Manifestation of the spirit occurs when we are God conscience, that is, when we are more aware of him then we are of ourselves. When we understand that everything, we need to succeed spiritually is already inside of us, we become fully focused on letting God do his work. We can draw out that provision like a thirsty man draws water from a well. We pull the bucket up by using our faith, confession, proclamation, worship, praise, witness, and declaration.
Our spirit man is linked to our vocal cords. Watching people do the meditation exercise, I always marvel at how many cannot stay quiet. Most people long to shout to Jesus and get frustrated when they aren’t allowed to. That inner man of the spirit needs a voice; it needs to be spoken out loud. We see over and over in Scripture that God acts when we shout:
Numbers 23:21 the Lord their God is with them; the shout of the King is among them.
Judges 2: 20 grasping the torch is in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, a sword for the Lord and for Gideon!
1 Samuel 4:5 – when the ark of the Lord’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook.
1 Corinthians 15:28 – Saul Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord which shouts.
2 Corinthians 15:14 – they took a note to the Lord with loud acclamation, which shouting and with trumpets and horns.
Psalm 33:3 – sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.
Psalm 47:1 – clap your hands, all ye nations; shout the God would cries of joy.
Psalm 47:5 – God is ascended the admid shouts of joy, the Lord amid the shouting a trumpets.
Isaiah 12:6 – shout aloud and sing for joy, people design, for great is the holy one of Israel among you.
Matthew 21:9 – the crowds it what I had a him and those that followed shouted, hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!
We must connect verbally to fully manifest our spirit. The greatest spiritual example of this principle can be found in Joshua 6, when God gave the heavily fortified city of Jericho to the Israelites after they literally shouted down its mighty walls. For 6 days, every Hebrew man, woman, and child had walked silently around the city. On the 7th day, they walked around the city six more times, before Joshua declared God’s plan: and the seventh time it happened, when the priest blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: shout, for the Lord has given you the city! – Joshua 6:16.
When faced with an impenetrable obstacle, ordinary solutions will not work. We should all appreciate that God is not a conventional thinker. He is not conservative in his actions. He thinks, not just outside the box, but beyond it! He is not subject to logic or reason. He is much too clever to be an intellectual. His thinking transcends the normal intelligence of man. It is spiritual, wise, creative, and full of imagination.
To partake of his strategies, we must fully engage with the whole person. We dare not leave anything out, in terms of our response. If our response is not wholehearted, we will lose or only get a partial victory. Our ability to overcome is tied to the level of our response. There is a perfect example of this in 2nd Kings
2 kings 13:14-When Elisha became sick with the illness in which he was to die, joash the King of Israel came down to him and wept over him and said, my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen! Elijah said to him, take a bow and arrows. So he took a bow and arrows. Then he said to the king Israel, put your hand on the bowl. He put his hand on it, then Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands. He said, open the window towards the east, and he opened it. Then Elijah said, shoot! Any shot. And he said, the Lord’s Errol of victory, even the aerial of victory over aram; for you shall defeat the arameans at aphek until you have destroyed them. Then he said, take the arrows, and he took them. And he said to the king Israel, strike the ground, and he struck it 3 times and stop. So the man of God was angry with them and said, you should’ve struck 5 or 6 times, then you would have struck ARAM until you would have destroyed it. But now you shall strike ARAM only 3 times.
An improper response achieves a poor result. How do you imagine Joash felt on the morning of the battle? We get opportunities in life to breakthrough into a place of overwhelming victory. The enemy can prevent the victory, and he can also downsize it. It is our wholehearted response that makes us more than conquerors. It means that we do not just win the fight; we occupy the territory afterwards. God had a plan for Jericho that was not found in any conventional military strategy.
God’s plan worked perfectly, as it always does.
Joshua 4:20 – so the people shouted when the priest blew the trumpets. It happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell flat down. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
Manifestation involves the whole person. Body, mind, emotion, and spirit must all act in agreement. The Israelites walked in silent agreement for 7 days. It probably took that long to still all of their minds and focus them on what God was about to do. When they had proved their unity, they spoke it out; and God manifested his plan.
To partner with God takes everything we are and have. There is no place for a lukewarm response. When we manifest our spirit, every part of us is in wholehearted agreement with God. To shout aloud is the ultimate response. To proclaim is the ultimate accolade.
It is the lack of proclamation in the church that has stripped us of our full response to the Majesty of Jesus. Not only are individuals not taught to proclaim in respect of their own live events, but there is also no place in our worship or prayer life corporately for us to experience declarative announcements. Majesty requires proclamation. It is a necessity – not a luxury. It is a staple part of our warfare. We are heralds of the King.
Manifesting our inner man of the spirit releases power. It positions us before God – not just the enemy. We manifest our spirit in worship first. That is, we call up all that we are in Christ for the sake of true worship and adoration. We are replenished by our passion. Lukewarm worship produces nothing. We are still tired, weary, and oppressed by circumstances. Full engagement in worship lifts us above the battle and the heads of our enemies. Proclamation rejuvenates us. Faith rises naturally. Joy is restored fully. We have energy because we have presence!
Assignment – to manifest means to make physical. Do the people around you know what your inner man sounds like? Have they heard your inner man in worship? Have they seen you proclaim? Do they know the sound of full engagement with God?
We need to know the sound of our own warfare. Overcoming is not a silent movie. The sound of it is loud. Everyone makes a sound, raises a shout – introverts and extroverts, the same! Everyone has to meditate on God – introverts and extroverts, the same!
Your inner man has access to all the personality of God. We are not handicaped by our introversion or are extroversion. We have no excuse and no valid reason for not manifesting our inner man.
Get to know your inner sound. Pray loud, read aloud, sing out loud. Rejoice. give thanks with a loud voice. Shout to the Lord. Get beyond your personality. Crucially, get above your embarrassment. Do not allow it to drag you down.
Discover your level of embarrassment and determine to overcome yourself. Remember, this is not logical; it spiritual. Your inner man has to be fully awake and seen in action. To manifest means to make visible.
Commission – create a dialogue with some friends. Share your thoughts and concerns about your personal lack of proclamation. Pray together. Create an opportunity in your circumstances for all of you to come to a place of worship and proclamation. Do it. Activate your inner man. Collectively, overcome embarrassment, experience God’s personality. Practice. Practice until something changes in you, or you experience a breakthrough in your circumstances.