School of the Spirit by Robert Liardon [Summary]

Main Summary: Robert Liardon’s School of the Spirit guides believers on spiritual growth by building a strong spirit, mastering the soul and body, operating in the Spirit realm, and recognizing the Holy Spirit’s leading to fulfill God’s purpose while overcoming life’s challenges.

Lessons You’ll Learn From This Post

1. How You Begin In the School of the Spirit
2. What You Need to Build a Strong Spirit
3. The Role of Your Spirit Man
4. Gaining Mastery of Your Soul
5. Gaining Mastery Over the Body
6. Why Spiritual Hunger is Necessary
7. Operating in the Spirit Realm
8. Why Praying in Other Tongues?
9. Confronting Devils—The How
10. Seven Ways the Holy Spirit Leads You
11. Gaining an Understanding of  the Prophetic
12. Ways God Doesn’t Lead Us as New Testament Saints

How You Begin In the School of the Spirit 

• All things, including success in life, begin with God. Starting a true spiritual life begins with a decision to follow Him.
• Life in the Spirit requires continual obedience to God, leading you to deeper spiritual growth.
• Pursuing God is personal and initiates a relationship, but waiting for Him without making a move might leave you unfulfilled.
• Many fail to grow spiritually, and you will too, because they lack respect and reverence for God, treating Him like a provider rather than a guide.
• Spiritual growth requires constant change, and resisting change hinders progress. Growth is continual, even beyond this life.
• Sin is incompatible with spiritual life; sin and God’s glory cannot coexist.
• Maintaining a relationship with God is a daily commitment to spiritual growth. Without this growth, you regress.
• God provides safety through the Holy Spirit. Following His guidance ensures success in every situation, just as Noah followed God to build the ark.

What You Need to Build a Strong Spirit

• There are two sources of strength for the believer. You derive strength from both their human spirit and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Many people focus on the anointing because it is like a gift, but the human spirit is just as important and requires personal discipline to strengthen.
• A strong spirit is not a gift, but something developed through discipline. Many fail due to weakness in their spirit, despite having a strong anointing. This weakness often leads to personal failures and shameful actions.
• The downfall of many is not due to a lack of anointing, but rather due to a weak spirit and poor character development. The anointing cannot resist the devil, nor can it break temptation; only a strong, well-developed human spirit can do that.
• Your physical body seeks gratification and does not recognize spiritual or moral commitments, such as marriage covenants. The conscience, composed of the spirit and soul, is what understands right and wrong, and can prevent sinful actions. 
• Without a strong spirit, you’ll lose discernment, and freedom, and may end up working under the direction of others, unable to fulfill your calling.
• You need a strong spirit to first, control the desires of your flesh secondly, align your soul with God’s Wil. And to remain obedient to God’s high calling for your life.
• Your strength is not determined by the level of anointing, but by how you live your life and overcome daily challenges.
• To build a strong spirit, you must “Regularly eat” or consume God’s Word. Which is essential to developing a strong spirit. This process requires active effort.
• Note: Both “bless me” and “correct me” verses from the Bible are necessary to balance spiritual growth. A diet of only one or the other will lead to weakness or harshness.
• Internalizing God’s Word, cleanses, regenerates, strengthens, and prepares the spirit to handle life’s pressures with God’s principles.
• You must develop a strong spirit through consistent prayer. The required amount of prayer will vary for each individual. However, Praying in the Holy Ghost and using your prayer language strengthens your spirit and accomplish various spiritual tasks.
• Without disciplined prayer and control of your body, the spirit will remain weak and ineffective in fulfilling God’s purposes.

The Role of Your Spirit Man

• God wants to guide you by His Spirit. Therefore, your transition from being led by sin to following God’s Word and Spirit is essential in the Christian walk.
• In God’s leading, His plan A is always perfect; however, it will require living by faith to eliminate the need for a backup plan.
• Your spirit is God’s Candle. It’s your responsibility to develop your spirit to hear God directly, as it is where God sends His light to guide your path.
• Your spirit (the inward man) is the part of you that communicates with the spiritual realm, including God’s Spirit, not your physical senses or soul.
• After spiritual rebirth, you must continually renew your mind and keep your physical desires under control, as the body has no conscience, only desires.
• With the Spirit, you connect the spiritual realm (God), the body with the physical realm (senses), and the soul with the intellectual realm (mind).

