“For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”
– 1 Corinthians 2:11
It’s a pretty simple principle, reality represented in this short verse here in 1 Corinthians 2:11 that the spirit of a person knows the thoughts of a person. Who else knows someone’s thoughts better than the spirit of that person? So with God. Who knows the thoughts of God? The Spirit of God.
Therefore, so put this together, if we want to know God, if we want to know how God thinks, how God works, how God acts, his ways, then we must know his Spirit. We must be in step with, in tune with the Spirit of God. And this is where, and it’s such a beautiful passage here in 1 Corinthians 2:11, just the necessity of the Spirit on display at the beginning of this chapter, in the proclamation of the word, that when the word is proclaimed rightly, the Spirit of God will show its power in such a way that men will come to know God and put their faith in God, not in men.
We need the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to the truth of God’s Word. May we be desperate for God’s Spirit.
So we will put our faith in God when the Spirit of God opens our eyes to his word. And that’s exactly what the rest of this chapter goes on to talk about, how we need the Spirit of God to know God, to know his thoughts, his truth, his ways. So this is where we need to remember, then, that a relationship with God is not a mechanical or even natural relationship. This is supernatural. If we’re going to know God, then we are dependent, desperate for the Spirit of God to help us know him.
This is why when we open up the Bible to read it on a daily basis, when we gather together in the church, we need to open it with a posture that is dependent on the Spirit. This is not just a natural thing, we’re just going to read some words on a page and they’re just going to kind of naturally produce a whole new life in us. No. Supernaturally, we open the word of God and we need the Spirit of God to open our eyes, to illuminate our minds, to help us see what we can’t see, to understand what we can’t naturally understand. This is a spiritual exercise and that’s just one example.
1 Corinthians 2:11 Shows the Power of The Spirit of God To Reveal God
Prayer is obviously a supernatural spiritual exercise. When we share the gospel, we are sharing in the power of the Spirit what Jesus said in Acts chapter one verse eight, “You’ll receive power when the Spirit comes upon you and you’ll be my witnesses”. That is a supernatural exercise, and now you start to realize every single facet of the Christian life is a supernatural exercise. It’s all dependent on the Spirit of God. So we must be a people, then, who are constantly in tune with the Spirit of God, dependent on the Holy Spirit, desperate for the Holy Spirit, and this affects the way we live and it affects the way we pray.
So God, we pray right now in the power of your Spirit and dependence on your Spirit, even to lead us as we pray, to direct our thoughts and our desires as we pray, because oh God, we want to know you. We want to know you God. We want to love you with all our hearts, soul, mind, and strength. And this is not a natural exercise.
God, we know that this is supernatural. What we’re asking for is supernatural. So God, we pray for that. In the power of your Spirit, help us to know you. In the power of your Holy Spirit you have put in us, help us to understand your thoughts, your word, your ways, to trust you. Then all of these gifts that you promise through your Spirit, wisdom, comfort, guidance, power for witness, all of these supernatural gifts that come from you through your Holy Spirit we ask for and we depend on.
Living In Tune with The Spirit
God, we cannot do anything you called us to do apart from the power of your Spirit in us, your Spirit leading us, your Spirit guiding us. And we want to live, God, you’ve said in your word, our bodies are temples of your Holy Spirit, so we want to live totally in tune with your Spirit at all times. God, help us not to turn from your Spirit to ourselves, to sin. Lord, help us to walk in step with your Spirit in obedience to your word in the power of your Spirit.
Oh God, cause your Spirit, the Holy Spirit, to fill us fully, lead us completely, guide us supernaturally today. Help us to live on another plane filled with your Holy Spirit, led by your Spirit, guided by your Spirit, directed by your Spirit in every single way. In all that we think, in all that we say, in all that we do, in all that we feel, God, may your Spirit saturate us in every way that we might know and glorify you. Oh, we pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
