Wednesday 3 February 2021

SITTING AND SOAKING

INTRODUCTION

There are a number of excellent reasons for sitting and soaking in the Presence and Love of God. Some are to do with preparing us for prayer and others for the way it affects us spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically. These are itemised briefly as follows:

1.   Revelation of the love, power, wisdom and faith of God.  To sit in the presence of God and soak in His Presence is to become conscious of His Sovereign Being, and become aware of who He is and what He can do.

2.   Renewal of health in every area can be a reality as the power and health of God encloses us in love. This may not always happen but one cannot remain unaffected by being in the stream of God’s overwhelming love.

3.   Recognition of our sin and unworthiness may be alongside our realisation of His love and mercy towards us. The Spirit of God brings His own convicting presence for which there is no substitute.

4.   Realisation of whom and what we are gives us a healthy perception of ourselves as people of worth for whom Jesus died. We are sons and daughters of the living King. 

SCRIPTURAL CONSIDERATIONS

The Bible in several places exhorts us to love the Lord our God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength, reminding us also to love our neighbour as ourselves. (Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Deuteronomy 6:5). We are to love God with the totality of our being and this includes our wills and emotions: nothing is exempt.

The big question is "Is it biblical to speak of sitting and soaking in the presence or love of Jesus?" There are a number of verses which tell us of those who sat before the Lord and in His presence. So this part at least is scriptural. To become aware of God and His presence filling and flowing out and through you is also evident from scripture. Paul tells us to be continually going on being filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), whilst the Lord Jesus informs us that the one who believes on Him will have living waters flow from him. (John 8:38) There is a passage however which underlines the need to sit and to soak in the Presence and Love of God and it is found in Ephesians 3:14-21. To wait upon God and to know His love that will enable us to pray and achieve more through the power of God at work within us beyond our imagination. Part of spending time with God is to allow Him to filter our thoughts so that we pray according to His will. This screening process is essential and cannot be rushed. The time scale of God is not the same as our own.

We all need to be touched by the invisible in the language of love


RESULTS, REACTIONS AND HELPFUL PROCEDURES

1.   Before you Sleep

Before you go to sleep ask the Lord to saturate you in His love during the hours of the night. Since the Lord has given us an imagination and He is able to do more than we imagine or think, we need to use it. Therefore, imagine yourself in a lovely warm bath languishing in its luxury with plenty of time to enjoy it without interruption and ask the Lord to bathe you in His love like the water. Why should not the Lord be able to do this out of His grace and love for us while we sleep the hours of the night right through?

2.   When you take a Five-Minute Break

Ask the Heavenly Father to come and refresh you with His invading love and fill you with His Spirit. This is perfectly scriptural and is a natural consequence of what Jesus expresses in Luke 11:9-13. Jesus exhorts us to ask, to seek and to knock, and finalises his comments with "How much more will you Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him".  The answer is of course always much more or exceedingly more.

3.   When you feel Stressed and under Pressure

This is an excellent time to take stock and ask the Lord’s helping hand to be with you. It is also an opportunity to request His Coming upon you with the love and wisdom He brings to those who wait upon Him, in order to renew their strength. (Isaiah 40:31)

This brief list is only the beginning of what may be a new experience for some of you, but we all need to have a Personal Encounter with God. This will do more for us in a second what man cannot do in a million years.

SPECIFIC PRAYER REQUESTS

 Ask the Father to come and hold you as a child, gently but firmly in His love

So many adults were never loved by their earthly father in the way they needed. Some were ill treated or even abused. In adult life this often makes it difficult to appreciate the fatherhood of God because of the earthly role model of fatherhood that they experience. To be taken onto the lap of our Heavenly Father may therefore be one of the greatest healing experiences ever known. God is not only the God of justice but also of love and tender mercy. James 2:13 tells us that "Mercy triumphs over judgment".

