The Force of Yielding, Part II

In part one of this topic we examined the futility of the world’s formula of “performance = identity, worth, significance, security, love”, and refuted it for the truth that ultimate performance is getting next to God’s heart and waiting on Him for the next move we make. In this, the second part of exploring the power and force in yielding to the Father, we will outline some “nuts and bolts” of what happens when we wait on God and how to move closer to His heart.

What happens when we “wait” on God?

As mentioned in part one, the stance of waiting on God is anything but a passive stance. In fact, it appears that our position of waiting on Him adds “action” to the concept of faith and serves to unleash His power. Some examples:

·        He will exalt us to inherit the land (Ps. 37:34)

·        He will hear our cry (Ps. 40:1)

·        He will deliver us when we are wronged (Prov. 20:22)

·        We will gain new strength and mount eagle’s wings (Is. 40:31)

·        We will not be put to shame (Is. 49:23)

·        See Luke 12:36-37 – waiting on our Master brings service out of Him!

·        Those in New Testament time were “waiting on the Kingdom of God” (Mk. 14:43 ; Lk. 23:51), were waiting eagerly for the end times and the coming of the Lord (Ro. 8:23 ; 1Cor. 4:5 ; Gal. 5:5 ; Phil. 3:20 ; 1Thes. 1:10 ; Jude 1:21) and “for what we do not see”(8:25)

Do these accounts depict instances or circumstances of passivity? Of course not! When we wait, the Lord acts! When we yield, God’s power is expressed! This is the force of yielding!

Clearly, however, waiting on God does not mean we become inert, lacking any initiative or action whatsoever on our part. So, what do we do?

There are two ways in which God moves:

·        Sovereignly – A sovereign move of God is when He does something because He feels like it! He decides it, and then He does it, e.g. the creation of life.

·        Responsively – God hears us, we “knock”, and He “opens”. Isn’t it magnificent that the God of the universe has bound Himself to our petitions in many aspects of life before He will act, and wants us as His resting place (see Mt. 8:20).

We have to be willing to pay the price as Priests. We have to obtain the “priestly anointing”. What is that? It is waiting on the Lord, seeking His face, accepting the sovereign rule of His hand, and tending the flame of our hearts as the temple priest used to tend the flame in the temple. We have to ascend the mountain of the Lord and bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. Without experiencing God ourselves, we have little of God to give to others! Ascending is the intricate blend and balance of waiting on and seeking the face of the Lord as the Holy Spirit leads. Our abiding in Him, thereby becoming habitations of His presence on earth, “brings” the Kingdom to earth.

We have to enter in to His presence. We have to “go up there”. Much like John’s experience in Rev. 4:1-3: 4:1 After these things I looked, and there was a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said: “Come up here so that I can show you what must happen after these things.” 4:2 Immediately I was in the Spirit, and a throne was standing in heaven with someone seated on it!” (New English Translation – NET Bible).

Has the door that John saw ever closed? Is he the only one that is meant to enter? No! Our intimacy with the Father in Christ is complete. Jesus is in the Father and we are in Him! The Lord says in Jn. 14: 11-12  “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, but if you do not believe me, believe because of the miraculous deeds themselves. I tell you the solemn truth, the person who believes in me will perform the miraculous deeds that I am doing,   and will perform greater deeds than these, because I am going to the Father.” As mentioned in part one, Jesus prayed for us in John, Chapter 17:20-21: “…. that they will all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray that they will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me.” (NET Bible)

We have to acknowledge, declare and claim that God does visit us and minister to us, and is with us NOW. See Gen. 28:10-19. Has the portal that Jacob saw sealed up. Jacob declared that place to be the House of God – a picture of what the house of God should look like. What is the house of God today – the church. Who is the church today? – US! We should be seeing the heavens open! See Jn. 1:51. Where is the Son of man now – He is IN US!! He is at home, resting his head. See Jn. 14:23. We have to “approach the throne of grace with confidence” (Heb. 4:16). Where is the throne of grace – in heaven. How are we supposed to approach the throne of grace while we still have this body if the throne of grace is in heaven? The Spirit of the living God is within us and it is by communing in intimacy with Him, through His Spirit, that we approach the throne of grace. He has “already blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens” (Eph. 1:3). We have a supernatural God, and we can approach Him and commune with Him in the supernatural realm. If we don’t do it as He has instructed (according to His Word), the psychics will take those around us to the evil that is in the supernatural realm. We have an obligation to pursue God in His realm so we can teach others the right way to do it! The world is hungry for experience that is other than this world.

