The Lord Jesus died at the cross and rose again after the third day. He has overcome death, hell and the grave. He has overcome the principalities of this world. In His last days on this earth He commanded His disciples to wait for the power from on high. He told them,
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” {Acts 1:8}
On the day of Pentecost the Holy Ghost fell upon the disciples and the apostles. Apostle Peter told the people that were surrounding them that they too could receive this power if they repent and get baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. {Acts 2:38} Today we can receive the same power they received if we repent and get baptized in the name of Jesus. We can have Jesus Christ in our heart and in our soul as much as the disciples did when the Holy Ghost fell upon them, because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. {Hebrews 13:8} Jesus was talking to a woman in Samaria at Jacob’s well. She told the Lord that God must be worshiped in the mountain her forefathers worshiped in, not in Jerusalem as the Jews went around saying. Jesus told her,
“Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father… But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.” {John 4:21, 23}
Now that Jesus Christ has overcome the cross and has poured out His Spirit upon all flesh that whoever wants Him and believes in Him can have Him, we can connect with the Lord anytime. We can worship and praise Him anywhere, anytime, and any place. We don’t have to limit ourselves to just kneeling at home, or praying in church, or praying out loud, or at a certain hour or certain time of the day. Today we can connect with the Lord instantly. If we see Him (as He told His disciples) we can instantly connect with Him and talk to Him.
“Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more; but ye see Me: because I live, ye shall live also.” {John 14:19}
I heard of someone who took the time to thank the Lord and praise Him every hour for five minutes. At every hour she would stop what she was doing and pray for five minutes. I don’t find any problem with that. Actually, I find this commendable that she would take the time to remember the Lord at every hour and talk to Him. The problem arose when she was called for jury duty. She told them that she has to pray for five minutes at every hour. At first they had no problem and was okay with it. But when they were having their session she asked to be excused every hour because she had to pray. Needless to say they excused her indefinitely.
This has really saddened me and made me wonder about my understanding of who God is, and how many people out there really believe that prayer has to be just voicing your praise and worship out loud or otherwise you’re not praying or talking to God anymore. Whatever happened to talking to Him from our hearts and believing without a doubt that He not only can hear us with our thoughts to Him, but He can also even feel what we are feeling towards Him?
We need to understand how big our God is. We need to realize that He is everywhere, even in our hearts and in our minds. He is a Spirit therefore He can be everywhere, anytime. Just a whisper in our hearts of His name will bring Him near and alive to us. Just tuning in of our minds to Him will bring Him there instantaneously.
The reason that she was doing this kind of prayer she said was because Daniel in his time prayed three times a day. Yes, he did, but he did it at home. You don’t ever read that he stopped what he was doing before the king and told the king he had to pray. As a matter of fact, the king ended up signing a decree unbeknownst to him of throwing Daniel in the lion’s den because he didn’t know Daniel prayed like that. He was so saddened when he found out he approved of throwing Daniel in there, because he liked Daniel very much. Daniel was wise and discreet. He’s not going to go around showing a spectacle of himself so that everyone can see him pray. He didn’t open his windows to pray out loud so that every one can see him. He opened those windows for a purpose because it was directed towards Jerusalem and he wanted to pray for his land and for his people.
Then, remember Nehemiah, the cupbearer to the king of Persia? Here was another praying person who did not want to look like he’s been fasting and praying at all, lest the king will be displeased with him. He said he was so afraid when the king asked him, “Why do you look so sad?” because it was an odious thing to look sorrowful and sad before the king back then. He did not want to bring attention to himself. He was keeping his sorrow inside. He didn’t go and say, “Oh, king, I have to go and pray now because I really need to entreat God to have mercy upon my people who are suffering in Jerusalem.” He did his job and whatever was required of him, and when his job was over he prayed. I believe Daniel did the same thing. He did not want to bring attention to himself, after all it’s not all about him, it’s about God.
