Capacity: Expanding Our Room to Receive God

The concept of spiritual capacity reveals how our openness and hunger for God determines how much we can receive from Him. Like vessels, our hearts must have room to be filled with His presence and power.

The Principle of Emptying to Receive

The promise of Jesus is that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed because they will be filled (Mt 5:6). This is in contrast to the self-righteous "We do not need a thing" statement, which God said was very inaccurate (Rev 3:17). The more we are emptied of self the more we can be filled with God. God will meet us according to our desire and room to receive. A full container can't receive more unless something is removed. May our heart attitude be that of John the Baptist who said, "He must become greater; I must become less" (Jn 3:30).

The Choice Between Fullness and Emptiness

Is my life too cluttered with the things of this world to 'hold' much of God? We determine how much we have of God by the room we give Him. A container can only be filled to the extent it is empty of other contents, and in the case of our hearts not only empty but cleansed from sin. As we empty ourselves of self we can receive more of Him and thus have more of Him to impart to others (Jn 7:38). "Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away" (Lk 8:18). Paul said, "It is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me…whatever was of value before I knew Christ I now count as trash since I have found Him" (Gal 2:20; Phil 3:7-9).

Do I come as an empty vessel before the Lord?

Expanding Our Spiritual Capacity

Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit, and we are urged to be too (Lk 4:1; Eph 5:18). Don't settle for meager rations! Throughout the early church it was those who were full of the Holy Spirit that had the greatest impact for God's Kingdom (Act 6:3,8, 11:24).

Our hunger for God determines how much we receive of Him. Jabez prayed, "Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my territory. And God granted him his request" (1 Chr 4:9,10). Praying this prayer with a pure motive so you can bless more people will meet with divine approval too. So with faith, we too, should prepare for the blessing of God by "Extending the borders of our tent" (Isa 54:2). We must get past our present limits and perspective. God desires we have a much greater relationship with Him. It is our responsibility to "fan into flame" and so move on with God (2 Tim 1:6).

By investing time in prayer, time in His word, and time in communion with God we can increase our capacity for God. Another way this also comes about is determined by our degree of brokenness – the heart cry and continual attitude of 'I need you, Lord, there is no other place to turn'.

Reflection and Application:

Am I willing to empty myself of self to make room for more of God's presence?
What areas of my life are too cluttered to 'hold' much of God?
Am I seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit for greater Kingdom impact?
Have I asked God to enlarge my territory and capacity for His work?