One of my favorite analogies regarding whether or not we are meant to intimately communicate with (speak to and hear from) the Lord is one that I often share with clients in my office: I ask them to imagine that a newly married couple is standing in the office and I say to the couple, “O.K. you’re married now and we want you to understand some truths. First, we do not want you to talk to each other. If you do, we will act astounded and appalled if you tell us you have spoken to your mate. And if you tell us that you have heard your mate speak to you and you have listened, and you are thinking about acting on what you heard….we will respond with intense disbelief and displeasure that you have dared to say that you heard from, listened to and responded to your mate.” I then ask the person in my office if this sounds like a reasonable thing to say to a married couple. Of course they say no. Reason dictates that growing / deepening relationship is impossible without communication. I then ask them to recall that the Bible says we are the bride of Christ (Rev. 19:7). Is it reasonable to think that we would never speak to or hear from our Bridegroom?! How many Christians today are met with such disbelief and disapproval in their church?

Fine, HOW do we enter in?

God never leaves, but we come and go. It’s just a matter of learning how to touch the Lord in the way that He has prescribed for us to come before Him. We need to learn how to go from our soul (mind, will and emotion) into the Spirit. The focus is on learning how to position ourselves to receive. Here are some possibilities:

Learning to live in our spirits:

Scriptural base:

·        ^{1Co 6:17} But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

·        ^{Pr 20:27} The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being.

·        ^{Jn 3:6} Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

·        ^{Ro 8:16} The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

·        ^{2Ti 4:22} The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

·        ^{Gal 6:18} The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen

“Soaking”, “Tarrying”, “Contemplative Prayer”, “Meditation” are methods of removing attention from matters of the soul and focusing attention on our spirit. It is simply getting before God and waiting quietly, being open to what you receive. Some good resources for this are as follows:

·        Brother Lawrence – “Practicing the Presence of God”

·        Ryan Wyatt – “School of the Supernatural” (www.abidingglory.com)

·        Jim Goll – “The Lost Art of Practicing His Presence”

·        Mark and Patty Virkler – “How to Hear God’s Voice“

·        Elmer Towns – “Christian Meditation For Spiritual Breakthrough” – describes 10 different meditation models based on 10 different personalities in the Bible.

·        Dave Roberson – “The Walk of the Spirit – The Walk of Power” (on the power of our prayer language).

Getting quiet (THIS IS NOT SELF-HYPNOSIS, NEW AGE, etc., IT IS WORSHIP)

There are two general hindrances to getting quiet before God (He asks us to “be still” and know Him) - external distraction and internal chaos. Some suggestions for managing both:

·        Establish a place that is as free from distraction as possible. If falling asleep is a problem, stand or sit in a chair, or even walk around.

·        Focusing the mind - can start with praise and worship (probably should start this way), magnifying God as the center and only source of Life, prayer language (tongues), etc. Keep a pad of paper nearby to write down thoughts or tasks that come to mind regarding day-to-day life and rest in the assurance that the information can be recalled later and can therefore now be put out of mind.

·        Use images of Jesus, of heaven, any image from the many stories in the Bible and focus on them, examine them. For a thorough Scriptural examination of the use of imagery in prayer see Ryan Wyatt’s “School of the Supernatural” available at www.abidingglory.com

·        Use the “portals” or entryways of others to focus – e.g. Jacob’s ladder or John’s door in Revelation. Do you think that Jacob and John forgot those encounters and never recollected those events while in prayer afterwards? Since they probably did recollect them, what do you think happened when they recalled the experience in their minds/spirit? Why can’t we recall these experiences that we have read about and use the remembrance to enter in just as they reentered?

·        Repent and/or rebuke the Devil

·        Lastly, and the most rich, meditate on the Word. Pick a Scripture and read and reread it, allowing it to come alive within you. Pick a quality of the Lord, or anyone else in the Word and search all the Scripture on that quality and meditate on those Scriptures – e.g. the love of God, the mercy of God.

·        Look into the prayer life of David: Ps. 5:3 ; 25:4-5 ; 27:4 ; 34:1-3,8 ; 54:4 ; 61:3-4 ; 62:1 ; 63:1,3,6 ; 86:11 ; 139:1-3,17,23-24 ; 143:5-6 ; 145:5

·        Music – soaking CDs, etc.

The “Branch Life” – making communion continuous (“walking in the Spirit”)

One of the most glorious images in Scripture is that of us abiding on/in the vine of the Lord depicted in John 15. Perhaps the most salient aspect of the passage for purposes of our topic on the force of yielding is the fact that there is no mention in John 15 of us doing anything! The image is of the branch (us) that was created to be attached to the Vine. And the branch abides. The branch does not grow the fruit. The branch does not prune itself when it needs to be pruned for optimal growth, and the branch does not cause the flow of life-giving sap that literally keeps the branch alive. The branch focuses on staying attached.

My hope is that these words may have offered inspiration toward the realization that God is all-sufficient and that there is ultimate power in our yielding to Him. We welcome your comments to this material. Please email us at info@sozocenter.com if you are so inclined.

God’s richest blessings on your yielding!

Dr. Steve Wyatt