:: To Worship Him ::

 

There are many asking, ”Is God  speaking today?”  I do believe God is still speaking to us.  His voice may not be audible to our outer ears, but our inner ear (our spirit) should clearly hear His voice.  We must spend the time to be sensitive to Him speaking.  He says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27).  We read of many accounts in the Old Testament when God spoke to certain people.  God frequently spoke to Moses, Abraham, Noah and many others.  We certainly have no problem believing that God spoke to them, yet we have to exercise a little more faith to believe He still speaks to us today.  I have heard some say that God  is not speaking to His people today.  That He has said all that He is going to say when He wrote the Scriptures.  I disagree.  I am sure He has spoken to me many times.  I don’t feel I am more spiritual than anyone else.  I have spent time trying to practice hearing Him.  That’s all. 

 

First, we must be one of His sheep and believe “if we come to Him, He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).  God can speak to anyone He wishes, but I think He definitely wants to speak to each of His sheep.

 

We must spend time alone with Him.  We must train our ears to be familiar with His voice.  It really isn’t hard or spooky.  When my husband speaks, I don’t have to strain and wonder who is talking to me.  I have spent so much time with him, I know his voice.  I know my children’s voice.  I know certain friends’ voices.  I know the voices that have certain characteristics.  I know those that speak with certain accents.  My physical ears have learned those traits.  I also pray and trust that when the evil one tries to speak to me, I will be spiritually attuned to that voice as well.

 

When we receive words from the Lord, we must receive it with a strong assurance in our hearts and minds that the words are truly from the Lord.  We must have that inner peace that only comes from the “Spirit of Life and Peace” (Romans 8:6). If you do not have peace in your spirit, do not act on the word.  Wait, put the word on a shelf, pray and ask the Lord to confirm it if it is His word.  As Joy Dawson said, “If you have nothing else but a strong witness in your spirit, accompanied by the peace of God, you can rest assured God has revealed His will to you.”  She continued to quote Colossians 3:15 which says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.”  That is paramount to hearing a clear word from the Lord.  Joy also says that “the more our lives are under the direct control of the Holy Spirit, the more readily we will be able to discern and interpret the quickening of the Spirit.”  We must:

 

 

 

 

The goal for our lives should be learning about the Lord. We should seek to learn everything we possibly can learn about Him: His personality, His ways, His acts, what He likes and dislikes, what angers Him, what grabs His heart, and what moves Him.  The longer we live as a child of God, the more we should grow in our knowledge of  Him and our love for Him.

 

Jesus asked Peter two very important questions.  In Matthew 16:13, 15, we see immediately where Peter was spiritually.  How he answered the questions set the path he would travel through life and throughout eternity. 

 

“When Jesus arrived in the villages of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “What are people saying about who the Son of Man is?”  They replied, “Some think he is John the Baptist, some say Elias, some Jeremias or one of the prophets.”  (Here is the test question.)  He pressed them, “And how about you?  Who do you say I am?” 

 

How we answer this question paves the course of our entire existence.  Peter’s response was, “You’re the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus responded back with a praise to Peter for his answer.  He told Peter that he didn’t get that answer out of books or from teachers, but directly from the Father.  This is something our Father loves to do: Reveal Jesus to us.

 

In John 21:15-19, we see Jesus asking Peter another question.  “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  Peter came back with, “Lord, you know all things; You know that I love You.”  Then Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”

 

I believe Jesus is constantly asking each one of us, “Who do you say I am?” and “Do you love me?”  He knows where we are, but I believe the Lord wants each one of us to locate ourselves; to have our ears hear our own confession.  The Christian life is filled with so many challenges, chaos, excitement, dangers, but what happiness, joy and fulfillment.  No other journey like it!

 

Learning about the Lord is getting rooted and grounded in the basics of our faith.  Getting to know Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and to love Him is paramount to a successful Christian life.  We don’t have to see Him to love Him.  When we truly set our compass to follow Jesus, the Father will see that the Holy Spirit teach and guide us.  When we are students of the Word of God, then our Father is faithful to bring each of us into a deeper love and understanding of Himself and His amazing love for us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Have you been standing for a prayer need until you’re not sure how much longer you can stand?”  In the book of Daniel, verse 7:25, we read that the enemy will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints.  This, Daniel warns, will come through the Antichrist to sap the strength of the Church by making alterations in time and in the law (delays and in God’s word).  It seems there are some prayer needs that get accomplished easily and then there are others that never seem to get answered? 

 

Francis Frangipane wrote a great article about this that answered some of my questions.  He said “the final effect of what seemed like never-ending delays, situations and people, often empowered by demonic resistance, stand opposed to the forward progress of God’s people.  Because of satanic spiritual resistance, many Christians incrementally accept this resistance until a quiet, but weighty, oppression rests on their souls.”

 

This battle can have many roots and personalities.  It can be conflicts within our families, work place, school, neighborhoods, health issues and conflicts even within our churches.  The writer Frangipane said ”the enemy comes like a  skilled and masterful thief, to steal joy, strength and passion of Christians without many realizing what they have lost or how much.”

