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| Shekinah Glory |
Imagine… You
have a loved one who has been complaining lately that they don’t hear from you,
that you don’t communicate with them anymore… That you seem distant… So you ask
them out to dinner, and during that whole time that was supposed to be just the
two of you, she’s flitting around here and there, occupied, busy, distracted
instead of sitting down and enjoying her time with you… Does that sound
familiar?
It does to me… I had been feeling so envious over the last
few weeks while thinking of Moses.
Stating how I wished my relationship with God was one similar to what
Moses had, where he would hear, “Thus
saith the Lord!!!!” And know exactly what it is God wanted Him to do. That Moses face would radiate the glory of
God. I found myself envying him. Moses heard from God and knew without a doubt
what direction God wanted him to go (even though he felt unworthy of the
calling). He heard God’s booming voice
and had a certainty of what things God wanted him to accomplish. I suppose looking back, I was feeling really frustrated,
wishing that once I gave my life to God and invited Him in to be my Lord and
Savior, that I could just allow HIM to do whatever He wanted in my life… I had
given Him the wheel, now I could just be in the passenger seat and let Him
drive… Unfortunately that is not the way it is...
I have over the
last month developed an urgent passion to pray more diligently, pray earnestly
and I didn’t know quite how to go about it.
I’ve kept a prayer journal and I’ve spoken to God in conversation
exactly the way I converse with other people, but ever since I saw the movie, “The
War Room” the urgency I had already feeling increased, and I knew I needed to
get more organized and focused in my prayer life. I also had a sense that God was calling me to
pray behind the scenes more fervently for people I love. Literally covering them with prayer from head
to toe, on my own, behind the scenes and this past Tuesday, I decided that
along with my prayer journal, I would use sticky notes and jot down my prayer
request on the sticky note and at the bottom of the note put: Answered Prayer
________
To put the day God
answered my prayer, and also I would use the back of the sticky note to put
what God’s answer was. I then began to
post the sticky note prayer request on the wall of my closet. As I wrote each prayer request out
individually, I would pray verbally as I wrote them conversing to the God about
the individual, the situation, the prayer request etc. then I would stick it to the wall. I did this praying until I felt like I got everything
that needed prayer out of my system and looked at about 20 stickies stuck to my
closet wall. I felt a release. I felt joy, I felt peace, I felt obedient and
even more than that I heard the Holy Spirit whisper in my ear:
“Kelly, you see? When you take time to
converse with me without any other distractions around you, you can hear what
it is I am saying to you. I am the same God I was during the time of
Moses. The results of you taking time
out to converse with me fills you with the same radiant glory that Moses
experienced with me… I am no respecter
of persons. Do you not feel my glory and
my peace radiating from you right now from the time that you have spent with me
in prayer?”
And all of a
sudden it all made sense… I did! I felt the joy of the Lord, I felt peace, I
felt love, I felt contentment – all because I took time in my day to
communicate with my Father without any distractions. A serious one on one time where I prayed and
then I listened and in doing so, I heard. It made a difference, I felt God's shekinah glory radiating from me. I felt God's love - all because I took time to being obedient and spend some time with my Heavenly Father, time that He knew would benefit ME.
Life gets so busy;
we don’t take time to use the tools and weapons God has given us to get through
this crazy life. His word is full of
instruction because He knows it will benefit us. It will help us, yet often we use the
instructions that are there as a last resort, if at all. But when we DO listen,
and we ARE obedient, we benefit from it. We are in spiritual warfare every day and unless we feed ourselves the spiritual food of God's word, we can grow weak, weary, frustrated and a sitting duck for the enemy. That's not God's will. He's given us tools so that we will use them! But it is up to us to do just that.
My time with the
Lord has made me fall more in love with Him.
When I go home and I open my closet door I look at my prayer requests
written out and stuck to the wall and I wait in joyful expectation for my Father to
answer. I look in expectation to hear
Him because I know that He knows what is BEST for me and that is what I want –
God’s best. I have found that God’s best
is better than anything I could have ever imagined or chosen for myself and
then I want to slap the palm of my hand against my forehead as I think of all
the times I tried to figure things out on my own and not let God figure it out
for me.
Yes, we are to
walk by faith and not by sight but God IS faithful and He longs for us to
experience the fullness of His love. I
think that is where the abundance comes through.
I think the most
exciting thing I’ve witnessed is seeing answers to what I prayed about come to
fruition because once those prayers are offered up to Him, we don’t always know
what happens next – but when you talk to someone you are praying for and they
say innocently (not knowing that you’ve been praying for them) I just got a
call from so-and-so and they want me to do this… And your ears perk up because
you were praying behind the scenes for that individual on behalf of that
situation and God just gave you a preview of what the status of that prayer
request is – it increases your faith!
God DOES hear your prayers. That
example encouraged me to continue praying deeper, interceding and trusting God
for His will to be done in whatever situation I’m bringing before His throne.
God desires a
relationship with us and if we allow ourselves it can become the sweetest,
deepest relationship we've ever had. I’m finding this out for myself and in
drawing nearer to God through prayer, experiencing that peace that passes all
understanding, walking in confidence that although I don’t see a way – God IS
the way and He is BIGGER than any concerns, problems or situations I can bring before
His throne. I can trust that since I
have given my life to Him, if I allow Him, He will work out my steps according to His
purpose and glory.
As I had been
reading and praying, I had a realization that just like Jesus told the sisters
of Lazarus, that their brother’s sickness would be for the glory of God (John
11:1-45) sometimes the things that God allows us to go through a situation so
that we can learn not to trust upon ourselves, but upon Him. That we would trust more in Him and less in
ourselves that He would be glorified… We
have to trust that the God who we have made our Lord and Savior all the details
of our lives, even when we don’t understand the WHY of it. He’s still in control and that is where our
peace comes from, it comes from Him.
The truth is
what God has for you IS so much better than what you could ever choose for
yourself… There is a peace in experiencing this first hand. To stand in awe of Him when you realize how
tremendously blessed you are. You become
truly thankful and the praise just automatically comes out of your mouth
without even having to think twice.
My plan is that when God answers those posted sticky note prayer requests - however He chooses to respond, I will write the date He responds and on the back of the sticky note I will write what His answer was. I plan on using a note book to keep all the requests in so that during times when I feel as though I'm having a "wilderness" experience, I can open the notebook up and refer to all the times that God answered my prayers. He's got me, I just need to walk in obedience and trust that He does. My steps whether I know it or not, are ordained by Him...
I believe there
is an old hymn that portrays this exactly, it’s called “Trust and Obey” and the
words are as follows:
“When we walk with the Lord
In the light of His word
What a glory He sheds on our way
While we do His good will
He abides with us still
And with all who will trust and obey
Trust and obey,
For there is no other way
To be happy in Jesus
But to trust and obey
Not a shadow can rise
Not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away,
Not a doubt or a fear,
Not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey,
Not a burden we bear,
Not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay,
Not a grief or a loss,
Not a frown or a cross,
But is blest if we trust and obey,
But we never can prove,
The delights of His love,
Until all on the altar we lay,
For the favor He shows,
And the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey
Then in fellowship sweet,
We will sit at His feet,
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way,
What He says, we will do
Where He sends we will go
Never fear only trust and obey”
