The Power of a Stirred Spirit: Praying and Acting on God’s Will

Welcome to the Confidence in God podcast with your host, Julie McGhghy! In this episode, Julie explores how God stirs up our spirits to proclaim His will and act on His purposes, drawing inspiration from the minor prophets and her own experiences.

Key Topics Covered:

• The meaning and significance of the phrase “the Lord stirred up the spirit” found in Ezra 1:1 and Haggai 1:14
• How God stirred the spirits of leaders and people in the Old Testament to accomplish His will
• Applying these biblical lessons to our lives today—how God stirs our spirits to proclaim, pray, and act
• Personal stories of God’s guidance and stirring, including Julie’s mission work in Costa Rica
• Encouragement to pray for God to stir up your spirit and use your gifts for His purposes

Scripture References:

• Ezra 1:1
• Haggai 1:14
• 2 Timothy 1:6
• Matthew 6:21

Resources:

https://confidenceingod.com/resources/ 

Practical Guidance for More Confidence in Prayer 

Practical Guidance for Praying Powerful Prayers for Others 

The Truth About God's Desire to Save Unbelievers 

Timeline

• 0:00 — Introduction and welcome (Julie McGhghy, Confidence in God podcast)
• 0:12 — The challenge of reading the minor prophets; a phrase that changed Julie’s prayer life
• 1:03 — Resource mention: “How to Have Confidence in Your Prayer Life”
• 1:25 — The phrase: “The Lord stirred up the spirit” (Ezra 1:1, Haggai 1:14)
• 1:54 — God stirs up King Cyrus to proclaim God’s will
• 2:17 — God stirs up Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the remnant to rebuild the temple
• 2:41 — Why does God stir up people’s spirits? To do His will
• 3:11 — Applying these verses today: Who does God stir up?
• 3:49 — What does God stir our spirits to do? Proclaim His works
• 4:57 — God stirs us to do His will: love, give thanks, pray, submit
• 5:24 — God’s specific will for each of us; personal example: mission work in Costa Rica
• 6:10 — How this knowledge impacts our prayer life; praying for God to stir up our spirits
• 7:05 — Stirring up the gifts within us (2 Timothy 1:6, Matthew 6:21)
• 7:46 — Julie’s personal story: giving to missions, then being called to serve
• 8:09 — Following God’s call to Costa Rica; investing in missions
• 8:39 — Encouragement: God can stir your spirit for any calling

