Giving God the Cooperation of our Human Will in Total Responsiveness to Him Today

God created man with a free will, and His almighty power is limited by the cooperation of man; we need to come to a place of total responsiveness to God so that He would have a free way to accomplish His will on the earth.

It is amazing to realize that God, the omnipotent and almighty One, has chosen to depend on man’s cooperation when it comes to the fulfillment of His purpose on earth.

Especially in the age that we live today, what God desires to do accomplish is not only the recovery of the truth or justification by faith; God’s need today is to gain the church as the Body of Christ to become the bride of Christ to bring Him back.

The recovery of the church life began approximately one hundred years ago.

Martin Luther recovered justification by faith in the sixteenth century, but he didn’t see that God desires to gain the church; therefore, even now the head of the Lutheran churches is the king in that country.

The Lord raised up the British Brethren in the nineteenth century, and they recovered very much in relation to the truth in the Word of God; however, even though they tried to practice the church life it lasted for only twenty years.

Today the Brethren assemblies are divided and don’t practice the church life according to the truth in the New Testament.

But praise the Lord, He is moving and continually recovering the matter of the church and the proper practice of the church life.

Brother Watchman Nee and two others saw the ground of the church, the oneness of the Body of Christ, and they began to practice it.

Today in the church life all over the earth we have the most advanced practice of the church life in history.

Yes, the practice of the church life in Acts 2 was wonderful, but it was in only one city; today, however, there are many genuine local churches all around the world, and we all continue steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles in every continent on earth.

The church life in the 1970s was wonderful, and it was the best thing at that time, but we cannot go back – rather, we need to advance in and with the Lord, in and with the recovery of the church life.

Today in the age of advanced technological developments we can meet live via skype and zoom, we have mobile phones that are very smart, and we have superior technology available.

Similarly in the spiritual realm, God has advanced and has recovered the church life to a higher level.

God is focused on the church – He wants to gain the church, so that through the church He would recover the earth, end the age, and bring forth the manchild to do His greatest dispensational move.

Unfortunately, the church as a whole has failed God and does not meet His need; however, a small portion of the church, the overcomers, will meet God’s need in this age, and God will count these overcomers as if they are the entire Body of Christ.

We don’t understand why this happens, but this is the principle of the overcomers.

May we be these ones, the overcoming ones in this age, for Him to accomplish what is in His heart! May we limit God no more but rather, may we cooperate with Him by aligning our will with His for the fulfillment of His purpose!

We need to Realize that God’s Almighty Power is Limited by the Cooperation of our Human Will

In eternity past and in eternity future, God is almighty and omnipotent, the El Shaddai, with nothing to limit Him.

Nothing in eternity past and in eternity future can stop God, hinder Him, or delay Him.

However, God has a will, and according to His will, He created the universe and in particular the earth, and He created man in His image and according to His likeness.

When He created man with a free will, all the troubles began, for God gave man free will to choose Him or to choose Satan, His enemy.

God desires to have many sons as the reproduction of His Son Jesus Christ to express Him corporately.

But He won’t just do it by forcing us or coercing man to do what He wants.

Rather, from the time of the garden of Eden until now there are three wills at work – the will of God, the will of Satan, and the will of man.

God will never abolish man’s will, even though man can limit God in what He can do by the cooperation of our human will.

It is amazing to realize that God’s omnipotence is limited in what He can do on earth by our cooperation.

God put His almighty power under the limitation of our human will. If we cooperate with God, if we align our will with God’s will, He can do what He desires; if we do not cooperate, we delay and hinder God from what He intends to do.

Generation after generation, the believers in Christ either cooperated or hindered God’s move.

The reason it has been two thousand years and the Lord Jesus has not returned is that there has not been enough cooperation rendered to God’s will by the human will so that He may produce the overcomers who become the dispensational instrument to close the age and bring the Lord back with His kingdom.

It is a great glory for God when man cooperates with Him; this brings in the defeat of Satan, and the enemy is shamed when man – whom he has usurped and spoiled – cooperates with God.

Eventually, God will gain the human will to fully cooperate with Him, and the human will shall submit fully to the divine will; in eternity future, the omnipotence of God will be much greater than in eternity past, for the human will agrees with the divine will.

For eternity, there will be two wills – the human will and the divine will, but the human will shall be subject to the will of God, and this brings greater glory to God.

But today in the church age, God runs a risk – He limited Himself in what He can do to the cooperation of our human will, so He is delayed, frustrated and limited in what He can do. Oh, Lord!

We have a certain capacity in our human will, and we need to open to the Lord and allow Him to saturate us and fill us with Himself.

As we open to the Lord, spend time with Him in His Word and allow Him to shine on us, we will realize the need to align our will to His will, and the Lord will gain the responsiveness that He desires to have in us for Him to do what He wants to do.

God’s power, though almighty and omnipotent, is limited by our capacity; the power of God is subject to our will, our submission, our obedience, and our faith.

When we say Amen to what God desires to do, when we pray for His will to be done on earth, He has a way to do it.

When God created the earth, He established certain principles that govern the universe; one of these principles or laws is that all created beings have a free will.

The angels also have a free will, but in the grand scheme of the fulfillment of God’s economy, the human will is more important.

Even though man has rebelled against God, He will not deal with them directly at this time; rather, He wants to gain a group of people who align their will with His will and choose Him, and through these ones, He will judge the rebellious ones.