There are at least four worthwhile consequences that often ensue from this process of soaking by sitting on the Father’s lap (even if one is asleep whilst doing so):

a)   There is the security of being held in a place of absolutely safety by the Father of the universe.

b)   There is the wonderful assurance of being loved forever.

c)    The unique sense of acceptance cannot be over estimated.

d)   The affirmation of self worth from the Father Himself in a world that is often beset by

e)   Criticism enables to have a proper love for ourselves and does our damaged self esteem a world of good.

f)    The sense of approval despite what we may think about ourselves. 

The Bible is very clear that we have not received a spirit of fear, but a Spirit of love, and power and a sound mind (2Timothy 1:7). To think negatively about ourselves does not indicate a very sound (healthy) mind. Since God is triune, we can also ask the Son, the Lord Jesus to come and rest us in His love. 

4.   Ask the Son of God to come as Healer, Friend and Saviour 

Here we can ask the Lord to heal us if we are suffering bodily. As we seek renewal of strength and body, why should we not name each of our body organs, limbs and other parts believing He is able to renew them. We shall give some scripture that testify to the Lord’s love and mercy in this particular aspect. As the Holy Spirit brings to us all the blessings and inheritance gained for us upon the Cross, we can also request those things to be brought us because of Jesus.

5.   Ask the Holy Spirit to come and Guide and Comfort us

Let us experience what Paul speaks of in Romans 5:8: and hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom He has given to us. We should not be afraid of the Holy Spirit as many are. Some are fearful that He will make us do what we do not want to do. However, He comes as the Spirit of love, bringing the love of Jesus to us. Because He loves us the Spirit only desires the very best for us. God is good and good all the time.

6.   Request the Lord to grant Peace of Mind and Peace of Heart

As we lay our prayer requests and petitions before the Lord with a joyful attitude, then we may expect that peace which guards our heart and mind to be beyond our understanding. (Philippians 4:4-7)

7.   Reaching up into the grace of God seek to be filled in your Spirit with Faith and Love

 Just imagine these features of God’s Being enfolding you safely as you rest. No troubled dreams. No restless sleep. No disturbed nights. There is also something else one should have the boldness to ask, and that is for courage to exercise faith.

8.   Ask for Revelation

The Lord may speak to you through His Word, or your thoughts by pictures or impressions. Since most folk dream at night, whether they remember them or not, why not ask the Lord to speak to you in dreams. We all need guidance, encouragement, and aid in prayer. The revelation of God will build faith into us. Fix you aims high and ask the Lord whilst you sleep to soak you in His love for the hours of rest. It will change your outlook, your personality and character, your gifting and the way you perceive others. People are those for whom Christ died.

9.   Heed the words of Zephaniah 3:17

"The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty

to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quieten you with His love, He will rejoice over you with loud singing."

To be soaking in the love of God is to be touched by the invisible with the language of love, in a personal encounter that ministers the love language that affirms us.

a)   Since God is love He speaks to us in the language of love, in words of affirmation "I have loved you with an everlasting love." We need to hear, know and feel these words in spirit and in truth.

b)   We all need time with God, so that God can spend time with us. For our redemption, Jesus spent some 30 years in preparation for 3 years ministry that culminated in the Cross of Calvary. Before time began God chose you, long before the foundation of the world. One day those who love the Lord Jesus as Saviour will spend eternity with Him, which is outside of time and longer than time. The Lord watches over you as you live in time and He is waiting for you to spend time with Him. Even now Jesus sits at the right hand of the majesty on high, interceding for you. God wants you to spend conscious time with Him so that you can be together with His approval. This is so you can share your thoughts, dreams, experiences, aspirations, setbacks in a close relationship, so that you are real with God.

c)   To be reminded of His loving acts of kindness. God has done so much for us that we should be eternally grateful. We have been saved and accepted. Jesus suffered the most severe penalty ever imposed on a human being on the Cross. Our appeal to be saved was heard and answered. Every prayer we have breathed or uttered has been heard and noted. He has lavished upon us deeds of loving kindness and tender mercy (Psalm 23). From our earliest of days God Has been watching out for us and caring for us in practical ways. Even when we have strayed and sinned and prevented ourselves from receiving the blessings God wanted to bestow upon us, He was still working on our behalf. Many of us need to know this and feel its truth, in order to set us free into the full liberation won for us upon the Cross.

