Learning to Live By the Spirit

one

Practice Praise and Thanksgiving

What prevents us from receiving more abundant graces from God may be our lack of gratitude for the graces he has already given us. There is no doubt that if we thank God for each grace received, he will grant us more.

St. Thérèse of Lisieux said to her sister Céline: What most draws down graces from our dear Lord is gratitude, for if we thank him for a gift, he is touched and hastens to give us ten more, and if we thank him again with the same sincerity, what an incalculable multiplication of graces! I have experienced this: try it and you will see. My gratitude for all that he gives me is boundless, and I prove this to him in a thousand ways.

two

Fidelity brings fresh Inspirations 

If we want God to reveal more of his will to us by his inspirations, then we need to start by doing what He has already told us. Why would He give us new instructions if we haven’t done what we already know?  

God has already revealed much to us: The 10 Commandments; the law of love; the teaching of Jesus in Scripture and the Catechism; the duties of our state in life as a husband and father, wife and mother, employer and worker? 

If we are careless about these, then however much we beg God for new inspirations there is not much chance of his granting them. If we have been faithful to what God has already revealed, he will favor us with new ones. Jesus said. “To everyone who has more will be given; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

three

Accepting what you cannot change. 

Nothing can happen except what God wills directly or what He allows. Cooperating with the Holy Spirit means doing what God wills, doing all we can to eliminate evil. But when we cannot change an evil then God invites us to accept what He has allowed.

We are not being asked to consent to evil, but to consent to and cooperate with the mysterious wisdom of God who permits evil. Our consent is not a compromise with evil but trust that God is stronger than evil.

If God sees that we are docile to events, able to consent peacefully and lovingly to what the circumstances of life impose” on us, in a spirit of trust and cooperation with his will, there can be no doubt that he will provide greater inspirations and graces.

What often happens is that, when we are confronted with painful occurrences, we either rebel, or endure them unwillingly, or resign ourselves to them passively.

These responses will make it difficult for the Holy Spirit to guide our lives. What most prevents us from becoming saints is the difficulty we have in consenting fully to everything that happens to us in the sense of a trusting total abandonment into the hands of our Father God.

God invites us to this positive and fruitful attitude like St. Thérèse of Lisieux, who as a child said: “I choose all!” That is: I choose everything that God wants for me and all he allows in my life.

four

Desire and Ask for Inspirations of the Spirit  

We must desire God’s inspirations and ask for them frequently in prayer: “Ask, and it will be given you,” Jesus said. One simple prayer we should say often is this: “Inspire me in all my decisions, Lord, and never let me neglect even one of your inspirations.”

For five minutes every day let your imagination be quiet, close your eyes to everything they see, and shut your ears to all the world’s noise so that you can withdraw into your soul where God lives. And say to the Holy Spirit:

Holy Spirit, soul of my soul,

I adore Thee.

Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen and comfort me.

Tell me what I ought to do and order me to do it.

I promise to submit to anything you require from me,

and to accept everything that you allow to happen to me.

Just show me what your will is.

If you do this your life will be peaceful even in troubles. For grace will be given to match any trial, together with the strength to bear it.

five

Resolve to Refuse God Nothing

Have a strong and constant determination to cooperate with God in everything, big or little, without any exception. The more God sees this disposition of total docility in us, the more he will favor us with his inspirations. This is not to say we must cooperate perfectly to receive inspirations; what God is looking for is our firm commitment to cooperate with Him and refuse Him nothing.

At the same time, be patient with yourself. We cannot cooperate perfectly with God because we are human, we have limitations. So don’t obsess about it and don’t beat yourself up if you think you have failed. There is no failure with God – only opportunities to learn and grow.