He needs to gain a group of people on earth who will cooperate with Him and work one with Him according to what is in His mind and heart.

May we be those who realize how much we can limit or release the will of God, and may we give Him the cooperation that He needs in our lifetime so that we may be His overcomers today to change the age and bring in the age of the kingdom.

Thank You Lord for giving us a free will to choose You. We open to You, Lord, and we come to You in Your word to be infused with You and to be filled with You. We choose You, Lord, and we choose Your will. We no longer want to limit You in any way. We don’t want to restrict You from what You intend to do today. Amen, Lord, we reject the satanic will, we reject being independent from God, and we choose to be one with You today! May Your will be done and may Your kingdom come. Increase our faith, our organic union with You, and gain our whole being to the uttermost. Amen, Lord, may Your divine power have a free way to work, and may Your divine purpose be accomplished in our lifetime and even through us!

Allowing God to have a Free and Unhindered way to Accomplish His Will by our Total Responsiveness to Him

May the Lord open our eyes to see that God has His limitations; He is limited by the cooperation of our human will, and we need to cooperate with Him in prayer on earth today (Matt. 6:10; 18:18-19; 2 Cor. 6:1).

Yes, God is omnipotent, and Yes, He can do whatever He wants; however, He has set the principle of the cooperation of man being required before He can do something.

God has imposed limitations on Himself, and He will do what He wants to do when man cooperates with Him. God’s omnipotence is subject to limitations because He must have certain conditions suitable for His working (John 7:17; Matt. 7:21).

Man’s free will is the central and basic factor limiting God or releasing His will on earth, for in creation God put His almighty power under the limitation of the human will.

We may think that God is almighty but we are not; however, in a sense, we are more powerful, for the almighty power of God is subject to our will.

When we pray in oneness with Him to release His will, He can move; when we do not cooperate with Him in prayer, however, He is limited and hindered in what He wants to do.

God wants the human will to be on His side, so He accepts the limitation that this desire entails (John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38; Rom. 12:2-3).

The Lord Jesus was the One whose will always aligned to God’s will, for He had a total responsiveness to God and cooperated with God to the uttermost.

As a Man, He had a will, but He submitted Himself to the One who was God. He learned obedience through the things which He has suffered, and He perfected obedience through His sufferings on earth.

Today this One is the Lord of all, the King of kings and Lord of lords, Head over all things to the church; also, He is in us to be our life and everything.

As members of the organic Body of Christ, we are here either expressing Him or limiting Him.

May the Lord bring us to the point where we have nothing to hinder Him from doing whatever He wills; may He bring us to the place of total responsiveness to Him!

Once the Lord has brought us to a place of total responsiveness to Him, He will have a free and unhindered way to accomplish His will.

We may think that this can’t be done, for our will is not fully yet aligned with God’s will, and we still desire this or that, will to do this or that, and choose this or that thing not according to His will.

But praise the Lord, the One whose will is absolutely identified with God and the One in whom God has no limitations lives in us! His life of obedience is ours.

We are the members of His Body, and His life is lived out in us. Daily, we are learning to give Him a free way in us so that through us He may accomplish His eternal purpose.

The church will be the vessel that releases His will on earth; we must start today by saying Amen to His will.

We can’t expect the Lord to show forth a greater measure than what we afford Him; God is in many ways more powerful than us, but He has put Himself into us and made us His channels, so we can either shut Him in or release Him.

May the Lord bring us to the place where we no longer hider Him but rather, we are pliable in His hands.

May He bring us to the place where He can have a free and unhindered way to accomplish His purpose; may we be like the Lord Jesus declaring, We as sons of God can do nothing from ourselves (John 5:19).

May we be brought to the place of absolute responsiveness to Him to give Him the human cooperation He needs to release His will on earth.

Lord Jesus, we turn to You, for You are the One fully identified with God, the One in whom God has no limitations in the carrying out of His will. Grant us the grace that, from today, we would no longer trust in ourselves nor use our own power but trust in You and allow You to do what You want to do. Bring us to the place of utter responsiveness to You so that You may carry out Your will. Save us from thinking highly of ourselves. We place ourselves under Your blood and we lay our hands on You to be one with You. Amen, Lord, may nothing in us or about us hinder You from doing whatever You will. May Your will be done in our life. May Your kingdom come in us and through us. Do whatever You want to do, Lord, for we align our will with Your will!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a message by bro. Mark Raabe on this topic, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 37, ch. 28, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Meeting God’s Need and Present needs in the Lord’s Recovery, week 1, God’s Need in the Present Age.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – I am one with Thee, Lord Jesus, / One in spirit now with Thee; / All Thyself I now possess, Lord, / All Thou art now lives in me. / Now I share Thy human life, Lord, / Filled with Thy humanity, / All of Thy complete obedience / Is available to me. (Hymns #474)
  – Pray to touch the throne of God, / Touch the throne of power too; / In the name of Jesus Christ / Deal with what you have to do. / Pray to touch the throne of God / By the hand of living faith; / Exercise authority / Over all the pow’r of death. (Hymns #783)
  – Praying always in the spirit, / Thus expressing God’s desire; / Staying with the Lord in spirit, / We’ll be wholly set afire. / Praying always in the spirit, / Even groaning from within, / Thus we utter God’s intention / By the Spirit’s discipline. (Hymns #780)