by Walter Beuttler
Now then this morning, I’ll chat with you about the price tag attached to entering the King’s College, the School of the Spirit.
The other evening, if you recall, most of you will I would assume, I also spoke on the School of the Spirit, and mentioned, as I had done on a number of occasions when coming to New Zealand, to Auckland, I had made reference to the need of learning to “wait in the presence of the Lord.”
Someone of you wrote me a letter and made reference to a personal experience of the Lord awakening him during the night, yet him not knowing what to do, what it was for, assuming it was for prayer. Well, very often, it is not for prayer at all.
I’m going to go into this a little bit.
Remember also what I said – you see I repeat things purposely – that’s how we learn. I try to speak, that’s my work, to give help to individuals, so that things that are said in the Lord will help some people, more or less, all of them, some in particular in the audience who have personal problems, situations, dealings of God they cannot understand. I like to give light in those areas. Of course, I do not know what bothers you, or what problems you have, but the Lord does.
Now with this waiting, say the Lord awakens you during the night. Now He might do this in a number of different ways. One of them might be a sense of His presence so strong within you, or about you, that it breaks your sleep, and you have an awareness of the presence of God. You might simply have, what I would call, an inner glow, a Spirit of worship, could be a Spirit of prayer, could be a combination.
Now when I was teaching in school yet, we had a president who really loved the Lord. He was all right, but was very legalistic. We had a pre-chapel prayer meeting, the faculty did.
One day he said, “I want every one of the teachers to pray audibly, first one, then the next, all around in
a circle.”
Well I didn’t and he wanted to know why. I said, “Brother, usually when I come over to school, I get a presence of inner worship and intercession, and when I get that, I must not pray audibly, for if I pray audibly, under that condition, I tear up the inner presence, I destroy the thing. I cannot tell you why. I can only tell you what’s happened.”
And he said to me, almost nasty, “Oh, I suppose.”
Well the man obviously didn’t know what I was talking about. But believe you me; especially when the Lord awakens you, and there are other times when you are awake and you have that inner glow of His presence, very often it is not for prayer at all. It may be sometimes, but very often it is not. It is an inner presence in your spirit, a worship, a hunger, a thirst, an adoration, that you simply let go up to the Lord.
You direct it toward Him. There is an inner, “Praise God, Hallelujah, Oh Jesus.” You just let that thing go up to the Lord and out of it will come something that the Lord wants to do for us that we have never even thought of.
I related in this church one year (in fact, twice), when the Lord had sent me to Europe, and I’m not repeating it now, only making reference to one angle so you will understand. In Germany, the Spirit spoke to me in words, not audible words though. The words stood before me like, I didn’t see them to look at, yet I discerned them before me. It’s peculiar how the Lord does that.
There were these words, “Go to Amsterdam on New Year’s Day about the middle of the afternoon by air.” Now those of you that remember it might remember I protested; I didn’t want to go; I finally went. Some of you might remember how I sat on the plane, British European Airways, flight to London, and they didn’t take off because of a fog.
We went back to the room where they gather the passengers that were waiting for a flight and I got a great Spirit of worship, intense worship and intercession combination. I just sat in a chair (turned out to be 5 hours), and all my spirit could do was go up with “Hallelujah,” not with the words, but on the inside. I never, never utter the words to my recollection – an inner “Hallelujah, Hallelujah.” That went on for hours.
Then later the Lord brought me in contact with a Mohammed from East Africa who had been praying for years, “Oh God, if there is a God, show me the way to true peace.”
Now I sat there and had that inner presence and worship-intercession combination that I believe had to do with what was to come. God working out, the Spirit Himself engaged in worship and intercession to work out an unusual thing that involved the angel of the Lord visiting me in the airport to bring me back into the will of God when I had lost it.
You can sit there in the presence of the Lord with that inner presence simply directing it to Him, “Hallelujah,” spoken or unspoken. That could go on for an hour, it could go on for two, it could go on for less. It gradually might subside, well it will sooner or later, and vanish. Then what? Go back to bed and have another snooze.
Now that brings me to Isaiah 30:18:
“And therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you; for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for Him.”
This morning, you recall, we talked about the tuition, the price tag, and if you will recall, to break it down into specifics, this involves obedience, submission, confidence, determination and assurance. I’ll refer to that and point it out so you can grasp it.
In Isaiah 50:5-7:
“The Lord God hath opened my ear and I was not rebellious.” There you have obedience.