d)   God has loved us and still does through His Giving and Gifts. In His love He would remind you of the gift of everlasting life that you have through His beloved Son. The life of God is your life and He has invested eternity into it. Each and every day He is working by His Spirit into your being those qualities of character called the fruit of the Spirit. They are learned and earned on a daily basis. All our food, housing, clothes, relationships are gifts from His heavenly hand. The greatest gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ His only Son.

e)   The Lord is able to love us through the Language of Touch. Touch is important to us all. To be touched for some is the best language of all and which affirms them the most. How does God touch us? In various ways, but particularly in His own special way. This of course includes ministering love to us through the loving touch of others. All these differing ways of having love ministered to us in a dimension that we need will have various effects upon us. At least three are worthy of mention at this point, and we list these as follows:

1)   Security: since we are made in the Image of God we were made to be loved and to be able to give love. There is an inflow and an outflow. Deprivation of one or both produces huge insecurities which we try to disguise by all sorts of tactics and facades, as defence mechanisms. Security in the love of God will build confidence in oneself.

2)   Self worth: without this how can one have confidence is oneself? No one feels confident when they suffer from a lack of worth because they have never been loved in the way that they needed.

3)   Significance: is a logical outflow from the items above. God knows that we need to be loved because we all want to be loved, accepted, affirmed and approved. Security, self worth, and significance are the counterparts of being loved, accepted, affirmed and approved.

POSSIBLE REACTIONS

To be able to sit, or lie down and soak in the amazing love of God may have possibly many differing reactions. God is God and we cannot state with certainty that He will always do the same thing the same way, time after time after time. God is the God of the infinite variety, and this must always be allowed for. This does not mean that He will frequently do something different on each occasion but that He sometimes does.

1.   Many have experienced the love of God as a warmth bathing them as it were in a warm comfortable bath, where one is able to soak away the aches, pains and cares of the world and come to a quiet inner peace. In this environment one may just wish to lie back and enjoy the tranquil calm of feeling this wonderful communion with the Lord of Glory. This warmth may well communicate and impart the deep sense of security and affirmation of being a chosen child of God and gain a humble yet true significance of oneself as being of worth.

2.   Some may feel that the hurts and rejections of life take on a new perspective because not one sorrow or grief was uncared for or went unnoticed by the King of Love. There is a healing balm in the love of God that deals with wounds present and past which we have suffered. God is a Healer, and can cover the abuse of the past. Often there comes a sense of the love in such a way that we are stirred by the gentle conviction of the Holy Spirit to forgive those who perhaps have despitefully used us. Furthermore, to be able to love them!

3.   Since the love of God is pure and holy, and comes often like waves of light, then it is not surprising that sin and sinfulness is highlighted. None of us were chosen by God because we were worthy. " When the kindness and love of God our saviour appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. …" (Titus 3:4/5a) Whether we cry or have deep conviction with soberness of mind, the prime concern of God is that we should hand over all our sinful ways and sin to Him in true repentance as we make confession to Him.

4.   Closely allied to the above is that of guilt and condemnation with the sense of failure. All of us have broken God’s laws and the Holy Spirit is sent to bring us into conviction with the purpose of leading us to repentance and restoration. The Accuser of the Brethren will use the feelings of condemnation, guilt and failure as a lever to destroy our relationship with the Lord. To the Christian Romans 8:1 is relevant. There is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of life has set me free for the law of sin and death. Guilt, condemnation and failure if allowed to stay in the spirit or mind of a person without bringing them under the power of the Cross will find them to be a destructive power unto death in all sorts of ways. Death to one’s self worth, loss of relationship with the Lord, the sense that life is one long hassle and a desire to be out of it all. The list is almost endless, but as one yields to the overwhelming love of Jesus as He brings His cleansing flow through these alien elements to the Kingdom of God, one finds a place of true peace and security.

