, by the renewing of the mind, and therefore has become a soul whose thinking and responding is in accordance to the Word of God. This will be a soul that has come into agreement with his born again spirit, that is in union with the Spirit of the Lord. This believer's transformed soul and born again spirit, are abiding in Christ, operating with the mind of Christ, and the Spirit of God can use the Words sent from the heart of the Father, to conceive and bring forth that which is Spirit and life.

(Taken from outline: "Faith is a Shield". -- Available for download in the Storehouse section.)