“I gave my back to the smiters.” There you have submission.
“For the Lord God will help me.” There you have confidence.
“I have set my face like a flint.” There you have determination.
“I know that I shall not be ashamed.” There you have assurance.
Now these are essential elements:
1) Obedience
2) Submission
3) Confidence
4) Determination
5) Assurance
With the tuition paid, God brings us into the classroom. This is the classroom of waiting, not experimentation, but waiting.
Referring again to Isaiah 30:18, “Therefore will the Lord wait.”
God is a great waiter; that is to say, “God can wait a long time.” The Lord is looking for waiters, “People who can wait with Him, who can wait for Him, and who can wait on Him.” There is a distinction between the three, though there is a fine line only between them.
Now look here folkses, when the Lord awakens you, or when the Lord draws you aside while you are awake (He does that also), and you go before the Lord in His presence, you might wonder, “Now what am I supposed to do?” Well the first thing we’re supposed to do is to do nothing and wait. You know, people just don’t understand this. There’s a reason why they don’t.
I attended a camp meeting in the States and they had an altar service. I went to the prayer room, and I had a wonderful presence. Oh, the Lord was so real. I was kneeling there, had my elbows on a railing like, and my hands under my chin, and my spirit was aglow with the presence of God. Oh what a presence!
The evangelist came along and said, “Brother, put your chin up, put your hands up.” And he took my hands and put them up saying, “You’ll never get anywhere looking down.” I packed up and went home. That man didn’t have the least idea of what I enjoy.
We don’t always have to turn summersaults, break the chairs, rock the boat and carry on. Oh people are noisy, especially in the States. Oh, how they carry on, “Come on, everybody.” Oh, brother! “Now turn around, now shake hands, now have a march, now go around the place, now shout.” You wonder what those fellows think a congregation is, a bunch of bellhops or what. I get so fed up with that.
I had a meeting and the people came to the altar. It’s not always necessary for people to come to the altar. In fact, the British say, “The altar service is an American invention,” and they have something. There’s a place for it, but they think, “Everybody comes to the altar or something’s wrong.” Well, it doesn’t mean that at all.
We had a wonderful meeting and people just came up by themselves. Anyone who would like to spend a little time with the Lord, you’re free to come. And a whole bunch came. We had a wonderful presence, believe you me. It was such a presence; it seemed vulgar to say, “Hallelujah.”
A young pianist fellow came along and tried to “rescue” the meeting, or rescue God. He got behind the piano and the first thing he did was “rrrrriiiiiippppp.” They were in the upper chamber – “rrrrriiiiippppp.” They were all of one accord – “rrrrriiiiippppp.” He killed the whole thing dead, and I asked the congregation to stand and be dismissed. He didn’t rescue God – he buried Him.
When the Lord awakens me, (He does that) and I have that presence, I get myself comfortable (you can ask Wife). Down at the hotel at the South Pacific the evening before I go to bed, I put two chairs there in a certain way where I can sit comfortable, put my feet up. I have a cover there waiting so I can cover myself up a bit if I’m chilly, get two pillows, get nice and comfortable and then just sit there in the dark waiting on the Lord. Those chairs are all ready when I go to bed in case He comes. Or if He doesn’t come and I wake up and can’t go to sleep, I may just decide, “Now I’ll go and spend time with the Lord.”
Usually the first thing I do is to do nothing – just sit, waiting on Him, waiting for Him, waiting with Him.
Look at these words, “Therefore will the Lord wait.” You know what, “God waits for you and me to wait for Him.” He has so few waiters, people that are willing to sit still for once and keep their mouth shut, and let their spirit and heart go up to Him in utter silence. Believe you me, folkses, that waiting period, when nothing seems to happen, is the Lord’s workshop in which He is doing a work within us that cannot be done in any other way.
“Therefore will the Lord wait that He may be gracious unto you.”
He will do a work of grace. You might sit there for an hour or two hours and seemingly absolutely nothing has happened, but don’t you believe it. That thing can go on for days and weeks, but sooner or later something is going to eventuate. You will discover that something is indeed taking place.
Here I want to turn back again as I did the other night to Isaiah 64:4. I want to add something to what I had given you then. This is a marvelous verse you know. I assume most of you were with me when I touched on this, but I’ll just restate this briefly.
