“Be still and know that I AM God.” Psalm 46:10
I recently heard a woman talk about how God told her that He was not going to compete with her when she got herself all riled up in prayer, and not give Him time to speak. That is a bold reminder for us regarding the intimacy that we share with the Father during our special time of prayer, and what He desires from us.
Before we sit down with Him, we need to confront whatever is on our minds and silence it. He will not compete with a haughty or frenzied approach. We just need to be still and know that He is God. He is greater than our most impressive words or dire needs. He already knows the end from the beginning of all things, including our life circumstances and challenges. He can go into our past and change our future, and at the same time walk hand in hand with us in our present. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. We do not need to convince Him to help us or beg for His attention — but He does want all of ours.
Some of us know this already and just need a reminder. Others are hearing it for the first time and need to learn how to approach Him in prayer. What pleases God is our daily devotion and willingness to learn how to worship Him in spirit and truth. The Word of God teaches us about the importance of silence and being still in His Presence because that is how we can clearly hear from Him. Sitting down with God and doing all the talking is time ill-spent in prayer. If we do not give Him the space to answer our requests, we will walk away discouraged and lamenting that we never heard or felt Him. We are told in His Word that He knows our every thought; therefore, it is best to go to Him meekly and emptied of our self-will so He can fill us up. That is what prayer is all about — it does not change God, it changes us!
Brother Lawrence had a very simple faith. He worked as a kitchen helper and sandal maker in a monastery. He had a reputation for experiencing profound peace in God. A quote from his book called The Practice of the Presence of God shows us how he spent his time with God. “I worshipped Him the oftenest that I could, keeping my mind in His Holy Presence, and recalling it as often as I found it wandered from Him. I found no small pain in this exercise; and yet, I continued it notwithstanding all the difficulties that occurred without troubling or disquieting myself when my mind had wandered involuntarily. I made this my business, as much all day long, as at the appointed times of prayer for at all times — every hour, every minute, even in the height of my business I drove away from my mind everything that was capable of interrupting my thoughts of God.”
That is true devotion to God, and we need to practice that every day to draw near to Him. We generally look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves, but the biblical idea of prayer is that God’s holiness will take over and transform our life. Prayer nourishes the life of God within us. When we receive Jesus into our life it is just the beginning of our journey, and we can either starve that life out or nourish it. Prayer is a way to get to know God; it is a way to reveal the presence of God in every circumstance of life.
The experience we have with our Heavenly Father including all He has to offer through Jesus and Holy Spirit is amplified by our prayer life and faith in His Word and promises. Therefore, knowing His Word is a vital part of our fellowship with Him. If we are not seeing our prayers answered, it is because we are not praying according to His Will. Jesus tells us in John 15, when we abide in Him (the Word), we can be assured that our prayers will be effectual.
The word fellowship in Greek is koinónia. It has more than one meaning including participation, partnership, and having a fellowship in the Spirit. 1 John 1:3 tells us that our fellowship is with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. This means we can partner with the Eternal God and participate in His plans and purposes for our life. We are also told that to be a co-laborer with Him, we must remain in Him! All the power we need to partner with Him comes from Him. He is a living God, and we need to draw our life from Him; to draw from Him, we need access to Him. We get that access through Jesus, Holy Spirit, His Word, prayer, and faith. Yet, once we have done all this, we must be obedient and patient in our waiting for His timing and His way.
Difficult seasons and temporary trials, if we let them, can force us to focus squarely on God because He is the only One that uniquely understands how we process our thoughts. Sometimes we just need to be set apart and go to a quiet place which the Bible calls a secret place.
At some point in our life, we will find ourselves in a valley of darkness that can only be walked through with God. At first, we will try searching for someone who knows exactly how we feel. The truth is, our Shepherd is the only one who can carry us through our Psalm 23 experience. There is an explosive power in our quietness and stillness with God that will break through any dark valley; and this happens when we fellowship and partner with Him in our secret place.
Join me on the journey 💝
ABOUT MARIE SCINTO
Have a question for Marie? E-mail her here