These three companions of guilt, condemnation and failure, need to be surrendered to the Lord. If however certain other issues arise that need resolving then these also require surrendering to the Lord. By way of example, these may be things you have borrowed but have never returned. If the Lord convicts you that, that is theft, then you need to repent and if possible, make restitution. If you delay then unless you really harden your conscience, then these three aliens will never let you go. Another example, may be concerning those things you did but which you now regret. Some things said and done cannot be undone nor put right for one reason or another, but at least we can bring these to the Cross for cleansing and this is very important, leave them there. The deep love of God applies all that Jesus wrought for us upon the Cross, and brings cleansing, forgiveness and purification. 

Since love longs to heal, there may be, for a number of folks, when they begin to experience the deep love of God enveloping them like a cocoon, they find that all the hurts of the present and the past begin to surface. This may make such folk want to panic, but there is no need. God wants to do a healing work in you. Tears of pain and intense anguish may flow, some may even scream at the trauma seemingly caused, but these are God ordained means whereby release is attained. But as the tears flow down and out so the love of Jesus flows into the wounds and hurts of life bringing relief and renewal. We need to be able to cry; it is a most natural way of relieving pain and hurt. Jesus wept for His friend Lazarus and was not ashamed and neither should we.

Not every one will experience the emotions or reactions noted above. All of us differ in our responses, but the above are not uncommon. To use a personal example, sometimes when I looked at my beloved wife, the wonder of why she loved me would be beyond my comprehension. The beauty of it, and its wonder would want me to leave the room, find a quiet place and just cry because it hurts so much. She would have done anything for me, even to the giving of her life. There was a wonderful hurt in the sense of experiencing sacrificial love that was pure and genuine. This is only part of what happens to us when we experience that wonderful love of God which is so freely lavished upon us with sacrificial grace and mercy. Part of this is the realisation of its cost price and there is a loving hurt in this. God made us to be not only a thinking people but a feeling one also. 

We will never understand or comprehend the immensity of God’s love and truth or analyse it but we can appreciate it. Therefore, avoid some of the thought processes I used to pursue. My mind could give reasons why my wife loved me but I did not understand why. I could look in the mirror but I would not see anything spectacular. I would review my character and conclude that although on the whole I was fairly gentle, nevertheless I was decidedly awkward at times (these were usually critical times). I would inspect my achievements but realise that God gave the ability in the first place. 

LISTEN, you do not analyse why God loves you, accept the fact that he does and receive it with thankfulness. Then you share it and give it away. It is the sowing and reaping principle of the Bible (Galatians 6:7-10). 

Very often in life we have to make a deliberate choice to invest our life in the welfare of another, and this we may do for several reasons:

1.   We choose to do so (whether out of obligation, duty, love or a sense that we must; it does not matter, because choice is out of the will)

2.   We may do so because in that person we recognise him or her as a person of worth.

3.   Sometimes we do so because we believe that this is God’s will for us.

If this develops into a very deep relationship then this would demonstrate a principle often forgotten by Christians. The spiritual and the moral (including the act of the will) pave a way to the emotional and physical involvement. 

There is another factor about being bathed in the love of God that ought not to be forgotten. It is that of correcting negatives and unanswered questions. Many of these unanswered questions lie in the realm of tragedy because we cannot understand why it happened. Most of us who have been through such an experience have probably come to know that frequently we don’t receive an answer to our query. However, when in the presence of the loving security of the One who knows best, unanswered questions take on a new perspective. Also, many of the negatives which characterise us become corrected and reversed. This is especially the case where our mind is renewed by the power of God. 

According to Romans 12:2 we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we do not conforms to the standards of this world. Furthermore, we become aware of the truth of Romans 8:28, that all things work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to His will. He knows best and His way is best and He loves us the most.

Whatever our status or relationship with the Lord all of us need to be bathed in the love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

It is Biblical for the Spirit to come upon us, flow through and fill us; and the Spirit is the Spirit of love who shows us the Son and thereby the Father. 