God has things in store for those who will learn to wait for Him in confidence, in faith, in expectation – without strain. God has things in store for them about which they would never dream, which they would never hear, which they would never imagine in their hearts – they simply wouldn’t think of it. And yet God has such things in store for such people. Here it is:
“For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.” Isaiah 64:4
I want to add something here – in the Hebrew it reads, “Who worketh for Him that hath waited for Him.” That’s deliciousmous, super deliciousmous! “Who worketh for Him that hath waited for Him.” In other words, as we begin to wait, God will begin to work.
Let’s assume it this way. Suppose you desire a new thing from God, a new experience. Most of us just go on; we have reached a certain plateau, or a certain valley, a certain level. We never rise above it; we’re content. We have reached a certain height and now content to maintain it, but there is more.
Now say God has birthed in your heart, even as a result of this week’s Bible study – it could well be, that the Lord has birthed or put into your heart a hunger, a thirst: “I want to enter the school of the Spirit. I am making myself available to God as a candidate. I want a new experience from God, a new thing.”
You may not know what it is. It’s better not that you find out. It’s not good to dictate to God, but you have a hunger, you want more of God.
Let’s say you get up in the middle of the night on your own, not awakened, but you just get up. You wake up, “Wow! 3 o’clock, boy, I can’t go back to sleep.” Okay, start waiting. You might as well put in time somewhere. “Father, I’m now waiting for You to do for me a new thing. I don’t know what it is, but something new. I want a new experience. Your book says, ‘What he has prepared for him who waiteth for him.’” Things are already prepared by God, but they are made available only to those that do the waiting.
All right, you spend a half an hour, “Father, a new thing.” And you say no more for half an hour or an hour, but just let your heart go up with that desire. Once in awhile, to refresh your own mind, “Father, I’m waiting for a new thing. I want a new experience. I want a deeper knowledge of Yourself (whatever it is). Father. Whew! It’s 4 o’clock. Boy am I getting sleepy. Lord, I’m going back to bed.”
And the next night, “Father, I’m still waiting for a new thing.” Or the next day, it doesn’t have to be the night, but often that’s the best time for us, depending upon our circumstances. You cannot do that indefinitely without something happening. You cannot carry on like that without something happening sooner or later.
“Blessed are all they that wait for Him.” Isaiah 30:18
“Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man (wouldn’t come into man’s imagination), what God hath prepared for him that waiteth for him” – or “who worketh for him that hath waiteth for him.” Isaiah 64:4
As soon as we begin to wait, God begins to work on our case, and that thing works as surely as you are sitting here tonight; as surely as the Book says it works, but there are so few who do the waiting.
Years ago, I asked the Lord the same thing. I got such a hunger. I said, “Father, Oh I want a new thing.” I said that to the Lord for a long time. I do not remember how long and I spent time waiting – nothing happened, but don’t be fooled, God’s working.
One morning I went to church. There was an utterance in tongues, and when the utterance was given, I knew instinctively it was for me, and sure enough. Nobody knew what I had been asking the Lord.
The pastor came out with the interpretation, “Thou has asked for a new thing. A new thing would I do for thee, (see God heard all right) but it will call for humiliation, for obedience, it will call for self-denial, it will call for suffering…” and so it went on, a whole catalog of things. When I heard that, I went into reverse. I backed up. I said nothing anymore.
Many years went by. I cannot tell you how many. I do not know, but it’s over 20 years, that I know, before a new hunger came back. I was long in the ministry then. And I started all over again. God brought it to pass – and how.
“Friends, this works.”
“Therefore will the Lord wait…” Isaiah 30:18
God waits for you and me to begin to wait. And I’m telling you the truth. I’m not just talking. I’ve experienced it; I’ve practiced it. I spend oodles and oodles of hours waiting. I’ve sat before the Lord a whole week in fasting and prayer, and got nothing, and saw nothing, and felt nothing, everything was nothing – dead, empty, dead, absolutely nothing.
Almost night and day, I lay on the church floor in the summer – it was cold weather we had – and was so cold, I went out to the ladies’ room and gathered napkins, paper towels and what have you, and came back and put them over my back, shoved them under my coat to try and keep warm; and gathered song books and put the song books on top of my back to make a little blanket out of them.
That’s how I spent the night waiting, for a whole week. I went over to the house for a few hours sleep, but most of the night I was on the floor – or walking to change my position. A whole week! I had no presence, nothing, dead, empty, dry, brutal. I wouldn’t give up. I’d stand there against the wall, changing positions, and eating nothing all week. OH, BUT I WANTED SOMETHING FROM GOD!