Gaining Mastery of Your Soul

• Spiritual difficulties cannot be resolved through reasoning but through spiritual guidance from the inward man, led by God.
• Your soul consists of five main parts:
  • Will
  • Emotions
  • Intellect
  • Imagination
  • Memory
• The will is the main target in spiritual warfare. Evil spirits seek to capture the will, which controls decision-making. They may use other parts of the soul (emotions, intellect, imagination, memory) to reach the will.
• Emotions are often mistaken for spiritual feelings but are distinct from the spirit. They are the primary gateway through which evil influences can access the soul.
• Intellect involves reasoning and logic. It must be submitted to the Word of God, avoiding distractions like fables or endless debates. You must uphold  God’s Word as the ultimate guide.
• Imagination is a God-given ability, but it must be kept under submission to the spirit and the Word. Vain imaginations can lead to deception if unchecked.
• Memory is another vulnerable part of the soul, often dominated by negative experiences. Renewing the mind with God’s Word helps control memory and maintain focus on the good (Philippians 4:8).
• Transformation of the soul happens through the renewing of the mind, which is done by meditating on God’s Word. Failure to renew the mind results in living half in the Spirit and half in the flesh.
• A carnal Christian is one who is born again but has not renewed their mind or disciplined their body. They live with a mix of spiritual and carnal influences.
• Renewing the mind requires constant meditation on God’s Word, which reshapes your thinking and aligns your thoughts with God’s principles.

Gaining Mastery Over the Body

• The human body is “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14), serving as a vessel for your spirit and a tool through which Jesus can work to reach others.
• You are fully responsible for what your body does. Blaming circumstances or others does not absolve this responsibility.
• The body craves three primary things: sex, food, and comfort, and it does not think or consider morality—it simply craves.
• The body’s sexual drive was created by God and must be kept within the boundaries outlined in the Bible. Uncontrolled physical appetites can lead to spiritual issues.
• The body itself does not feel guilt for wrong actions. Guilt and grief come from the soul and spirit when the body acts outside moral boundaries.
• If the body is not kept under subjection, it can be influenced by the enemy, as unchecked physical desires open doors for external control.
• There are three voices within you. The Spirit speaks through faith, the soul speaks through reasoning, and the body speaks through physical senses. It’s important to distinguish between these voices to avoid confusion.
• Being led by the Spirit means ensuring the spirit takes precedence over the body’s desires and the soul’s reasoning. Proper balance is essential for spiritual victory.

Why Spiritual Hunger is Necessary

• The first requirement to be led by the Holy Spirit is spiritual hunger, regardless of how long you’ve been a Christian. God cannot be fooled—He knows if you’re truly hungry for Him.
• There must be a deep yearning for more of God, even without the promise of miracles or supernatural signs.
• Immersing yourself in the Scriptures and spiritual content is essential. Listening, reading, and meditating on God’s Word feeds spiritual hunger.
• You must actively seek God; neither the devil will stop you nor will God force you. The responsibility lies on you to pursue Him.
• Without a hunger for God, you may miss His moves, just like many missed the charismatic movement and other spiritual awakenings.
• Spiritual growth is like climbing a mountain. If you stop, you begin to slide backward. There is no neutral ground in your spiritual journey.
• You need hunger only for God and not for anything else. When you seek after Him this way, everything else you need will be given to you.

Operating in the Spirit Realm

• It takes a Christian who understands and stands on their privileges in Christ to pose a significant threat to the devil by knowing spiritual principles and wielding spiritual weapons.
• Like Jesus, you must learn to operate in the Spirit to take authority over circumstances, especially as confrontations in both earthly and heavenly realms intensify.
• Walking in the Spirit is essential to confidently face life’s storms, allowing you to declare peace in your home, business, and ministry.
• Those who do not walk in the Spirit will suffer, as spiritual awareness helps in preemptively confronting challenges before they manifest in the physical world. 
• Living in the Spirit means adhering to spiritual laws, where faith in God is the cornerstone of all actions and decisions.
• In dire situations, the choice lies between responding in the flesh or leaning into the Spirit; the latter is crucial for overcoming adversity.
• Success in personal life, family, business, and church is contingent on the ability to operate in the Spirit realm for God’s glory.

Why Praying in Other Tongues?