Before looking at some practical applications of all the above plus a few illustrations, and some helpful tips, we must first of all look at some theology. 

THE GLORY OF GOD

1.   The Bible records the dedication of the Temple built by Solomon in I Kings 8. Two verses are of particular interest, and these read as: " …when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord". The word glory is the relevant word here because its root meaning means weight or heaviness in the physical sense with gravity/importance in its spiritual aspects. Thus, it applies particularly to honour, respect and value. A lexicon of Hebrew reveals that there are about 200 references to this particular noun (the use of the root number far more). Applying this to the passage in question, when the cloud filled the Temple as a token of the presence of God (in the history of Israel notably during the Wilderness wandering’s the cloud signified God being with the Israelites), the priests were unable to stand. We are told they could not stand because of the cloud for the glory of God filled the temple. The weight of God’s glory brought them to the floor: they prostrated due to the respect and honour God had imposed upon them. As the cloud surrounded and covered them so they felt the weight of God’s glory and were not able to stand. Often when we ask the Spirit to come on someone they go down under the power of the Spirit (there may be other reasons for this but we are not considering them at present). There is a very real place where we all need to be in the presence of God’s glory and feel the weight of His value and Being on us, even to being prostrate before Him in love and worship. We cannot fail to be affected if we truly come under the covering of the glory of God. This is clear from the experience the prophet Isaiah had in the Temple (Isaiah 6:1-7) who underwent a process of conviction of unworthiness of sin. The glory and worth of God highlighted his own unworthiness by contrast. Notice that in this passage the house of God was filled with smoke. A spiritual parallel may be mentioned here, and that is if we long to be filled with God, we will be filled with the fragrance of God like a cloud of incense so that all will know that we have been with Jesus and He with us. The glory of God upon us has the power to cause us to bow down and experience His weight of glory and worth to be worshipped. 

2.    Moses is another interesting example of seeing and displaying the glory of God. Before considering this, it is worth noting Exodus 33:7-11. Moses would speak with God face to face as a friend. This also is our great privilege when knowing Jesus as Lord and Saviour. When Moses entered the Tent of meeting to speak with God the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the Tent entrance. At this point when the Israelite saw this occurring each person would rise and bow down at the entrance of their own tent. In the same chapter of Exodus v17-23, Moses requests that he be given permission to see the glory of God. In chapter 34 we are given an account of Moses encountering the Lord, again the cloud is present and we are told that the Lord descended in the cloud. Then follows dialogue and commandments. The end result is that when Moses returns from his meeting with the Lord (v29) he does not know that his face is radiant because he had been speaking with God. The radiant shining face spoke of the glory of God revealed in a human face. Because the people were afraid of Moses, he veiled his face, only taking it off when he went to commune with the Lord. Although it is beyond the scope of this present topic it is worth noting the John 1:14-18, where Jesus reveals the glory of God as the Father’s only Son, and that from His fullness we obtain grace upon grace upon grace. Law came through Moses but grace and truth through Jesus Christ with whom we may converse as a Friend. 

3.   The glory of God and me, is not an irrelevant issue. It of course follows on naturally from what has been said above. Turning to Psalm 8, we discover that the Lord of creation has set His glory over the heavens, but then the psalmist then focuses his attention to the place and position of mankind. " Yet you have made them a little lower than angels, and crowned them with glory and honour." (v5) Man made in the Image of God should reflect His glory, and if this is so, then how much more a Christian who has the Lord of Glory in their life?

