What Is The Main Problem – Our Will Power or Won’t Power?

I recently reread a great book by Mark Buchanan called “Holy Wild.” In one chapter he talks about our will power only having so much ability in our lives to change things, and in reality it’s not our will power that is lacking for so many of us but our “Won’t Power.” Let me explain by using my own life as an example.

When Jesus came into my life I was filled with a great desire to love him back after I had experienced his great love for me first hand. For me, yielding my whole heart to Christ infused me with a desire to please the Lord regardless of what the cost may be in the future. When you experience true love it changes you, as it should.

Experiencing the Love of God deep in my soul made me realize that there would be things that needed to change in both my thinking and my behavior. Now mind you, everything didn’t change over night, and in fact things are still changing some 50 years after I surrendered to Jesus. Becoming a Christ-follower often carries pain with it because we tend to like to hold onto our old habits. Even today I am still being confronted by the Holy Spirit to change my thinking on things I thought I had already resolved. Things like attitudes towards people or or places, things like scriptural perspectives and convictions. I have discovered the promptings of the Holy Spirit don’t always feel good or right, so I don’t always yield without pressure from God to do so. That’s the dynamics of a real relationship with God rather than a relationship with doctrines, it becomes an active and growing relationship. Let me share some things that were not easy for me to let go of in my early days of transformation, and mind you, I’m sharing about the dynamics of our “Won’t Power” when it comes to change.

First there was racing motorcycles and cars that God put his finger on in my life. These things I had to let go because I loved them too much. This yielding of my will wasn’t instantaneous. It was little by little over time that the Lord showed me these passions were idols, and they had to go. Anything that takes the place of our love for Christ needs to be yielded or our love for him starts to take a back seat. Eventually it will wither and die.

Secondly, the calling God had on my life had to take center stage. I wanted to be a builder of some kind like a auto mechanic, house builder or car racer. I have had many jobs that I loved doing, but they all needed to take a back seat to what God desired if I was going to call Jesus the Lord of my life. Although God has used these many skills in my life they had to be brought under the authority of the Lordship of Jesus again and again. I guess you might say I at times am a slow learner, as things would creep up in my life and I would let them become dominant facts rather than God.

Once I thought I had mastered these issues I proceeded to move full steam ahead in my pursuit of God. I have always been a highly motivated person, starting my own business of cutting lawns in my neighborhood when I was only 10 years old is a good example of my drive. I felt if I tried hard enough I could do anything. Although I think this is a God given trait in many of us, it can get in the way of following the will of God instead of our own. Being strong-willed can be a blessing or curse, depending on who is in charge, us or God.

Mark Buchanan in his book uses the illustration of the desire to play the violin. Although he had a great desire to play it with precision he never could because to be a great violinist takes more than intense desire. I on the other had wanted to play the guitar in the worst way. My best friend played all the time and he was so amazing and I wanted to do the same. So, I went out and bought an expensive Yamaha guitar and hard shell case and started practicing cords. The problem was, even though I practiced my playing a lot, it never matched my friend’s skill, who owned a very expensive Gibson. I became discouraged with my progress compared to his and just quit. You see, I had the desire and will power but not the prolonged discipline I needed to become an accomplished guitar player. My “Won’t Power” became greater than my will power.

The problem of wanting to do something well without enough discipline won’t make it happen, and in fact without enough effort it will never come to be. Whether playing the violin or guitar, even if we have a inborn talent for some skill like playing the piano or some other instrument, that talent won’t turn to skill without enough discipline over time. You may have a strong will but it is no match for the need of strong and prolonged discipline.

Spiritual power is the same. Without disciplining ourselves to develop our spiritual abilities we will just be dreaming of being spiritual, but not actually living a spiritual life. Desire alone won’t cut it, no matter how sincere we are. No matter how much will power we think we have we still need discipline.

Here is the point. We may have “Will Power” but if we don’t surrender our “Won’t Power” you and I will be stuck only dreaming about doing great things. Won’t Power is about what we won’t sacrifice to make our dreams come true. It’s what we refuse to yield or sacrifice for one reason or another.

Take for instance one of my very good friends of over 35 years, who can quote thousands of verses from the bible by heart. Danny can quote more bible than almost any person I know. This didn’t happen just because he had a strong desire. He chose to read his bible more than anyone else. As a result he can quote more verses than anyone I know. He chose to sacrifice his time and desires to accomplish his dream of being a man that could live and teach God’s word from heart. Wanting to live for Jesus needs more than sincere desire, it takes sacrifice. We have to “TRAIN” to be capable, whether it’s playing guitar or doing other things.

If you want to change things in your life, start taking small steps that will alter your future. Start with things you can manage. If you want a better prayer life, start with spending 10 minutes a day developing a good habit of prayer and then in a few weeks increase your time. So may people today lack the willingness to sacrifice their preferences to the will of God and purpose of God before them. They may pray a river of tears at church because they say they want God to move in their life, but if they don’t do the basics that discipline requires they will never change no matter how sincere they might be.

There is a story of Jesus disciples who got caught not being able to cast a demon out of a boy who was tormented. Although the twelve had received authority and power from Jesus, somehow they lacked the ability to drive out this demonic spirit. Look what Jesus says to them when they asked why they couldn’t drive out this demon. Mind you, they had a strong desire to do so yet something was hindering them.

Matthew 17:19-21

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” And He *said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.                     “But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. (the word fasting was added and should have just been the lack of prayer )

They had the commissioning and they had been given the authority but they lacked the faith to put it all together. Faith is something you are not given, it is something you develop with discipline and effort. There is no short cut to moving in the power of God. Power comes from sacrificing your pleasures for God’s purpose and power. It comes from spending time in the word rather than spending time in front of the TV or playing golf.

Make no mistake, God’s calling doesn’t mean you don’t have to have discipline, it means just the opposite. Remember, Jesus was the Son of God and he had to go out and pray all night at times while his disciples slept. His harmony with the Father depended on his discipline in the spirit and the natural to walk in such harmony. We are going to need to evaluate what is missing in our own disciplines more than our desires in order for the power of God to be more powerful in our lives as well.

Questions:

1) Have you struggled to understand why you are not further along in your Christian walk by now? Maybe it’s because of your “Won’t Power” and thus there needs to be some surrender to see a breakthrough.

2) Is there some area of your life you know the Holy Spirit has prompted you to sacrifice in order to become more disciplined? Yielding is not easy, but it is the only way for the Holy Spirit to give you what you are after.

May the Holy Spirit empower us to be as disciplined as is needed for him to change us,

Pastor Dale