Increasing Capacity
Dr. Wayne Frye
There are times in our walk with God that we ask God for “more”. More revelation, more wisdom, more opportunities for ministry, experiencing more of the promises of God, yet it seems that we don’t receive it. God’s desire is to pour more of himself into us, but many times our vessels are full to capacity and unable to receive “more”. In order for us to receive all that God has for us, at many times throughout our walk we will have to increase our capacity and learn the uncomfortable place of being s–t-re-t-ch-ed. The power to define is the power to fulfill, so let’s define capacity. Capacity is the maximum amount something can contain, the amount something can produce, or the ability or power to do, experience or understand something. We increase our capacity for God by increasing our understanding. God wants to do more in us and through us than we ever thought possible. That is an amazing truth. In order to receive more we have to be willing to stretch. 3 John 2 (AMP) says "Beloved, I pray that in every way you may succeed and prosper and be in good health (physically) just as (I know) your soul prospers (spiritually)". The soul is made up of the mind, will, intellect, imagination, emotions, and understanding. If we are not prospering inwardly than we will certainly not prosper outwardly. God wants us to prosper not only in spiritual things but in the natural things, and that includes our health. It is God’s will that you are in good health. With everything functioning as He has created. So if God wants to pour himself into us, and wants us to prosper, how can we do this?
There are three areas that affect capacity, our thinking, our seeing and our believing. The first area is our thinking. Again as we discussed earlier, our thinking has to do with our soul. It is an area that we intentionally have to renew. Our mind and thinking has many things coming at it that are contrary to the word of God and if we do not guard our thoughts with the word of God and renew our minds by digging into the word of God for more understanding, we will not be able to increase our capacity. Romans 12:2 (NKJV) says, "And do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God". We have to think right and line our thoughts up with God’s word. Proverbs 23:7 (NKJV) says, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he". The heart is a part of what makes up the soul. If we do not think right about ourselves or our situation, then we will not increase in our understanding therefore there is no transformational change in our behavior and no increase in capacity. We will not rise above the level of our thinking.
The second area is seeing, not with our natural eyes, but with the eyes of our understanding. Once we begin to change our thinking and realign with God's word we will begin to see different, clearer and farther. God, on occassion, need to help us change our focus from what is and put it on what will be. We see this depicted in the book of Genesis 15:2-3,5. Abram kept his eyes on the promise not the process and it came to pass just as God had promised. We too must keep our eyes on the promise and not on the process that we will live in and experience all that God has for us. We have to begin to see ourselves healed, walking in prosperity, walking in increased wisdom, living in the new house, driving the new car, involved in healthy relationships. Once our seeing changes we can move into the next area at another level.
The third area is our believing. When we begin to think differently, we will then begin to see differently and allow our believing to increase. Mark 9:23 (NKJV) Jesus said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” When we are able to see clearer we can believe for more and all things will be possible. As our focus is on seeing those things that are unseen seen as though they are, our capacity increases and our tents begin to enlarge allowing us to believe for more than our light bill being paid. We can actually begin to believe for things that seem impossible. Mary, Jesus’ mother, is an awesome example of just that. Mary was told by Gabriel, the angel, that she would become pregnant by the Holy Spirit and be the vessel God used to bring our Savior into the world. At first Mary could not believe, but as the angel continued to speak to her the more her faith enlarged and her thinking changed, the greater she began to see, to the place where she received the impossible. This is the place that God is taking us. He has opened a door and it is time for us to walk through it. As we renew our minds daily and begin to change our thinking, we will begin to see farther and greater which will then change the way we believe which then changes the way we receive and this is what increases our capacity. It is time for us to be like Mary and move from a place of “How can this be?” to “Be it unto me according to your word!”
There are three areas that affect capacity, our thinking, our seeing and our believing. The first area is our thinking. Again as we discussed earlier, our thinking has to do with our soul. It is an area that we intentionally have to renew. Our mind and thinking has many things coming at it that are contrary to the word of God and if we do not guard our thoughts with the word of God and renew our minds by digging into the word of God for more understanding, we will not be able to increase our capacity. Romans 12:2 (NKJV) says, "And do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God". We have to think right and line our thoughts up with God’s word. Proverbs 23:7 (NKJV) says, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he". The heart is a part of what makes up the soul. If we do not think right about ourselves or our situation, then we will not increase in our understanding therefore there is no transformational change in our behavior and no increase in capacity. We will not rise above the level of our thinking.
The second area is seeing, not with our natural eyes, but with the eyes of our understanding. Once we begin to change our thinking and realign with God's word we will begin to see different, clearer and farther. God, on occassion, need to help us change our focus from what is and put it on what will be. We see this depicted in the book of Genesis 15:2-3,5. Abram kept his eyes on the promise not the process and it came to pass just as God had promised. We too must keep our eyes on the promise and not on the process that we will live in and experience all that God has for us. We have to begin to see ourselves healed, walking in prosperity, walking in increased wisdom, living in the new house, driving the new car, involved in healthy relationships. Once our seeing changes we can move into the next area at another level.
The third area is our believing. When we begin to think differently, we will then begin to see differently and allow our believing to increase. Mark 9:23 (NKJV) Jesus said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” When we are able to see clearer we can believe for more and all things will be possible. As our focus is on seeing those things that are unseen seen as though they are, our capacity increases and our tents begin to enlarge allowing us to believe for more than our light bill being paid. We can actually begin to believe for things that seem impossible. Mary, Jesus’ mother, is an awesome example of just that. Mary was told by Gabriel, the angel, that she would become pregnant by the Holy Spirit and be the vessel God used to bring our Savior into the world. At first Mary could not believe, but as the angel continued to speak to her the more her faith enlarged and her thinking changed, the greater she began to see, to the place where she received the impossible. This is the place that God is taking us. He has opened a door and it is time for us to walk through it. As we renew our minds daily and begin to change our thinking, we will begin to see farther and greater which will then change the way we believe which then changes the way we receive and this is what increases our capacity. It is time for us to be like Mary and move from a place of “How can this be?” to “Be it unto me according to your word!”