By Andrew Williams
Series: The Year of the Prophet- Month 3: The School of the Wilderness (Preparation)
Week 13: The Death of Ambition (The Final Surrender)
Anchor Scripture: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise.” — Psalm 51:17 (NKJV)
The Teaching
As we near the end of the School of the Wilderness, we find that God has been leading us to a specific spiritual destination. He didn’t take you into the desert to make you “tougher,” more “knowledgeable,” or more “skilled” in your gift. He took you there to break you.
In the Kingdom of God, “brokenness” is not a sign of failure; it is a prerequisite for use. The Hebrew word for “contrite” is dakah, which means to be crushed to powder. Think of the olive: it must be crushed to produce oil. Think of the alabaster box: it must be broken to release the fragrance. For the Prophet, the greatest danger is a “hard heart”—a heart that has become calloused by religious routine, cynical because of rejection, or rigid because of its own “correctness.”
The wilderness is God’s “crushing room.” He allows the pressure of life to smash the hard shell of your personality so that the soft spirit within can be exposed. A “broken spirit” is a spirit that has no “fight” left against God. It is a spirit that is completely yielded, tender, and easily moved by the slightest whisper of the Lord. God says this is the one sacrifice He will never despise. He can work with a broken heart, but He resists a “stiff neck.”
Prophetic Insight
People often perceive prophets as “hard” or “sharp” because they carry a word of correction. But a true prophet must be the most “broken” person in the room. If you deliver a hard word from a hard heart, you will only produce rebellion in the people. But if you deliver a hard word from a broken heart, you produce repentance. The “brokenness” of the messenger is what makes the “bite” of the message bearable. If you feel “smashed” by your circumstances today, do not despair. God is not destroying you; He is making you “contrite” so that He can dwell with you in a deeper way.
The Activation
Take a moment to check the “hardness” of your heart. Is there any area where you have become “stiff-necked” or defensive? Today, perform a “Softening Prayer.” Instead of asking God to change your situation, ask Him to “crush the shell.” Say to the Lord: “I bring You the sacrifice of my broken spirit. I stop fighting for my rights and my way. I offer You a heart of flesh.” Allow yourself to be vulnerable before Him.
Daily Prayer: Lord God, I thank You that You are near to the brokenhearted. I repent for my pride, my hardness, and my stiff neck. I yield to the crushing of the wilderness. Smash the alabaster box of my ego so that Your fragrance may be released. I offer You a broken and contrite heart today. Do not despise my offering, but let Your Spirit find a home in my yieldedness. Amen.