I sat near the front. It was Friday evening around 6:30. I just sat there still waiting for a week now. What would you do inside a week? And all of a sudden the Lord came. He came from the ceiling at an angle like this, about that speed, and stood behind the altar railing, full size, dressed in white. I jumped up from my seat, ran up like, hurried up, knelt down in front of Him. He was life size. I could tell you whether His eyes were blue or brown, but that’s my secret – I don’t tell everything. I merely say that to let you know how distinctive it was, not something fuzzy, but clear as clear could be – just like a person.
And I knelt down before Him, shut my eyes and put my hands over my face and that’s the way I was, right down on the carpet leaning forward. Even though my eyes were closed, my hands covered them up, smack down on the floor, I still saw Him stand there, full size.
He looked at me. He never said a word, but I knew what He said without saying a word. I could read it off His face – 5 words. I could tell you in five words exactly what He said, but that’s my secret. I’ve never told anyone.
“Who worketh for him that hath waiteth for him.” Isaiah 64:4 Hebrew
Now I would not suggest that any of you say, “All right now, I’m going to go someplace for a whole week, and I ask the Lord to visit me. I’ll ask Him to come from the ceiling and stand there.” You’re wasting your time. You might as well go to a restaurant and have your crumpets.
You cannot tell Him how He is to visit you, or what He is to do for you, except in a general way, “Lord, I need a new thing. I’m hungry for you. Lord I want to enter into this School of the Spirit, the School of Revelation, the School of the Knowledge of the Lord.” How He does that is up to the Teacher. You present yourself.
Remember what I said the other night, “Make yourself available.” Have you?
Make yourself available, if you want to, before you go to bed, if you’re interested, “Father, I’m making myself available in case You want to do something for me.”
I have a scripture here if I can find it. I was going to use it this morning and have my tag in there. Oh yes, Psalms 17:3, “Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night.” Hallelujah! I’ve got a scripture available. “Thou hast visited me in the night.”
You could say before you go to bed, “Lord, I’m not dictating to You, but I just want to tell you one thing, I sure would love a visit from you. I’m only going to tell you that I’m available in case You want to pay me a visit. Lord, I’m interested. I’m available to having You wake me up or whatever You want. Father, in case You want to visit me tonight, it will be all right. I’ll be delighted.”
“Thou hast visited me in the night season.” Psalm 17:3
Now part of this blessedness we find in I Corinthians 2:9-10. We’ve touched on that a little bit. I’m now adding some to it. I told you the other night, Paul is now quoting from Isaiah, and I also told you why Paul is changing Isaiah’s words. I’m not repeating that.
“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” I Corinthians 2:9-10
Now this waiting as used here is a precondition to revelation. In verse 9 you have the waiting for Him as a yearning lover, not a selfish beggar. This waiting, this spending time in His presence is a precondition for revelation. I’m going to tell you something.
When I was with you last year, I also stayed down at the South Pacific. That’s a nice place to stay – what lovely rooms. They’re large and have a refrigerator. You can save money by making yourself a little lunch. That’s what Wife and I do. We have lunch up in the room. We buy some food and have lunch to cut expenses.
I was in that hotel last year getting into real trouble physically, and I mean real trouble. I had planned to go to Sydney as soon as I got done with you Sunday night. On Monday morning I had planned to go to Sydney to the Oriental Hotel and spend a week in fasting and prayer. That was part of my plan, but I was up very early that Monday morning after I had finished with you. I was up early with the Lord. I do not remember whether the Lord had awakened me or not, but I do remember there was quite a presence, and the Lord was dealing with me not to go to Sydney.
I had an argument with the Lord. I said, “I’ve already booked the hotel, a flight is confirmed, and besides, I want to go to Sydney.” I planned to do my fasting and praying there, not in Auckland. There’s one reason for it – more than one, but one of them – nobody in Sydney would know that I’m there. I didn’t let anybody know.
When you’re in a city like this with meetings, people find out where you’re staying, and before long, you have so many visitors you can’t keep up with them. I can’t engage in counseling. I just can’t do that along with the ministry. Then you get disturbed, “Oh Brother Beuttler, could I talk to you. It will only take a couple of minutes.” By the time you get done a couple of hours are gone. Those things don’t take a couple of minutes.
