Sitting with the One You Love Most
“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31 KJV, emphasis mine)
Every time you wait in His divine presence, you’re actually sowing a future harvest into the spirit. Waiting on the Lord renews your strength and gives you power to soar into the spirit—to do mighty exploits for God. Waiting quietly before the Lord is a powerful way to sow into the Spirit. Let me explain.heaven atmosphere,
Filling the Atmosphere with Heaven
In Revelation 4 we see four creatures and twenty-four elders bowing down, and the four creatures are all calling out, “Holy, holy, holy” and “worthy.” This makes me contemplate the incredible atmosphere around the throne of God. How much presence, how much glory, is in that throne room?
I began to request this of the Lord: “As we approach the end times, Lord, spill Your glory on this earth and change the atmosphere with the very atmosphere of Heaven.” Shouldn’t our church services be powerfully charged with a measure of that same manifest presence of God? Church should not be dead and boring, and it is certainly not a thing of the past. Why are people falling asleep in many churches today? Why is the atmosphere in church so boring and dull for some? Why do many sermons today lack passion and impact? Our God is alive and well! We need His divine presence filling our services and lives.
His Abiding Presence vs. His Manifest Presence
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into Heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Hell, behold, You are there.” (Psalm 139:7-8, NKJV)
We know God has an abiding presence, also known as His omnipresence, which means He is everywhere at the same time. No matter where we are on this earth, He is there! We cannot hide from His presence. Like it or not, He is always there. It is comforting to know He stands right beside us. Most of the time He goes unnoticed and unseen, yet He stands in the shadows yearning to reveal Himself to those He adores.
Years ago, I went through a really dry season and became very discouraged. I was even questioning my calling! At the time, I felt the prophetic voice inside of me was being silenced and knew the devil was responsible.
The enemy of our souls does not want people to hear the message of intimacy. Satan knows full well that if people really caught this message, it would bring about a powerful visitation of the Spirit of God, and they would never be the same. Satan’s mission is to keep people in religious bondage and activity, to kill their passion and intimacy with Christ. It seemed like every time I turned around I could feel my adversary doing his best to silence me, and it broke my very heart. (Photo via Pixabay)
One day, I was driving down the road, late for an appointment. Suddenly I felt the Spirit of God stirring inside me. I sensed He wanted to meet with me so I obeyed, parking my car near a recreational area where I got out to walk across the grounds. As soon as I sat down by a tree and placed my hood over my face, His presence came upon me so strongly, I couldn’t contain my emotions. As I broke down in joyful tears, I literally felt the Lord come and stand beside me. I didn’t see Him with my natural eyes, but I knew He stood to my right.
For some time, I couldn’t move; His presence was upon me so powerfully that I couldn’t stop weeping. After some time, I decided I needed more privacy, so I returned to my SUV and lay face forward on the backseat where His presence continued to envelop me. I knew He had come to let me know He was with me, that He had a plan for my life, and that somehow, in His time, He would provide a platform for the words He had spoken into my heart. That encounter helped me through some rough days ahead.
“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” (John 14:21 NKJV, emphasis mine)
The presence I’m speaking of is His manifest presence. It is when the Lord reveals Himself as a person with personality and feelings. To experience His manifest presence is to be quickened and renewed with a deep inner contentment, obtained only through experience. His previously intangible presence suddenly becomes tangible and all-consuming when He reveals Himself in a very personal way.
The Lord’s “abiding presence” is always everywhere at once. But in His “manifest presence,” He actually reveals Himself very personally, which will transform your life forever. Did you know the Lord desires to meet with you in a personal way? He desires to hold you in His arms and ravish you with His love. You can even sit together in silence, just being there for each other and sharing what you wouldn’t want to share anywhere else. His manifest presence will be made known to you if you hunger for more than a casual relationship with Him; if you love Him and obey Him.
This life-giving presence of God will transform everyone and everything it touches. In fact, it’s the only place to find answers. The presence of God changes people. So, we will see our fruit remain when we sit with the One we love most and invite His manifest presence to move there indefinitely.
