Are you living in the overflow? I’m not talking about an overflow of fear or panic. No, not even an overflow of stockpiled toilet paper. It seems the media has incited enough panic over COVID-19, a respiratory virus, that people are stocking up on TP as if it were a dysentery epidemic! 

How to Drive Out Fear, Doubt, and Negative Thoughts

But while everyone else is trying to get more hand sanitizer and butt-wipes, I’ve been inspired by a song. It has left me craving an overflow with the Spirit of God so that I’m full of peace, hope, and love and all the things that drive out negative thoughts, fear, anxiety, and doubt. If that sounds good to you too, keep reading. 

Inspired to Live in the Overflow

I heard a song this week called Living in the Overflow and it went straight to my heart. (I’ve included it below.) Being a singer for most of my life, music has a profound effect on me. And while it was the upbeat gospel vibe that initially drew me in, the lyrics got me to pondering what it really means to live in the overflow. 

May every one of you overflow with the grace and favor of our LORD Jesus Christ.—Philippians 4:23 (The Passion Translation)

Abundance is More than Wealth

Many only see an overflow or abundance in a physical or monetary sense; even in the Christian realm. And scripture does talk about abundance in wealth, food, and necessity. 

However, on a spiritual level, there’s a place in God where we can live out of the overflow of the Spirit.  God doesn’t want to give you just enough anointing and presence so you can experience a personal breakthrough. He wants to give you more than that. I’m a little excited about that! 

I like to think of it as living so close to heaven I can feel the overflow of glory on me. But honestly, staying close to that “shower of blessing” and grace is easily hindered by our circumstances, mood, or even what we talked about a couple of weeks ago, what we see in the mirror. 

You might like to refresh your memory – Imagine If You Could See Yourself the Way God Sees You?

Get Ready to Dance…

It’s More than a Song

If you saw my Instagram post on Friday, you know that despite my calling to inspire and encourage otherwise, last week I was hard-pressed to judge myself through the eyes of God instead of my own critical gaze. 

“I imagine it (an overflow of God’s Spirit) to be like standing under a waterfall where all else fades away and you’re drenched in the magnitude of God’s glory.”

But as the song Living in the Overflow has been on repeat here this week, I have a yearning to find that place of the overflow of God’s love and grace. A place where I’m so full of the presence of God, there’s no room for those thoughts. I imagine it to be like standing under a waterfall where all else fades away and you’re drenched in the magnitude of God’s glory.

Time constraints, distractions, or even ignorance can become hindrances that keep us from a deeper relationship with God and being fully saturated in God’s glory. 

How to Live in the Overflow

So how do we get there? How do we break through our personal barriers to being so full of the Holy Spirit that we become carriers of God’s glory? Here are some important keys to help us get us closer:

T. A. P. into the Overflow

---

Take Time for It 

Take time. Think of yourself like a sponge placed in a bucket of water. When you drop it in, it takes a little time for the sponge to become fully saturated. If you are going to become saturated in the Holy Spirit, you have to spend time with Him. Create regular time to focus on Him and after a while, you’ll be full to overflowing in His presence. 

Ask for It 

Ask God to fill you and saturate every area of your life. Ask Him to expose and drive out any darkness in your life. Yes, when we accept Christ as our personal savior His spirit moves in. But we know that the world and its temptations are constantly worming their way into the recesses of our minds. And Paul said to be continually filled with the Spirit. This is how we will be consistently full of The Spirit. 

Pray for It

Pray in many different ways. Prayer is simply a conversation with God. And like any relationship, we’ll never become intimately acquainted if we don’t talk. But like all relationships, we have many kinds of conversations. Prayers are no different and there are few types that create a deeper relationship with God.

Repentance prayer. Obviously this is when we say “sorry for almost cussing out that salesman and then having to get up a few days later and lead worship”. That’s a true story that I’ll tell you another day but today I’ll simply say I’m so thankful for God’s Grace. 😉

But seriously, this is when we experienced conviction. As we get closer to God, we become more aware of the things that have grieved Him in our thoughts, attitudes, and actions. So we spend time confessing and asking Him to forgive us until we feel cleansed. 

Petition prayer. This is where we talk to God about the things that concern us. We feel certain needs, concerns or worries and tell Him what’s on our hearts and minds. We ask Him to move in these situations. This type of prayer often moves into intercessory prayer, in which we bring up the needs of others to God.

Don’t mistake petitioning God for a laundry list of “God bless So and So”. We’re grown-ups and can have big girl talks with God. Remember, this is a relationship and to go deeper we have to get personal. I’ve started talking to God the way I’d talk to my friend. 

Communion prayer. This is where it gets deep, personal, and intimate. Communion prayer can take you so deep into His presence that you can’t even speak. This type of prayer is not about words. It’s about being in His presence. It’s about worship and love and not for what He can do for you, but because of who He is. 

NOTE – Music may be instrumental in transporting you into this level of communion with God. I know it is for me. There have been many times in my life when this part of my conversation with God takes the form of a sobbing heap on the floor. No words, just tears. 

This is also the time to listen. It’s in this place of prayer that you get saturated with God’s presence to the point you begin to overflow His glory. This is where you become a glory-carrier; where His presence saturates you. You will become full of God and His power. 

---

Don’t be Intimidated – Soak it Up

I know this sounds exciting. At least it does to me. But it can also sound intimidating. You might be thinking, how will I ever be that close to God?

It’s like any intimate relationship, it’s built over time, not in one night. Deep relationships are not developed during a one-night-stand. 

When we take time to make prayer a habit because let’s face it, we could all be more disciplined, we will get to a point where we become tangibly aware of His presence – ALL THE TIME. It’s like one of those fountains where the top pot pours into another and then each other pot begins spilling out of its overflow into another and another… 

We’ll not only be living in the overflow of God’s glory but pouring out of our overflow. But we must always be under the overflow from top. Because when we’re consistently that full of God, there’s no room for things like negative self-thoughts, doubt, anxiousness, and fear.

Showers of Blessings Baby!

---

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13

You might also enjoy this subject from a different perspective. Go With the Overflow – by Liz Curtis Higgs