Jesus Christ Himself said that if we’re going to pray we should pray in our closet or secretly, not bringing attention to ourselves and let everyone know that we’re praying:
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. {Matthew 6:6}
But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. {Matthew 6:17-18}
See, we box God in this way, of only doing a certain thing or praying a certain way because that’s what we saw others do in the Bible. The Bible is there for our example, but praising God should not be limited to how people praised Him back then. God fills both heaven and earth with His presence. He’s so great and big that there’s no place on earth we can hide from Him. Not only that, we have to remember that because He is a Spirit and overcame at Calvary, He can now come and dwell in our bodies too – inside our heart and in our soul. That means, when you find yourself in a situation where you can’t pray out loud, you may certainly talk and praise God too from within your heart. He can hear you, He can feel what you’re saying, and He can most certainly know and understand the depth of your praise. So you don’t need to praise Him out loud to make an emphasis of how much you love Him. He knows your heart and He can see it and feel it too.
The Lord is actually looking for people that will worship Him in spirit and in truth. That means, He’s not concerned about how many times you can voice out your praise and worship to Him if your heart is not in it. If you’re only doing this now because you’ve made a ritual out of it, He really doesn’t care for it. This is actually in essence what Jesus was saying to that woman at the well He had met who insisted that people should be worshipping God in the mountain where her father worshipped, not in Jerusalem as the Jews taught the people.
God is seeking for a people that will worship Him in spirit and in truth. He doesn’t care anymore where anyone comes to worship Him, but He cares very much how we worship Him. It’s not a ritual thing with Him anymore. He doesn’t care for a repetitive prayer and praise. He doesn’t care for meaningless rituals especially that attracts people to us and not to Him. He wants a continued conversation with us. He wants us to be continually loving Him and praising Him with all of our hearts and soul. Not just when we find a moment of five minutes or ten minutes or an hour. It’s an all day thing, twenty-four seven, ready and set at any second to bring Him praise and love. How you do that is by having a surrendered life to Him and by involving Him in every aspect of your life. It is done through the spirit. When we wake up in the morning we think of Him first thing and talk to Him. When we’re brushing our teeth, taking a shower, getting dressed for work, driving to work, working at work, talking to people, eating lunch, doing a presentation at work, driving back home, cooking dinner, setting up dinner, eating, getting ready for bed and finally when we kneel down to acknowledge Him once more at night, we are always communing and talking to Him in our heart and in our soul.
We involve Him when we ask Him what to wear for work, or how to look for the day. We involved Him when we ask for His counsel what to prepare for breakfast and when we ask for His help to get us to work on time. We involve Him when we are faced with a project or a problem at work and we ask for His counsel again in what decision to make. When we are driving home, instead of listening to talk shows or the radio we talk to Him and love Him and tell Him how much He means to us. In short, He is always in our minds. We are asking Him to guide us and show us the way for the day, even asking Him to help us set our schedule for the day. He is always in our hearts because we are surrendered to Him and we are in love with Him. We might live in this world but we are not of this world. We belong to Him and our hearts and our affections are ever toward Him. We don’t need to attract people by pausing to pray out loud or to pray in a corner or to let everyone know we love Him. When you love Jesus and are always talking to Him in your mind, people will take notice. You don’t need to announce it. People will know. The Spirit of God within you will overflow and His Spirit will shine through you. The words that are coming out of your mouth will be natural and are not rehearsed because that’s what is in your heart and because that’s what you’re always thinking of. Being a Christian is not an effort anymore, you just are, because you’re loving Jesus twenty-four seven and are spending every moment with Him. You don’t fear His coming as others do but instead you actually look forward to it. More than anything you want to be with Him, because He is real to you and you are talking to Him and making Him a part of your life all the time. You know Him and He knows you. This is how to make God big, by talking to Him all the time, getting Him involved in every part of our lives.