What Is Soaking in the Spirit?
What is soaking in the spirit? Soaking is a practice of getting still before the Lord—almost always with worship music in the background—to simply linger in His presence with no other prayer agenda than to be with Him. It’s a style of prayer that focuses on intimacy rather than action. I am not speaking of Eastern meditation or New Age! Eastern meditation (and New Age) is demonic, as people quiet themselves to empty their minds. I am speaking of being still and knowing that He is God. Psalm 46:10 lets me explain this further.
I spend a great deal of time playing anointed worship music as I just sit with Him. Some of the most meaningful times I’ve spent with my wife Diane are when we’ve sat together on a park bench and said nothing. I’d put my arm around her and just watch the sun set over the beautiful lake. I didn’t have to say anything, nor did she. I just sat there and loved on her, even after being together for twenty-seven years. Have you ever felt that warm love for your spouse or significant other, where you just enjoy spending time together?
You don’t have to say I love you every five minutes, because it somehow loses its meaning with casual repetition. Instead, you can just sit quietly and enjoy the love you have for each other…heart to heart. That’s powerful, especially when, as a couple, you’ve been through so much; yet you’re still together and have never given up. Years of building that love and commitment together…now that’s worth celebrating! You sit and enjoy being together and you just love and are thankful for and desire only that person. That’s what soaking is. (Photo via Pxfuel)
Some Believers make soaking sound flaky and spooky; I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about sitting there, playing anointed music and loving on Jesus. You can do this for hours at a time if you can resist the challenge to get up and get busy. Just love Jesus, just be with Him…and if you feel like it, you can begin to pray for whatever is on your heart. Sometimes when you start to speak, you might break out in weeping, realizing how precious it is that the Lord wants to spend time with you there. It is just you and your holy GOD! Be still and know that He is God.
Seeking His Heart and Not Just His Hands
I’ve related the following story about Walter Beuttler (spiritual father of Wade Taylor) in a few books I’ve published. I speak and write about him a lot because his ministry has transformed my life. He passed away in 1974 and he lived an incredible life in the manifest presence of God.
One evening, Walter got up in the middle of the night and began to pray and intercede, and the Lord asked him why he was praying, as He hadn’t called on him to pray that night. Walter answered, “I just wanted to keep You company.” He literally felt the Lord approach him and the manifestation of tear drops fall on his head. Walter knew that he had touched the very heart of Jesus so that He wept tears of joy over him. Some may struggle to believe this (as they may never have heard of the late Walter Beuttler), but I have studied his life for many years and read and heard every sermon and article he wrote. I trust him.
The Lord had finally found in Walter Beuttler someone who wanted to keep Him company, someone who truly loved Him—not out of religious duty, but true heartfelt intimacy. Walter was not going to Him with a list of wants and needs, as we do sometimes with our prayer time, only asking for things. (On a side note, there’s nothing wrong with petitioning God, but if that’s all we do, it robs us of true intimacy and relationship with Christ, the giver of the gifts and blessings. God desires a people that will seek His heart not just His hands.)
Walter Beuttler felt tear drops, the manifestation of the heart of Jesus. He touched God’s heart. You too can touch God’s heart just by lingering in His presence, inviting an atmosphere of Heaven into that prayer closet. Put on anointed music and sit together. Do I pray there? you may ask. Absolutely. Sometimes I pray for an hour or two and I soak for an hour. When I come out of a prayer session, I feel like a changed man. It energizes me, and I feel like He’s imparted something into me. It’s like the Lord breathes into me and suddenly I’m brand new.
I want to encourage you, my friend, to sow seeds into the spirit realm by lingering in His presence—to sit with Him in sweet intimacy. Every time you wait in His divine presence, you’re sowing a future harvest into the spirit. Waiting on the Lord renews your strength and gives you power to soar into the spirit to do mighty exploits for God.
Steve Porter
Refuge Ministries
Email: G524walk@yahoo.com
Website: www.findrefuge.tv