by Nancy Taylor Tate
“We know not what we should pray” Romans 8:26.
Recently, as I was in prayer for a need that had been shared with me, I thought I knew how to pray: I was familiar with all the scriptures relating to that need, so I would just begin to pray them!
Much to my surprise, as I began to get quiet before the Lord, He led me in a whole new direction. Scripture after scripture came before me, as my prayer time turned into a prayerful little Bible study.
As I thought on the significance of the words that the Holy Spirit was quickening, I began to realize how essential it is that we have a “present word” from the Lord. Whether praying or speaking, we need to hear from the Lord, in order to speak forth His word, quickened and anointed, that His Spirit and life might flow through us.
Had I not heard from the Lord, I might have done a lot of praying, but I would have missed what was necessary to unlock the door for living faith to enter. How easy it is to miss! We can spend a lot of time that may not be fruitful time, even in our religious endeavors. How dependent we are on the Holy Spirit for accomplishing anything of Kingdom value!
How do we come up into a higher level of spiritually hearing from the Lord?
The enlargement of our spiritual capacity begins and continues to grow through spiritual hunger, as I simply become awakened to the love song of the Lord and begin to respond.
“The song of songs, which is Solomon’s” Song of Solomon 1:1.
As I come to experience His love, I realize it is more than anything this world can offer, and I begin to desire it above all else. From that initial hunger, something in me starts to cry out for more of Him, as I make a commitment to follow after Him.
“Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee” Song of Solomon 1:4.
As I continue to seek after the Lord, instead of becoming simply “satisfied,” a “dissatisfied satisfaction” starts to grow inside me.
I begin to realize that I have found the one pearl of great price, and I become willing to “sell all” to obtain it (Matthew 13:46). I realize it is a treasure hid in a field, and I must buy the whole field to obtain it (Matthew 13:44). This is not a Sunday morning thing; it involves every aspect of my life!
Yet, as I become willing and yielded to the Lord, a transformation is set in motion inside me, where now it is no longer my life, but His life in me that is beginning to govern my choices and the things I say or do (Galatians 2:20).
As I experience His life inside me, a further hunger is released; something within me begins to stretch as I cry out for more and more of Him.
“Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?” Song of Solomon 1:7.
As I continue to steadfastly seek after the Lord, not out of mere religious requirement, but out of a love relationship, something within me awakens to His voice, as I learn to commune and fellowship with Him.
The apostle John speaks of this fellowship which he enjoyed and wished we would have too, a fellowship that is “with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3).
“The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills … My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away … Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away” Song of Solomon 2:8,10,13.
As the Lord brings me into that place of hearing His heart, notice that the call to “come away” is repeated twice in the above passage, to come apart for quality fellowship with Him.
Jesus echoed the same desire when He ordained twelve “that they should be with Him” so that He might send them forth (Mark 3:13-15). In today’s methodology, how easy it is to miss this most important key to the fulfillment of the high call of God resting on our lives.
As I come into that place of being with Him in quality times alone, while also maintaining continued fellowship with Him as I am doing my duties, I come into a poise of spirit where the Lord is able to share His heart with me, including His heart for others.
From that place of simply learning to know His heart, will come a higher level of spiritual hearing: the right word, at the right time, in the right situation, for the right person.
“We have a little sister … what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar” Song of Solomon 8:8-9.
“A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!” Proverbs 15:23.
In Isaiah 50:4, Isaiah speaks of the Lord awakening our ear “morning by morning.” There is no one-time experience of the Lord that will bring me into this or carry me through the days ahead. Day by day, as I come into His presence, He “opens” my ear.
Psalm 40:6 speaks of this “opening” of the ear. The King James says, “Mine ears hast thou opened.” My margin translates the word “opened” as “digged.” Mine ears hast thou digged!
I love how the Amplified Bible paraphrases this same verse. “You have given me the capacity to hear and obey.” The Lord has given all of us this capacity. As we are willing to allow Him to “dig out” all that would hinder and release within us all that He is, He will impart into our spirit all we need, day by day.
“Now we have received … the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God” 1 Corinthians 2:12.
John the Baptist, a prophetic voice in a transitional time, was the “voice of one” crying out in the wilderness of that day. What he was declaring went beyond the existing religious expectation; his voice prepared a way not only for the Lord to come, but for a people to recognize His coming and enter into the new day at hand.
We are living in a very critical time, again, a transitional time. How important it is that we come into a place of direct communion with the Lord and learn to be led by His Holy Spirit.
How the Lord longs to release Himself within us, that we might become the very embodiment of who He is, enabling others to see and know Him not just through our words, but through our lives.
“Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world” 1 John 4:17.
There is an end-time witness, a people who are carriers of His presence, who the Lord is raising up. This requires a purity of life, that we might become as a “sea of glass,” transparent, with nothing to hide. A tiny bit of mixture taints the whole glass. A sail set just a little to the left or right can change the whole course of a ship.
The dealings of God are intense within those who are sold out and determined to go all the way with the Lord. He is preparing them not only to be a voice, but to be a manifestation of His presence and glory beyond what has yet been seen through the church age.
“For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth” Hebrews 12:6.
In that manifestation of His glory and presence will come a releasing of authority through lives that have been broken: broken of all self-will; broken of all strong opinionatedness; broken of reactions; not moved by acceptance or rejection; broken, that Christ might be heard and seen as He shines forth from within. These are those who are coming up from the wilderness “leaning” on their beloved (Song of Solomon 8:5).
“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” Colossians 1:27.
We are living in a transitional time. Those who are prepared, the Lord is about to bring beyond the gifting of the church age and into the governmental rule of His reign. He is coming to be seen and admired in His saints, those who believe, and to be glorified in all those who have appropriated His grace that they might walk worthy of this calling (2 Thessalonians 1:10-12).
We recently received encouragement that a new day was dawning, and the Spirit of the Lord would cause His people to gather together and seek Him as never before; that a separation would come of the lukewarm from the hot, and there would come a difference in the church, bringing many souls into the Kingdom.
Jesus said that His house would be called a “house of prayer” (Matthew 21:13). Yet, what percentage of time in the total program of today’s average church is spent in prayer? The building of that house of prayer is about to move forward as many churches are drawn into increased times of prayer.
But it will not be just man’s thoughts being prayed. It will be the prophetic releasing of God’s word into circumstances and lives, bringing an alignment with God’s plans and purposes, releasing revival, and opening the door for the incoming harvest.
So many see just what the world is doing. We must see what God is doing and make ourselves available to become a part. The greatest days are yet ahead for the church, as the Lord begins to release His glory.
As the Habitation of God is being established amongst His people, it is not a visitation we are moving toward, but a transition into a greater manifestation of His abiding presence.
In this presencing of the Lord, there will come the releasing of miracles we have cried out for, but have been unable to obtain through faith alone, for it has required this greater manifestation of the Lord’s presence in our midst.
The Lord is “brooding” over those who are willing to “watch and wait” at the posts of His door; those who are willing to take the time “morning by morning” to be with Him, that He might lift them up into a higher spiritual realm, that they might be prepared and ready to enter in, in the coming day of His power.
“Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD” Proverbs 8:34-35.
For Kingdom fruitfulness to come forth, it is essential that we come into that place of having a “present word” from the Lord. Whether praying or speaking, we first need the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
May our hearts be open and our spirits yielded to Christ who lives within us, as we believe for the Lord to lift us up into His higher purposes, preparing us, that we might fully enter into that which He is doing in our day.
May our ears be open, to hear and understand, as we yield our lives to Him.