The Gift of the Father – “I have nothing to give!”

One of the greatest spiritual truths that The Father continues to teach me is “I have nothing to give!” It flies in the face of my human pride to admit that I am empty, needy, can’t fix the problem, have nothing to give. Yet, this is exactly what Jesus teaches is the first step to prepare our hearts for an Outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Right after Jesus’ instruction on prayer in Luke 11 he teaches His disciples how to prepare for the gift of the Father’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Jesus presents a short story of the friend stopping by in the middle of the night requesting food due to an unexpected visitor who had arrived at his home. In Jesus’ day it was a social taboo to not welcome a guest with food and hospitability, it did not matter if they were invited or not and deciding “to go out” instead was not an option. After frantically searching the cupboards the man desperately yells out “I have nothing to set before him,” Luke 11:6.

Oh how hard this concept is for us grasp! In our American culture we have an endless abundance of just about everything and on top of that a spirit of self-reliance; because of this we have fooled ourselves into thinking we have something to give when in reality our cupboards are spiritually bare. We’ve encountered the latest and greatest “whatever,” we have read the most popular books, we have thrown our money at “it,” worked ourselves to the bone for such minuscule results. In our efforts to advance the Father’s glory, we have been left exhausted and empty.

Jesus clearly shows us there is another way to live powerfully and fulfilled in His Kingdom. Another way to bring the Father’s message of love and hope to a dying world, it starts with realizing that we have “nothing” to give. I sense that our Good Father is seeking to awaken His children to rediscover this deep, life changing truth! As I go online and read the news at times it overwhelms me with the impossible pain that is flooding the globe. Recently, I received a phone call from another follower of Christ beaten up for his tenacious faith and I realize I have “nothing” to give on my own. But the beauty of what Jesus teaches in the following verses all flow from starting with the realization we have no bread in our spiritual cupboards, we are completely empty and must look elsewhere. I need to find The One with the resources, The One who can fill my heart with the life giving Bread of Heaven and that is what will fill my spiritual cupboard so that I have something to give away.

I encourage you to join me in prayer, speaking the words from the vision of The Last Great Outpouring shared in the September 8 blog. Take a moment and ask the Father to show you how spiritually empty you are and how desperately you need Heaven’s Bread, a fresh outpouring of His Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13).