God wants to give you spiritual gifts: the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, increased faith, the gifts of healing, the gift of miracles, prophecy, the discernment of spirits, diverse kinds of tongues and interpretation of tongues (I Cor. 12:8-10).
I believe there are 4 keys to ensure that you are ready to receive all that God wants to offer you.
1. You will need to be a follower of the Lord. “In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy” (Acts 2:18 NLT).
2. You will need to ask God for the gift. “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him” (Luke 11:13 NLT).
3. You will need to be totally focussed on God, the Giver, rather than on the gift. When Elisha asked for a double portion of the Spirit on Elijah, Elijah told him that if Elisha saw Elijah being taken from him, then he would receive that blessing.
What happened next tested Elisha and decided whether or not he would be given that extraordinary gift.
There suddenly appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire and behind that vision Elijah was caught up in a whirlwind to heaven (2 Kings 2:11). Had Elisha been distracted by the fiery vision, he would have failed to see what happened to Elijah and missed out on the blessing.
The message to us is not to look at the manifestations of the Spirit but to keep our eyes on the One who provided us these incredible blessings.
4. Remain humble, meek and gentle, holding every thought that isn't Jesus-focussed into captivity so that God can use you. (2 Cor. 10:1,5).
Single-mindedly focus on Jesus and exalt Him in every area of your life and God's blessings will flow on from that.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honour beside God’s throne” (Heb. 12:1-2 NLT).