So in Sydney I knew I would be safe – from you. Ha, Ha. Anywhere I would do that. Do you see what I mean? I thrive on solitude. I need to spend time with God undisturbed, unseen. I knew in Sydney I’d be safe. Nobody would know I was there.
But the Lord dealt with me not to go, and I got almost rambunctious.
I said, “Lord, the flight’s arranged, the hotel is booked. I’m going to Sydney.” He dealt with me not to go. Ten minutes before I was to leave, I finally agreed that I would stay in Auckland, and called up the airline 10 minutes ahead of schedule to go to the airport (I took their bus) to let them know I wasn’t going. They thought it was a little late, and I agreed.
They said, “Will you take our next flight?”
I said, “No, I’ll take your flight, but I don’t know when I’ll be going.” So they went without me. They got along all right.
It wasn’t very long before I got into real physical trouble – and I was in trouble!
What will I do down in the South Pacific? I called on this pastor of yours and said, “I’m in trouble.” I told him my trouble, but I won’t tell you.
He said, “I’ll be down this afternoon.” Well this afternoon was a long time, but I didn’t question it. I needed help. He came in the afternoon and sat on the bed.
He said to me, “Brother Beuttler, ever since you called, I’ve been looking to the Lord about you.” How he did it, I do not know. Evidently he held this thing before the Lord. Whether he shut himself up or went on with his other work, I don’t know, but he waited on the Lord on my behalf.
He said to me, “The Lord showed me what’s wrong with you, and we’re going to pray and by tomorrow morning you’ll be all right.” He said a very short prayer of deliverance and then he said, “Tomorrow you’ll be all right.” The next morning I was just fine.
“Blessed are all they that wait for Him.” Isaiah 30:18
In the first place, I had to wait down there in the hotel, and he did his waiting on my behalf – in what form, I do not know. Was I glad that I had stayed in Auckland. On whom would I have called in Sydney? I know people there. I know preachers there, but I would not have called on one of them. I knew your pastor had what it took from the Lord. Sometimes we’re just too much in a hurry.
“Blessed are all they that wait for Him.” Isaiah 30:18
Now this waiting is a precondition to revelation.
“But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; (that’s the context) for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” I Corinthians 2:9-10
Friends, waiting for God is a precondition for God taking us into the depths of the knowledge of God and the knowledge of His Spirit. We’re told the Spirit searcheth the deep things of God, and God will disclose these deep things concerning God to those who wait for Him, who learn to sit in His presence. The crumpets can wait; other things can wait while we wait for the Lord. I have spent hours and hours sitting in naked faith knowing that,
“Blessed are all they that wait for Him.” Isaiah 30:18
Somebody asked, “What am I supposed to do when the Lord awakens me? Should I pray, should I shout?” No, just sit, keep still. Let the heart go up, as I told you, in adoration, in worship, in admiration, maybe a breath of praise, heart going up. It’s this attitude, which principally counts with the distinct objective in mind, namely that in some way God will share with me that blessedness that awaits those who wait for Him. I dare you to try it and keep it up.
So here is the Spirit that will share with us the deep things of God, secrets of the knowledge of God, which He does not share with everyone. These things do not lie on the surface, but of course, there’s a price tag. Remember we talked about that?
“For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the
things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” I Corinthians 2:11
In other words, to those that wait for the Lord, the Spirit of God will share with them what He knows concerning God; He will disclose unto us the Father, the depths of the knowledge of God.
Notice verse 14:
“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” I Corinthians 2:14
Those who are not spiritual consider these things absurd, ridiculous, foolish. They’ll be mockery, oh yes. People will mock you. They’ll call you a mystic. They’ll call you coo coo, and what-have-you, but that’s all part of the price.
Jesus said:
“I hid not my face from shame and spiting.” Isaiah 50:6
“Neither can he know them.” – The unspiritual person is incapable of receiving these things. “Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
I’ll tell you something. In the sitting in the presence of God, God will impart, will cultivate within us, a spiritual discernment that we can even discern the mood of the Spirit. I’m not saying, “The Spirit gets moody.” I don’t mean that. But where we can discern the mood of the Spirit. We can sense when He’s grieved; we can sense when He’s agitated; we can sense when He wants to teach us; we can sense when there’s an utterance in a meeting or when we should give an utterance. Through this waiting in the awareness of His presence, our spirits become sensitized to the Holy Spirit, God imparting to us an increasing discernment in the things of the Spirit of God, and they can be ever, ever so sharp.