SOME TRUE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM LIFE 

  1. Quite a number of years ago now an elderly pastor used to hold healing prayer meetings in his home with his wife. As the pastor was highly respected many came from far and near to receive ministry. One who came was a young woman of some 30 years of age with a background of hurt and breakdown. Inwardly she was exhausted and could not cope any longer. She was gently ministered to and went down under the loving power of God. The folk present rested her on a couch and covered her so that she would be comfortable. She lay quietly there all through the prayer time and remained still whilst the meeting finished and those attending found hats and coats and went home. Instead of waking her they covered her with blankets, and the pastor and his wife retired to bed. Twelve hours after being prayed for she came to, but had experienced such a deep healing work of the Holy Spirit bringing her the love of Jesus, she was totally healed. Wounds, breakdown and everything else that had caused deep hurt in the earlier years. Those who wait and rest in the Lord renew their strength, and this must be beyond the mere physical. God is able to heal to the uttermost, and some might well say to the ‘guttermost’. 
  1. Another dear lady with 2 young girls came under the wing of our fellowship one Bible Week. The home background was extremely difficult and the 2 girls were very disturbed and wet the bed every night. The husband also was difficult but a non-Christian, but this dear lady had found the Lord Jesus as Saviour and had come to the Bible Week for all sorts of reasons. During one evening towards the end of the week an altar call was given for those who needed to be filled and baptised with the Holy Spirit. About 50 people of varying ages were led away to a private counselling tent for individual ministry. As one of those assisting with ministry, I went to a lady that was sitting on a chair with her back to me, with her head bowed down and weeping, with her hands covering her face. I had no idea who she was, so I gently laid my hands on her head and began to pray as the Lord led. Eventually the weeping and the sobbing finished, then the head was lifted up and turned towards me, with face radiant and eyes shining with joy. It was the dear lady who had joined herself to our fellowship for the week with the 2 young children. The next day the change was still noticeable, and it continued. Some years afterwards I discovered that her husband had given his life to the Lord and the home life had changed. God cares for individuals and He cares deeply for children and families. 
  1. When my first wife Jean was nursing very often the patients would request prayer, particularly when she worked in nursing homes relatives would make requests on behalf of their loved ones who were unable to ask for themselves. On one such occasion I was called to prayer for an old gentleman who was dying and extremely frightened by the prospect of death. A few of the nursing staff thought that his ramblings about father was a reversion to childhood, but Jean and I did not think this was correct. I prayed for the old man whilst holding his hand, and although he did not seem to be in this world nevertheless, I addressed him as if he were. As I asked the Father to come and be with this very old man, to touch him with love and peace, the ramblings ceased, the look of panic and fear on his face was smoothed away, his breathing that was erratic and breathless became quiet and regular and he became restful. Within the next day or so he died in peace. The love of God is perfect and perfect love casts out fear because it has torment (1 John 4:18) 

PRACTICALITIES AND APPLICATIONS

These are not in any specific order of priority:

1.   We can pray for any one of any age group, but we have to adopt our language and approach in what we do and say to be appropriate for the age, gender and condition of the person receiving ministry.

2.   Where possible, always work in pairs as this has safeguards. It is important to make the point that if one is a man that he should not counsel or minister to a woman on her own unless it is in a place where others are accessible and on call to assist.

3.   Husband and wife should be encouraged to seek the Lord together in being soaked and bathed in the love of Jesus. (Matthew 18:19-20) and also pray for their family if they have any.

4.   Individually we can come at any time and ask the Lord to release His love upon us and within us.

5.   In prayer meetings it is not improper to allow the leader of the group to ask the Lord to come and soak the members in the love of Jesus and experience the power of the Holy Spirit. This may be done in a variety of ways. On one occasion each person laid on the floor with a support for the head so as to be comfortable, were anointed with oil before asking the Lord to come. Quiet music and spiritual songs were played in the background, while the leaders went around and prayed over each person. This session lasted well over an hour present, and it was clearly visible on most people’s face that they were having a living encounter with the Lord Jesus, and that He was revealing Himself to them.

6.   During prayer ministry with another we may come to a point where we are not sure of the way ahead. This would be an ideal time to rest them in the Spirit and allow them to be soaked in the love of Jesus.

7.   Usage of objects to focus the attention in a tangible way. Some have used large banners held at each of the 4 quarters and have had them waved so as to create a canopy under which one can pass and a slight breeze which one can feel. Many folk have experienced the love of God when passing under the banner in this way.