Total duration: ~10:30

Transcript

0:01

Hello and welcome to the Confidence in God podcast. I am your host, Julie McGhghy, and our goal today is to help you walk with confidence in God. Have you ever read parts of the Bible that just send your head spinning? Well, that's what happens to me when my personal Bible reading schedule has me reading the prophets of the Old Testament, particularly the minor prophets. I must confess, the books of the minor prophets are not my favorite readings in the Bible. I get a bit bogged down in the prophecies with little or no understanding of who the prophecies are warning and when they were or will be fulfilled. However, recently I read a phrase that just popped out at me. It was stated in two different prophetic books, and it really impacted how I pray. So in this episode of the podcast, I wanna share this phrase with you and how to apply it to your prayer. But before we get started, I invite you to check out a resource titled How to Have Confidence in Your Prayer Life. This resource may help you as you pray principles learned in God's word. You can have instant access to it by going to confidenceingod.com/resources. I'll drop a link to the resource in the show notes for your convenience. So what is the phrase that has impacted how I pray? "The Lord stirred up the spirit." This phrase is found in Ezra 1:1, and also in Haggai 1:14. Following it in each of these instances, the people whose spirit, the Lord stirred up are identified, then what their spirits were stirred up to do becomes evident. Let's start with the pertinent part of Ezra 1:1, which states, "the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus King of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom." Here, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus so that he proclaimed something important to all his kingdom. Now consider Haggai 1:14, which states, "And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people, and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts their God." In this verse we read that the Lord stirred up multiple people. Which included a government official, a spiritual leader, and a small group of God's faithful people who had returned to Jerusalem from Babylon where they had been held captive. Why did God stir up the spirits of these people? So that they would do the things God had for them to accomplish? In other words, so they would do God's will for them. How do we apply these verses to us today? First, let's consider whether we are people who would fall into the groups of people whose spirits God stirred up. I doubt many kings are listening to this podcast, but I do know some governmental employees, spiritual leaders, including pastors and missionaries, as well as faithful Christians who listen to this podcast. So if you fit into any of these groups, then God wants to stir up your spirit just as he did those in Ezra's and Haggai's times. Second, what does He stir up our spirits to do? He stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus so that he would proclaim what God had done for him and what God wanted him and the people to do. Likewise, God wants to stir up our spirits so that we will proclaim the things of the Lord. To proclaim means to declare something one considers important with due emphasis. As Christians, our mission is to go and proclaim what God has done, is doing, and will do for us personally, as well as for His church as a whole. We can proclaim the promises of God and the way to salvation. These things are important to us. Although our nature may not be to boldly share these things with other people, God can stir up our spirits so that we do so not just matter of factly, but enthusiastically in ways that catch the attention of others so that they are drawn to seek more about God. And finally, God wants to stir up our spirits to do His will. His word is full of specific things for us to do that are His will, including loving God and people, giving thanks in all circumstances, praying without ceasing, submitting to the authorities that God has placed over us, as well as submitting to each other. But there are many things we learned that God wills specifically for us as we seek Him and pray His will. As an example, when God called my husband and me to serve the missionaries in Costa Rica, He made his will known to us very clearly. You likely have your own experiences of God making clear to you something He wanted you and possibly your family to do, such as obtain more education, accept a particular job, help someone in a certain way, pursue or terminate a relationship with someone. When God communicates His will to you, He also wants to stir up your spirit to accomplish that will. Now that we recognize that we are part of the people, God wants to stir up, how does that knowledge impact our prayer life? For me, I cannot cease praying that God will stir up my spirit to proclaim His word, His deed, what He has done, is doing, and will do in my life, and all the promises of God that people need to hear and receive. Also, I ask God to stir up my spirit, to do the things that He would have me do, whether in my own life, the lives of my family, my community, my church, even on the mission field. We can also impact other believers by asking God to stir up their spirits, to proclaim and do these things also. Oh Lord, stir up our spirits to do your will. Oh, there is also one more thing that I'd like you to consider. The Apostle Paul encouraged Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:6, to stir up the gift of God that was within him. We can do the same thing. How? By asking God to stir up our spirits to put the gifts He has given us into practice. And by investing in those gifts, whether to develop our skills by using our gifts or preparing to go into the world and use those gifts at a future time. Remember that "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" according to Matthew 6:21. I humbly share my husband's and my experience as an example. When God began putting missions on our hearts many years ago, He first did it by giving us a desire to give to missions. As we did that for many years, He began giving us a desire to someday take trips to different mission fields that need our gifts. And eventually, that desire grew into a calling to go to Costa Rica to assist the missionaries and minister to the people there. Because we had invested in missions and planned over the years as God had stirred up our spirits to do so, when the time came to go, we were able to do so. We put our treasure in missions over the years and our hearts followed our treasure into missions. God can do the same for you, whether it's serving on a mission field or seeking higher education in order to rightly divide the word of truth, or learn a new skill. Stir up the gifts of God within you and ask God to stir up your spirit. You can have confidence that He will do it. Although this is one of my shorter podcast episodes, please don't judge its importance by the length of the recording. Think on this truth, pray about it, and see how impactful it can be when you start stirring up the gifts within you and asking God to stir up your spirit to speak and do as He wills. I would love to hear from you. Share with me some of your gifts that you are stirring up, and how you know God is stirring up your spirit. Now, as I mentioned earlier, I invite you to check out a resource titled How to Have Confidence in Your Prayer Life. It will help you have confidence in your prayers, which is so important as you ask God to stir up your spirit. Just click the link in the show notes and click on the resource. At the bottom of that resource, there are three blogs referenced for more detailed information to help gain confidence in praying. For your convenience. I'll put links to them in the show notes also. Don't overlook them if you want to increase your confidence in prayer. That's it for today. Please take a second to subscribe to our show so you'll be notified when future episodes come out. Also, it would be great if you would rate or review our show. That way more people can find out about it. Until next time, let's be confident in this, that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.