by Wade E Taylor
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3:20
The Lord is knocking on the “heart door” of those who are actively desiring to better know Him – those who love His presence and are seeking to commune with Him on a higher level of relationship.
If these qualities are to attract the attention of the Lord so He will begin to knock upon your “heart door,” you must first spend quality time with Him by “waiting upon the Lord” in anticipation of His “knocking” upon the door of your spirit.
There are two steps in this process of “waiting upon the Lord.”
“Blessed is the man that hears Me, watching daily at My gates, waiting at the posts of My doors. For whoso finds Me finds life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord.” Proverbs 8:34-35
In the first step, we look toward the gate (door) in worshipful anticipation, waiting for His presence to be manifested to us. When the Lord responds, we can begin to “wait upon Him,” acknowledging His presence as being with us, and then actively “cooperate” with Him in whatever way He may lead or direct.
If there was ever a time when we need to be led by the Holy Spirit – our being in the right place, at the right time, with the right word, it is today. We are to be good stewards of this “calling” by keeping ourselves available so we can hear and become a vessel through whom the Lord can speak.
Unless we maintain a sensitivity to hearing His voice, we will miss. Today, as we approach the end of the Church Age, the Lord is increasingly knocking upon the “heart door” of our spirit. He is speaking a “present word” to all who are listening and responding. This is the unity for which He prayed – His voice becoming as the voice of “many waters.”
“And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like to the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the breasts with a golden girdle. His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire; And His feet like to fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters.” Revelation 1:13-15
This voice, like the mighty Niagara, is a powerful end-time word that will greatly affect the earth, and all that are therein.
“The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: He wakens morning by morning, He wakens my ear to hear as the learned. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.” Isaiah 50:4-5
The above word is the key to the “preparation” of Jesus for His ministry. It also relates to us as we spend quality time waiting upon the Lord in His presence, in preparation of our place with Him in His end-time purposes.
Our having “the tongue of the learned” speaks of the “spirit of prophecy” in which we have become so “at one” with the Lord that our voice has become the expression of His voice.
“…The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10
This “testimony” which the Lord desires to express is “imparted” within us through our times of communion with Him, as we “wait upon Him.” As he quickens us, His “testimony” (that which He desires to say through us) becomes the ‘spirit of prophecy’ within us.
The “spirit of prophecy” goes beyond the prophetic gifts in function and purpose. The “gift of prophecy” is an enabling that functions through our being yielded. The “spirit of prophecy” flows out through our relationship to the Lord, which enables Him to speak through us.
This abiding prophetic anointing is the result of time spent in the presence of the Lord. As we spend time with Him, we become increasingly more like Him and begin to understand His thoughts and desires – our lives becoming the expression of His life. We will then have the right word, at the right time, to be given in the right place, to the right person.
“He wakens morning by morning.” To be “awakened” means that I am lifted above the limitation of my natural sense perception and understanding, into the realm of the supernatural.
When He awakens my spirit, my inner being is alerted – becoming sensitive to His presence. Today, this may require a wind strong enough to knock me off my feet, but tomorrow, I will be a little more sensitive and it will not require as much. And finally, it will take just a little breeze and I will hear, because I have cultivated, or developed the ability to hear.
David had within him a sensitivity, or ability to yield. In spite of his problems, David listened, as he had a heart for the Lord. The Lord had to speak through a donkey to some of the prophets, but to David He could say,
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go; I will guide you with my eye.” Psalm 32:8
David had such a relationship with the Lord that he sensed the very presence of the Lord. The Lord did not have to speak words to David for him to hear, or to know the desire of His heart. David knew the heart and the mind of the Lord, because this relationship was cultivated and developed through the years while he was in the fields at night tending the sheep.
“For who has known the mind of the Lord, that we may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.” I Corinthians 2:16
Our mind will be renewed as we “wait upon Him,” so our spirit and mind will be progressively brought closer to His mind. “Be not conformed to this world: but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). This transformation is worked out within us as we take time to “wait in His presence.” Through this, we come to know the thoughts of God toward us, and we are enabled to walk in His will and His ways.
Our taking time to “wait upon the Lord” also enables the Lord to enlarge our spiritual capacity and to grant us a higher level of spiritual authority, which comes only by our hearing from the Lord, and allowing Him to speak through us. This ability to hear will develop as we learn to wait upon Him. Thus, our times of waiting upon the Lord becomes the “wheel within the wheel” which enables us to respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and to move in His will (Ezekiel 10:1-7).
“And He goes up into a mountain, and calls to Him whom He would: and they came to Him. And He ordained twelve, that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils.” Mark 3:13-15
This is the impetus that empowers us to move “with” Him in the outworking of His will and purposes.
“Come, My beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give you My loves.” Song of Solomon 7:11-12
It is essential to our spiritual health that we spend quality time in His presence, waiting upon Him. Only then, will we have the spiritual energy to face the challenges, testings, and problems of life.
“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31
During these times of intimate fellowship, we are brought into a closer union with Him. In the closeness of this communion, we will receive of His life and strength, and along with this, we will come into a deeper understanding of spiritual principles and an unfolding of His word, which will draw us yet closer.
“…The times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19
“Waiting upon the Lord” is the key to a victorious, overcoming life. Throughout the Psalms, whenever David found himself in difficult circumstances, he constantly reminded himself to “wait upon the Lord.”
“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” Psalm 27:14
It is here in His presence that we will begin to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom. There will be a realignment of our inner being, and our priorities will change from the natural to the spiritual. Our spiritual senses will be energized by His presence and restored to respond to His purposes.
As we wait upon the Lord, we will experience a genuine encounter with the Lord. Then wherever we go, the result of this “manifest presence” that we have experienced, will cut through every bondage and fear in those who are witnessing the result of our life being the expression of His life.
During these prolonged times spent in His presence, we are “sowing” to the Spirit – enlarging our capacity to flow with the Holy Spirit. It is always costly to the natural man, but this provides us with the opportunity to overcome.
Many “early morning risings” may seemingly bear no fruit at all, but the continued lifting up of our desire for Him, along with our worship and the obedience of seeking after Him, rather than things, will in time bring forth within us an accumulative effect that will surprisingly produce a profound spiritual result. We will have “become” a prophetic vessel that is available to Him.
These times of “waiting upon the Lord,” in His presence, do not produce quick results, but rather, lasting ones. Jesus commanded us to abide in Him, adding that it will cause us to bear “fruit that remains.” But, the abiding life – a life that “waits” in God’s presence, will produce fruit that will stand in eternity.
“I love them that love Me; and those who seek Me early shall find me… that I may cause those who love Me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.” Proverbs 8:17, 21
Indeed, the Lord is knocking on the door of our hearts and our lives. He is seeking to enter in. He is seeking a people that will respond to His knock and that will open the door and invite Him in, that they might “wait upon Him.”
When I wait on the Lord, I come apart from all activity, and sit quietly in an attitude of worship. I do not use music as that is a distraction to my spiritual hearing. Rather, I sit quietly in an attitude of worship and expectancy, as if looking at a door expecting at any moment that the door will open, and a person will enter (Jesus).
My spiritual strength is renewed as I draw on the life of Jesus that flows out from the throne – NOT abstract power as some teach. We are to seek a person, not power.
I may wait for several minutes or hours, and most often I have felt little or nothing when done – but after my time of waiting, everything that I do is accomplished much better, and I have a glow in my spirit. There is a very noticeable result of the time I spend waiting.
Now I can say with confidence:
“…Let my Beloved come into His garden, and eat His pleasant fruits.” Song of Solomon 4:16