We had a revival in our school. I was put in charge of leading it by the faculty. For that revival, the Lord had given me a discernment so sharp; I could detect the slightest things in a meeting. Now I do not have that today; that was specially given for that occasion because the revival demanded it.
The president of the school who was with me was sitting on the platform, but the meeting got to the place where I had to discern the human spirit from the satanic spirit, the ways of the Spirit, and even the purposes of Satan. On one occasion I could discern a coming attack of Satan. I could discern it. I stood behind that pulpit on tiptoes. I expected momentarily an interference by Satan. I can’t tell you how; all I can say is that I could sense that Satan was coming to do something to disturb this meeting. I was on the alert as sharp as could be.
Sure enough, one of the boys jumped to his feet and gave a false utterance. I was ready for him. I slapped that boy down with a stinging rebuke. I was ready for him. It was no mistake, and the move of the Spirit went on. That was unusual.
Well the president sat on the platform, and because of this high sensitivity, I could sense (how shall I put that), the activity of his human spirit. I caught it and he was sitting about as far away as your pastor – 10 feet. I said to the president, “Brother, would you be so good as to get off the platform and sit with the students?”
He said, “Why?”
I said, “Because the proximity of your spirit sends me signals that interfere with my discerning things that are going on in the assembly and it makes a problem for me.” And he was the president!
He said to me, “Brother Beuttler, I can understand that. It’s perfectly all right.” Then he sat with the students.
I had such sharp discernment, and that took waiting before the Lord every night from 2:30 sharp till chapel time at 8:00 a.m. I do not know whether I had breakfast or not, but I had to get dressed and shaved. Except for the absolutely necessary things to get ready, all the time was spent in waiting, simply sitting in the conscious awareness of His presence.
The revival lasted ten days, and every morning at 2:30 on the dot, the Lord would awaken me. I knew it was time to get up and stay up. Time passed, 3:30, 4:30, 5:30, 6:30, let’s say 7:00. Then I had to go about, get dressed and get ready for school. It happened every night for ten days. During those times, the Lord would let me know what He was going to do in every single meeting, a meeting at a time. It’s true.
I would go to chapel and say, “Students, this morning is going to be washday.” The Lord was collecting our laundry. You don’t understand that, do you? He was dealing with things in the heart that needed cleansing.
Or I would say in a meeting, “Today is going to be victory day” or “Today is going to be this day.” I had a name for every service. The Lord would give me what to speak on. He would give me who should sing a solo, and what they should sing. I had to get the song for them, or request what to sing. They were not allowed to choose their own (Normally they were.). I would get it from the Lord and I would give it to them. The Lord even let me know what stanza not to sing, what stanza to skip.
Time and again the Lord would give me minute details, even in the meetings where I was to stop and let Him take over the meeting completely. I’d sit down and He’d carry on the meeting on His own.
In one place I missed the signal. I knew where I was to stop doing anything on my own, and somehow where I was to stop, I messed up and kept talking explaining to the students what the Lord was doing. After awhile, our dean of women stood up and gave an utterance in prophecy, “O that thou would keep silent, then He would speak for this is His day.” She didn’t know whom it was meant for, but I knew.
And I sat down, humiliated. For two hours I didn’t say, “Boo.” I said, “Lord, You took the meeting out of my hands. I’ll not touch that meeting no matter what happens until You give it back again.” He gave me the meeting back after two hours. You see the meeting went all morning long, sometimes way into the afternoon. We start at 8:00, usually it went till dinnertime or later; that’s 4 hours or more. For two hours the Lord carried on in that meeting. It was marvelous. Then He gave me back the meeting and I could go on with it.
And the Lord would share those things during the night.
Honestly folks, I had a complete program (so to speak) of what He was going to do. I think I had what Jesus talked about, “The Father worketh, and I work hitherto.” The Father let me know what He was going to do in the meeting, and all I had to do was cooperate with Him to get His work done. All this during the night from 2:30 until about 7:00, just sitting, sitting, waiting, waiting, worshiping on the inside, a spirit going up in communion, in worship, in adoration, in admiration hour upon hour, night after night.
Now this is unusual, but I hope it inspires your heart. Remember what we read this morning?
“He awakeneth morning by morning,” speaking of Jesus. “He awakeneth my ear to hear as the learned” – that’s what I had – “morning by morning, night by night to hear as the learned, to hear as those that are taught.”
And David said, “Thou visitest me in the night season; therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you; blessed are all they that wait for Him.”