 

There is a particular need in my family that I have been praying for some forty years.  I have said over and over, “How long, O Lord, how long?”  In the Bible there are fifty-eight occasions where the phrase “how long” is sounded by those who grew weary while waiting.  I am sure the majority of believer have at one time echoed that same phrase.  It might be the salvation of a spouse, the mending of a relationship, a job promotion, or a breakthrough in ministry.  WE ALL HAVE OUR LISTS.

 

In seeking answers, we need to make sure the delays are not designated by God.  He will set up circumstances sometimes in order to perfect our faith.  In that case, we are wise not to interfere.  However, if our delays are an attack against us to oppose and delay the completion of what God has in store for us, we do well to persevere at all cost.  We must face the fact that in order to prosper in the things of God, we will certainly have battles.  James tells us to “consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete.”  (James 1:2-4)

 

Let us keep our faith high and know that God is watching over our lives.  He knows when we are weary in our struggles.  He knows how long we have stood in intercessions.  He knows exactly when we need a delay for the building of our character and He knows when the enemy is buffeting us.  We can rest assured that the enemy would not bother except that something great is in store for us.  Trust God and stand firm in the midst of the battle in faith!  “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall surely reap if we do not grow weary.”  Galatians 6:9

 

                         AFTER YOU’VE DONE ALL TO STAND, STAND!

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There are so many references in the Bible to ‘walking in the Spirit’ and its importance in our Christian life.  Galatians 5:25 (Amplified Bible) reads; “If we live by the Holy Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.  If by the Holy Spirit we have our life in God, let us go forward, walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit.”

 

If we live by the Holy Spirit, then let us also walk by the Spirit.  We see here that first, we have to live by the Spirit.  We must have asked the Lord to come into our life and purpose to have a willing heart to be taught and discipled by the Holy Spirit.  John 16:13 says, “But when He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth.”

 

How do we then walk by the Spirit?  Psalm 119:105 tells us that, “God’s Word is a lamp unto our feet, a light unto our path.”  The Galatian passage tells us to go forward, walking in line, with our conduct controlled by the Spirit.  I think these two passages give us the answer to walking in the Spirit.  If we are obediently walking forward in the Spirit of God, and our conduct is under control, then our path will be illuminated.  We will have a purpose, a goal, a direction and a destination.

 

Unfortunately I see too many Christians wandering aimlessly through life without direction or goals.  The least little distraction will catch their attention, causing them to veer off in the ditch.  A walk in the Spirit reminds me of a tight-rope walker.  Far above the crowd, he begins his walk with only one goal; to get safely to the other side.  He must keep complete concentration, balance, feet sensitive at all times to his position on the rope with eyes riveted on his goal.  Imagine the fate of a walker if he walked carelessly like some Christians.  Hopefully there would be a net below.

 

 

 

I have been thinking lately how we tend to patch up the old in order to keep it running.  This reminds me of some automobiles I saw in third world countries. The owners were so poor they used duck tape, baling wire or other methods to hold their cars together in order to run.  You could see some strange sights, but bless their hearts, in their poverty they could be very inventive in their need to get by.

 

When we walk with the Lord we are never in poverty spiritually.  We do not have to patch up the old order in our worship.  Juanita Bynum made a statement in her book; “Matters of the Heart” that I thought was great.  She said that we should stop trying to fix the old and let God give us something new.  That is so true!  Somehow we are more comfortable patching up the old rather than risk learning how to operate in the new.  This rings true far more than we like to admit.  In our worship we seem to enjoy the same old styles, habits and modes of our worship to God.  He tells us to sing a new song.  Do we think He means it?  Do you suppose He gets tired of hearing the same old worship list, the same old way, with the same old attitude?  Juanita is right.  Why try fixing the old?  Spend time on the new.  Is it really a matter of the heart?

 

As a worship leader, we should always be about the new.  We need to always be before the Lord seeking that new song, that new and fresh approach to our King.  This is what is required of us.  I do want to say that singing old songs is not wrong.  Even the same arrangements are not bad.  The error is in the stale way in which we present our worship.  What’s attractive about stale worship?  I wouldn’t be impressed.

 

If we want fresh worship, Holy Spirit breathed worship, we must put prayer as a priority.  Prayer is not an option.  The greatest experiences I have had in fellowship with the Lord and in worship corporately have come after great times of prayer or fasting and prayer.  At those times I would be more sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit.  I would be less likely to draw upon my own feelings and old habits but instead focus upon pouring out adoration to my Lord in a new and fresh way.

 

If we want true, fresh worship, we must hunger for it.  We were created to be at home with the Lord, but too often we allow other things to upstage Him in our lives.  Adequate worship is not based upon our feeling good or fulfilled; that is a by-product.  Adequate worship is when God is pleased.  We simply need to break this outer shell; our traditions, fears, old habits; you name yours, and let that fresh oil within us lavishly pour forth upon our God in extravagant worship.  Fresh worship.  Spontaneous worship.

 

Don’t patch up the old order. Worship Him today in a new and fresh way!  Sing Him a new song!