8.   There are other items that may be used such as Holy Water, Anointing Oil and so on but comment on these will be left for another time. 

The important thing is that we take advantage of our inheritance to have a real encounter with God. Since God is love, it is therefore logical to ask to meet with the living and loving God who loves us in an experience that we can feel, and know and that He will bring us into healing, revelation, prayer and worship. 

9.   Suggestion for a HALF NIGHT OF PRAYER (8pm-12am). The schedule may run as follows:

I)            TIME OF REPENTANCE AND CONFESSION

·         Sins of the Past

·         Division and Separation

·         Surrounding community attitudes of pride, apathy and anger

II)          RECEIVE FORGIVENESS WITH THANKSGIVING

·         A time of quiet followed by quiet worship.

III)        SIT AND SOAK TIME

·         Sit in the presence of JESUS, THE HOLY SPIRIT AND FATHER and soak in HIS LOVE.

·         Dwell and think of His love for us

·         Relax and Receive

·         Retain any words and pictures, scriptures to share afterwards.  These to be used for prayer.  Often it is helpful to play soft soothing Christian music as an aid to relaxing and to begin to focus one’s mind on the love of God.

IV)         TIME OF THANKSGIVING, SHARING AND PRAISE

V)           ASKING THE LORD TO REMOVE OBSTACLES AND SEND THE BLESSINGS

·         Move in Power and Love

·         Meet needs and Heal in the way we need

·         Motivate us to be effective in our Home - District and Community etc

In a busy world to spend therapeutic time with FATHER, SON and HOLY SPIRIT IS AN INVESTMENT IN RELATIONSHIP, HEALING AND REVELATION.  WE WILL BE MORE RAPIDLY CHANGED FROM ONE DEGREE OF GLORY TO ANOTHER IF WE RESPOND POSITIVELY TO GOD.

All the forgoing leads to a divine purpose and aim, and it is this with which we shall conclude this section of study.  This aim and purpose is twofold: change in our selves and prayer that demonstrates worship and obedience.

CHANGE IN US AS PEOPLE 

The purpose of change is so that we conform to the image of God’s dear Son, that we become like Him who has redeemed us from sin, and will cause us to rule and reign with Him on high.  The desire to be like Jesus is a wonderfully designed purpose in the heart of God as we sit and soak in His amazing love.  We will want to be like Jesus.  This heart’s desire will become an expressed prayer,  an expression of our whole being.

The cry of our heart will be “Change me to be like Jesus, let me speak His gracious words, demonstrate His liberating truth.  Let me do the deeds and works that He did and let me live His life.   Enable me to share His life with others and show His transforming love to all.  Let me be obedient to the will of the Heavenly Father and let His will be done in me.  I want my hands to be His hands and my feet to walk where He would walk.  I desire that His thoughts be my thoughts, and that my life should be one of prayer and praise in true worship, in spirit and in truth”.

Where will these changes be effective and seen and known?

·         In the home where we are known and trustfully loved the most by those around us.

·         In the place of work or where we shop, whilst walking down the street or the leisure places we frequent.

·         To our family and friends beyond into the wider community.

·         Perhaps in the nation and country we live in to the continents overseas. 

CHANGES IN US IN RELATION TO PRAYER AND WORSHIP 

There are many who subscribe to the view that true prayer is one of the highest forms of worship.  Certainly, prayer should flow out of worship and worship out of prayer.  If the Lord reveals His mind and will whilst we are bathing in His love, then this revelation should be made a matter of prayer, also of worship since the Lord has entrusted it to us.  Particularly if we do not know what to do with what has been revealed we should pray.  Wisdom and insight as to how we should handle what we know is essential.  It was not given to make us puffed up in any way or to make feel that we more spiritual than others or more important.  Pride comes before a fall and it behoves us to be humble with God’s information, especially if it is insight about other people. 

Sitting before God and soaking in His love prepares us for prayer of the most important kinds.  One relevant way of keeping us in tune with God’s methods of doing things is to read the Bible so that we always approach the “How to do it” of life in a scriptural manner.

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