"Barriers to Receiving the Holy Spirit"

Unwillingness to Surrender to the Will of God

One major hurdle is that most of us have our own plans and agendas for our lives. In most cases they don't bring any fruitful results and may not be successes but we are too short sighted to see the end. We end up resisting God's Will. We care about only ourselves, we want results right now and we want it our way.
We tell God something like "Father you have given us salvation: so thanks a lot, but I'll take care of my poverty, my failing marriage and the cancer myself" . We don't realise that we have greatness planned in us and we are just throwing it away.
We are like a child asking permission from a father to jump off a cliff. We only see the thrill of the jump and the views we experience as we fall. The father on the other hand sees whats going to happen to you when you land. So when the father says no to the child, it gets angry with the father and does not feel like listening to him anymore. The truth is the father refused permission because he loves the child.

REAL LIFE INSPIRATION

A woman was long suffering from an illness that caused great pain in her ovaries. It was strange and nobody was able to diagnose why this was happening. She tried all kinds of doctors, faith healers and almost everything medical science has to offer. They were unable to diagnose let alone cure her. She silently suffered pain and humiliation for a couple of years and then finally she try out Christ for healing.
There was not much change, she tried many things including praying, fasting, reading the Bible and watching testimonies. She still did not understand what she was doing wrong. Soon this issue among others led to her marriage breaking down. She felt broken from the inside, she felt like she lost her womanhood. She did not understand what she was doing wrong or why this was happening to her.
She soon realized that she never fully trusted or depended on God. She would partly trust him and partly trust in herself for the healing. She saw that she came from a family where the women liked to control situations and she herself was a control freak and was not prepared to let God be in control. That was her turning point. She once again went on a fast, gave up everything else and surrendered to God completely. She gave up her medicines and started trusting God.
Initially the pain increased greatly, but she persisted. She was terrified, but did not lose faith. She read and believed the Bible and prayed the healing scriptures over her life. She pressed closer to God and asked Him to take care of it. She trusted in God and in nothing else. Slowly the pains started subsiding. Soon she was completely healed. Shown below is what she says in her own words about her experience with God.

"Please no matter what you are going through, don't give up on God. Nothing is impossible for Him and I mean nothing."

LIFE APPLICATION

*Learning to trust God is the greatest thing that can happen to you, unlike people He does not let you down
*Finding out and accepting God's will for your life is the most rewarding experiences you can have.