Spiritual Agency

Have you had the faith for it but the enemy challenged you on every front, threw everything at you including the kitchen sink to challenge what you believe, your confidence and your thriver mindset? Spiritual agency is not simply having faith but having faith but walking by faith when the enemy the enemy is trying to stop you.

One thing that I’ve noticed while working with hundreds of individuals to achieve their breakthrough in life, relationship and purpose, is that faith alone is not enough, belief alone is not enough (James 2:14-19). What I mean is, faith alone is the belief in God while trust in faith unleashes bold confidence in our ability to walk by faith. When the bible says, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you” (Luke 17:6), it sounds like the bible is taking about the size of our faith — or a lack of faith. But it’s not…

Let’s quickly define what agency means and then we’ll apply this very important principle to spiritual agency. In a blog by Pattison Professional Counseling and Mediation Center, agency is defined as: “The sense of control that you feel in your life, your capacity to influence your own thoughts and behavior, and have faith in your ability to handle a wide range of tasks and situations. Your sense of agency helps you to be psychologically stable, yet flexible in the face of conflict or change.” The reason I particularly like this approach to agency is that it rests on the principles of faith and self-efficacy.

The key to agency then, is a sense of control, a desire and a belief in our ability to do what God said we could do through faith. Make a mental note of that, as this will be the primary theme for the next three workshops. We know that there are situations beyond our control. We know that we cannot control others, so what do we mean by control? Let’s go back to our verse, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” This scripture is perhaps one of the most important in the bible concerning our spiritual agency. Why?

Because spiritual agency is about understanding that we don’t get more faith, as in more of what we don’t have, but rather we have the ability to access more of what we do have. This is so very important to understand because no matter what we feel like, we always have enough faith to override doubt, to walk, and to do whatever comes next. The bible tells us, “…God has dealt to each one a measure of faith” (Romans 12:3). In other words, you possess the level of faith that you need for anything that you will encounter but every encounter that challenges your faith is, in effect, challenging you to access more of what you already have. Think about that…God has given you the faith you need before you needed it, and life’s tests will challenge you to access more of your faith.

The fact that we posses the faith we need, we have to constantly mature our trust to support our spiritual agency. The bible tells us, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23). In other words, “against spiritual agency, the fruit of the spirit, there is no law or power capable of breaking us.” Why? Because he fruit of the spirit empowers our spiritual agency — self-control. In the midst of the battle, in the midst of the trial, in the midst of the struggle, in uncertainty, during the attack of the enemy, without self-control our spiritual agency is compromised. Your fruit of self-control is necessary for spiritual agency, and spiritual agency positions us to access more faith when it’s time to access more faith.

Your spiritual agency isn’t just some “kumbaya” existence. It’s not some sort of name it and claim it existence. Your spiritual agency is the spiritual soil that you till, plant in, and grow in. Developing our fruit of self-control is not a cake walk, it’s a process. It’s not likely to even be something that we don’t think about until it’s time to access more faith. But a thriver doesn’t wait for the battle to get ready for the battle. As a thriver, you’re not waiting on the next struggle or the next test before you till your soil, plant your seeds and grow your fruit of self-control. You know in advance that accessing more faith under pressure will require you to stay in control under pressure. By control I mean confident and sure.

Is this easy? No. Spiritual agency is one of the most difficult things to master because, as we discussed, spiritual agency is a result. Spiritual agency requires us to live outside of our comfort zone. When there’s no battle, when we’re not being challenged, when we haven’t run out of options or when we haven’t reached a point that we want to give up, we’re normally not thinking about accessing more faith. I always say, we don’t meet grace when we read about it, we meet grace when we can’t do anything about it. Spiritual agency relies on the sum total of our faith — trust, fruit and access, to influence our thoughts, emotions and actions. In other words, when we’re doubting, we’re not losing faith, we need to access more faith. When we’re thinking that we can’t win, we need to access more faith. When we’re walking through the valley, we need to access more faith. When we’re waiting for a breakthrough, climbing a mountain, or resisting the devil, we need to access more faith. Spiritual agency gives us the confidence and the ability to access more faith when more faith is necessary.