• Praying in tongues is a supernatural form of prayer that transcends natural-language prayer, providing unique benefits.
• Praying in the Spirit allows you to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and express it through utterance.
• Receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit doesn’t require an emotional frenzy; it’s a gift that should not be delayed.
• Regularly seeking the Holy Spirit’s in filling will keep you empowered.
• Benefits of Praying in Tongues:
  • Edification: Strengthens and builds you up spiritually.
  • Awareness of the Holy Spirit: Reminds you of the Holy Spirit’s presence within you.
  • Correct Prayer: Guides you in praying accurately when you don’t know how to pray.
  • Stimulates Faith: Encourages and boosts your faith.
  • Tames the Tongue: Helps avoid foul language and worldly speech.
  • Spiritual Refreshing: Provides cleansing and restoration to the spirit and soul.
  • Sensitivity to the Spirit: Enhances awareness of the Holy Spirit’s presence.
  • Empowerment for Witnessing: Equips you with supernatural power to witness for Christ, which can attract spiritual attacks from the enemy.
• Tongues can be prayed anytime, not just in a prayer closet; it can be integrated into daily activities.

Confronting Devils—The How

• Seeking to walk in the Spirit naturally invites confrontations with the enemy; so prepare for spiritual warfare.
• Entering the spiritual realm without the Holy Spirit leads to spiritualism; the Holy Spirit is essential for your guidance and protection.
• Ephesians 6:13-18 emphasizes the need to pray in the Spirit as part of your spiritual armor and combat.
• A few Signs that suggest an attack; feeling grieved in your spirit often indicates an atmospheric disturbance or spiritual attack, not necessarily a personal fault.
• However, God will not leave His soldiers in the enemy’s grasp; He sends angels for rescue. This emphasizes the importance of faith during trials.
• One potent weapon against the enemy is Unity in Prayer. Families should unite in prayer when one member faces spiritual battles, using collective faith to confront the enemy effectively.

Seven Ways the Holy Spirit Leads You

• Inward Witness: This is the Spirit’s primary method of guidance; it manifests as checks or affirmations in your spirit. It is distinct from emotions and brings feelings under God’s control.
• Inward Voice: This is the voice of your spirit, also known as conscience. It can become dull if ignored; requires sensitivity and alignment with Scripture.
• Voice of the Holy Spirit: This is the still small voice of God speaking to your spirit. It is distinct from your spirit’s voice; has more authority and aligns with the Word.
• Knowings: It is a strong inexplicable sense of knowing something without explanation. It is important to investigate these “knowings” rather than wonderings.
• Visions:
  • Inward Vision: It is seeing something internally; the most common form.
  • Trance: A rare state where physical senses are suspended, increasing awareness of the spiritual realm.
  • Open Vision: Seeing something in the spirit while being physically present in the natural world.
  • Night Vision/Dreams: God-given dreams, exemplified by Joseph.
  • False Visions: Counterfeits from evil spirits or vain imaginations; must be discerned against using Scripture.
• The Word: God’s written Word is the believer’s initial and primary guide; all your experiences must align with Scripture.
• Prophecy: God speaks through the gift of prophecy but often prefers to communicate directly to your spirit. Relying on personal prophecy should be approached cautiously; direct communication with God is preferred.

Gaining an Understanding of  the Prophetic

• The Purpose of Prophecy is to build up, encourage, and comfort the church and individual believers, not just predict future events.
• Misunderstandings often arise in personal prophecy due to incorrect interpretations, as seen in the case of Paul and Agabus. So Prophets should deliver messages without interpretation; they should share only what God gives them.
• Prophecies must align with the character of God and Scripture. If they don’t, they should not be heeded.
• Anyone including you can develop the ability to interpret prophecy by recognizing its purpose, staying sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and learning from those who are experienced in the gift.
• Evaluate prophecies based on whether they are edifying, exhorting, and comforting, even if they involve correction.
• All prophetic messages and experiences must be validated by the Word of God, serving as the ultimate standard.

Ways God Doesn’t Lead Us as New Testament Saints

• Fleecing: Fleecing involves using physical signs to determine God’s Will. Making decisions based on fleeces can lead to poor choices, including in marriage. You must trust the Holy Spirit as a guide for all aspects of life (John 16:7, 13).
• Prophetic Dependence: As a believer, you should not rely solely on prophets for guidance. The New Testament believer has direct access to God through the Holy Spirit. Prophets mainly confirm what God has already revealed to you.
• Twisting Scriptures: Be wary of using Scripture to justify personal sin or rebellion. You’ll hear God when you seek his guidance by honestly interpreting Scripture rather than manipulating it for personal agendas.

Now it’s time to take action to validate your faith in the things you believe you must have learned. First, reflect on your spiritual journey, apply the lessons shared, and commit to growing in the Spirit. Begin practicing prayer, meditation, and yielding to the Holy Spirit for a deeper relationship with God.

Finally, here is a question we’d love you to answer.

What practical steps have you taken before now that have worked to master your soul and body for spiritual growth?

We would love to hear from you, please leave your answer and comment in the comment box below.

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