I was at a wedding couple of weeks ago and I found myself talking to the Lord. I hardly knew anyone there and wasn’t involved in conversation at all times, so I had moments to myself. Instead of just taking in the sights and sounds and looking and browsing my phone, I made the Lord involved in what I was seeing. I would say to Him, “Wow, Lord can you believe all this food? It’s amazing isn’t it? And this is just the appetizers.” Then I sat down at a table with a wedding magazine in front of me and I browsed through it. As I browsed I said to the Lord, “See Lord, at least people are still getting married. Even though a lot are living first together before they get married, at least many still find it important to get married.” Then in this process of talking to the Lord He talked back to me. He told me in my spirit that there’s going to be a wonderful wedding ceremony in heaven. I was really surprised and I realized it must be true, because the Bible said there’s going to be the Supper of the Lamb. When I responded with, “Really, Lord?” I saw heaven and thousands upon hundreds of thousands of innumerable people throughout the ages, different cultures, and different languages, standing in white gowns. There was this brightness that was coming from the center of everyone, God was filling the whole scene with His brightness and Jesus Christ standing in a dais in the midst of everyone. Everyone was standing in white robes standing around Him about to be married to Him. It was such a beautiful scene to me that I started choking up and tearing up right there and then. Actually I felt like weeping. I couldn’t help but respond to Him with love in my heart, thanking Him, loving Him, and praising Him. I remember this scripture later in Revelation:
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. {Revelation 19:6-9}
It was such a beautiful experience for me to be in a wedding and talking to the Lord, and He talking back to me and showing me a final wedding that will take place with His own Bride someday. Today I can still recall that time with Him and I’m so happy that I talked to Him and made Him a part of my day. The Lord was so appreciative to me too that I heard Him say to me again and again in my spirit, “Thank you for talking to Me…” Because He knew, and because He’s such a meek and humble man and full of understanding and love, He knew I could have spent that time away from Him. He would understand me completely. But instead I chose to talk to Him and involve Him in my situation. It’s funny because I was talking to Him and telling Him how I wish I had taken my iPad mini with me because I was getting bored. I wanted to watch a YouTube to pass the time. We were in a hotel lobby and there were about two hundred people there hobnobbing and eating hors d’oeuvres, and the Lord responded to me and said, “You can talk to Me.” And that’s exactly what I did. I talked to Him and He rewarded me with such a beautiful vision of that marriage of the Lamb and His people. He was showing me that I was going to be married to Him and will not ever be separated from Him. He made me feel so loved.
Now that Jesus Christ has come and filled us with His Holy Spirit we don’t have to limit ourselves to just talking to Him at home or even waiting until we’re in church. We can try to talk to Him and involve Him in our thoughts and in our lives every hour of every day, twenty-four seven. I find that the more I talk to Him, the more He gets greater and bigger in my life. He loves it when we talk to Him all the time because He loves us so much and wants to be with us all the time. Talking to Him brings Him near to us and gives us peace and joy the world will not ever know. God is truly a great big and wonderful God, He is everywhere, even in our hearts. I love Him so much.
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee.” {Isaiah 26:3}
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” {Philippians 4:6-7}
“Pray without ceasing.” {1 Thessalonians 5:17}
“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.” {Colossians 4:2}
Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. {Jeremiah 23:24}
“Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto Me? and where is the place of my rest?” {Isaiah 66:1}
Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counseller hath taught him? {Isaiah 40:12-13}
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I thank You Father with all of my heart for Your great love and mercy upon my life today. I thank You so much that You are a great and big and awesome God. I love You so much. There is no one like You in the heaven nor over all the entire earth. You are my God. I worship You.
Father, I pray Your continued grace and mercy upon my life. Teach me the things of You. Show me who You really are and give me understanding of how to come to You and approach You. I want to know You and I want to do Your will. Give me more of You in my life. Teach me how to love You. Give me more faith in You and in Your love for me. I pray all of this Father, in Your most wonderful and glorious name, Jesus. Thank You, Father. Amen.
Image by Steven Weirather from Pixabay
Rp7/2017