I had the opportunity to work with an individual who had gone through a very difficult period in life. They suffered greatly and lost nearly everything including material possessions, friends, job and even their church home. They had every reason to feel like giving up. They were betrayed, abandoned and God was nowhere in sight — it seemed. They had dreams and goals but the hell they went through took a huge toll on their spiritual agency. Everything around them was out of control and here I was telling them, “It’s time to access more faith.” That was the last thing they wanted to hear in the moment but here’s the thing, they didn’t come to me to double down on what the enemy was saying, to undermine their spiritual agency or to throw in the towel for them. They came to me to get back up again and to reclaim their inheritance. As a thriver, you need to create or maintain a circle of friends, or mentors — personally or virtually, who will help you get back up again. Another important component for your spiritual agency is help. Sometimes, to trust in faith again, to grow your fruit self-control, to access more faith, you need will need help. I’m not saying you can’t do it without help, I’m saying Iron sharpens Iron. When you’re feeling spiritually dull, don’t hesitate to get help to sharpen yourself.

Whether spiritual agency, emotional agency or relational agency, the key to a powerful position is your trust in your ability to access more faith to do what you are able to do. Trusting in the faith that we have isn’t always easy. Like the thriver mindset, spiritual agency isn’t our condition, it’s our position. It’s our ability to stand in the midst of the storm and know that we have what we need to do what God said we could do. It’s the confidence that comes from trust that gives us the ability to hold our head up high, and boldly forge ahead to our next level. This is what the bible means when it says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).

Three Keys to Spiritual Agency

Stir up your gift. Let your passion lead you to your life purpose. You are gifted for a purpose. The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to Timothy while he was in prison to encourage Timothy to be mindful of keeping his gift stirred up. The Apostle Paul wrote: “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (2 Timothy 1:6). Whatever you’ve been gifted to do, called to do, fan your gift into flames. Your gift is your spiritual companion to your spiritual agency. Fanning your gift into flames is a lifestyle not an event…when you live to stir up your gift, you are reinforcing your spiritual agency by exercising self-control, feeding your desire to influence and build your trust in faith…which will help you in the storm to remember that you were put on this earth for something greater. Purpose empowers spiritual agency.

Practice using your prophetic voice. Practice prophesying over your steps, over your victory, over your trust in faith. David prophesied his victory over Goliath in advance: “The LORD, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:37). When you prophesy over your life, living your blessed life, and walking in your purpose, you are reinforcing your spiritual agency. Before every victory there’s a valley; before every triumph there’s a test, and every promise comes with a process. When you are living on purpose you will, you must, practice trusting in faith and exercising your prophetic voice — declare truth over your life (Job 22:28).

Abide in the truth. This is possibly the most important for your overall spiritual health and agency, know the truth and abide in the truth (John 15:7). Know and trust in your truth. It’s not enough to believe in God, we have to know what to believe and trust in what we believe when it’s time access more faith. In other words, it’s next to impossible to read a bible in the middle of a fire. You have to become the bible, a living epistle (2 Corinthians 3:2), which gives you the ability to go inward when you are under attack. The truth has to abide in you when all hell is breaking loose, when you can’t see what God is doing, when one door closes, when it looks like the enemy is prospering. Spiritual agency is not human power, it’s spiritual power. The truth that you trust in sustains you, comforts you, reassures you, informs you, and helps you access more faith. How do we abide in the truth? By constantly feeding ourselves the truth. Not just reading the bible but by studying the bible for practical wisdom for everyday living. Study topically, study for application, study for understanding of how God works in all weather conditions. Jesus said, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). The word you trust in the storm will determine your spiritual agency in the storm.

Spiritual agency is the key to thriving in life. Without spiritual agency, we’re subject to being shipwrecked by doubt, fear, and distress. We don’t control life…the bible said, “No weapon formed against us would prosper,” it didn’t say we wouldn’t get hit. One of the most profound testaments in the bible of spiritual agency after being hit, to me, is Job 13:15: “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face.” We will be hit, we will be tested, and the enemy will never give up. Spiritual agency anoints us to tell the storm, “Peace be still,” and prepares us to access more faith.

Patrick