28 Eight Steps to Wait on God

8/9/2019 28 Eight Steps to Wait on God

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us to heed His written Word and to know and obey

His voice.When we meditate on the word, the Holy Spirittakes of what is Christs and declares it to us. AsGod is one, the Word and the Holy Spirit will nevercontradict each other. The Holy Spirit usesScripture to reveal Christ to us. We often err in

judgment because we do not know the Scripturesor the voice of the Holy Spirit. Just reading Scriptureis not good enough. We need to meditate on it untilthe word of God lives in us. We need to meditateon the word of God that we may manifest Christ, which is the will of God for every born-again believer .

The main purpose of the Bible is to introduce you toGods worldview so that you may manifest thecharacter and power of His Son. The degree inwhich you do not manifest Christ is the degree of your deception. As a Christian you must set yourheart to walk in truth , which is to manifestChrists character and power . When the Lordlooks at you, He is not looking for perfection but forfaith. Faith is the virtue that brings joy andfulfillment to Gods heart. Faith procures thesubstance of the manifestation of Christ in you. Godwill judge you according to the light and talentsthat you have received. Therefore, you need toexpress faith toward God according to the measureof grace He gave you, which is the measure of yourfaith.

In these last days, like in the times of Joseph andDaniel, the voice of the Lord will be in demand. Asin the past, the Lord will favor His servants theprophets. It becomes increasingly important toknow the voice of the Lord as our choices mayamplify outcomes. Our choices on global, nationaland individual levels will have magnifiedconsequences. It is like a ship that is about to enterinto a harbor. When a ship is far from its


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destination small navigation errors can be tolerated

because it can easily be rectified. When a ship isentering the harbor navigation errors can causedevastating accidents because of a lack of spaceand time to maneuver away from disaster areas.

Waiting on the Lord is to practice hearing the voiceof God. Your body of death which is earthboundcannot observe and experience the Lord with itsphysical senses because God is Spirit and dwells inheaven. You observe things in the realm and placeof your dwelling. If you live a carnal life you willpredominantly observe things in the soulish andnatural realms. If you mainly dwell in the spirit youwill observe, by the Holy Spirit, the things of theSpirit. The more you focus on Christ the more Hefills the field of your vision. Therefore our walk withthe Lord is not through our physical senses but byfaith. Because God is Spirit and one with your spirit,the Holy Spirit reveals Christ to you in your spirit.

Waiting on the Lord is practicing your spirit to livein heaven while being bodily on earth. It is topractice to be more at home in heaven than onearth, which is to live with our Bridegroom. Thehighest level of knowing God can be compared to agodly couple that is married for many decades andknow each others heart just by observation andhardly any talking. Deep love is to know each other.Waiting on God is all about the deepest love. Loveis a painful longing with constant focus on theBeloved, to observe His slightest movement and toawait His least command. It is to have only eyes for

Jesus.

Waiting on God is not a religious quick fix tosolve a poor relationship with God but alifelong pursuit in training your spirit tobecome constantly aware of Gods presenceand to know His voice. Initially it is an awkwardand difficult exercise, like training a muscle thatwas never used before. It is foreign for man to live


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in the realm of Gods Spirit. So, it is a lifelong quest

to experience heaven while being on earth. If youwant to observe the things of the Spirit you need todwell in His realm. A heart distracted by the thingsof this world or any legalistic mechanics to enterHis presence prevents you from experiencingChrists indwelling presence because your focus ison the world and self and not on Him. Self and thethings of this world dwell in the carnal realms of thesoul and the physical while Christ is in heaven(spirit). Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of live (Proverbs 4:23). You arein the world but not of it. So, share all things withHim. It is wisdom to know Him in all things.

Knowing the voice of the Lord is as solid or as weakas your dedication to wait on God. Seeking thevoice of the Lord takes patience and perseverance.Nothing comes by itself but only through faith,substance is created. The dedication of your faith towait on Him is as vast or as little as your hunger forHim. You need to keep your focus as long aspossible, in a relaxed manner, on the Lord. To besingle-minded is to be mentally honest. It is asincerity of mind toward Christ, free from pretense.Manifesting undivided faith toward Christ ispleasing to God.

Waiting on God with expectation can be likened tomy dog sitting patiently next to me awaiting myattention or command. The difference between mydog and you is that he can observe me with hisphysical eyes while you can only observe the Lord

and His ways with the eyes of your heart. Yourmotivation should not be to seek a fresh revelationbut to seek a revelation of the Lord. True revelationemphasizes the glory (character and power) of God.

Waiting on the Lord is directing your attention toGod with a deliberate expectation to meet and hearHim, like expecting a valuable item in the post. It isalso seeking or attentively watching the ways of the


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Lord. He made known His ways to Moses, His acts

to the children of Israel (Psalm 103:7). It is wisdomto know Gods ways. The wisdom and knowledge of the Lord change hearts. The kingdom of God doesnot come with observation but it comes within you.

Waiting on the Lord is full of hope and faith. Youexpress faith and unbelief all the time in yourthoughts, attitudes, words, works, habits and yourgeneral walk before God and man. Your hope is toexperience Christ, regardless how He wishes toreveal Himself.

Waiting on the Lord is the Lords expectation andHis deliberate waiting for your fellowship andworship. Worship is not always singing and praisebut it is always an attitude of your heart where yousay, He is God let me worship Him. I had thisdream many years ago. I dreamed that I thought tomyself, He is God let me worship Him. The nextmoment I smelled the incense of that attitude thatwent up before God. It was a very pleasant aromawhich I could still smell 30 minutes after I woke up.

The moral of the story is that worship is more than just singing and praise. Worship is an attitude of heart where you acknowledge God as supreme inall areas of your life. Worship is an attitude of loveand adoration toward God and one need not alwaysto express it visibly.

Often when I wait on the Lord I just open my heartto God and love Him for who He is, and not for whatHe can do or give to me. Let me illustrates it

through a very short story. There was a very richyoung man that loved a certain lady very dearly.He would normally buy her expensive presents. Hewas a lover of flowers, especially daisies and thislady was aware of his love for daisies. One day hefound a very peculiar daisy in his garden. He was sopleased with his discovery of the flower that he cutit and presented it to his lady friend so that shecould share in his joy. She was so upset because it


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was not an expensive present that she destroyed

this beautiful flower in the palm of her hand as wellas the excitement in the heart of this young manover this peculiar daisy.

I approached the Lord in the beginning with thesame rotten attitude as this woman toward this richyoung man. As long as I could receive blessings andrevelation from the Lord I did not care to wait onHim. I did not know how to be thankful for littlethings because I was blind toward the smallmercies of the Lord because I had not learned toshare little excitements with Him. I had a long roadto travel to discover true love thanks to my wifewho has discerned this lack in my heart.

Why should we wait on the Lord? There was noneed for Adam to wait on God while he walked withGod in the Garden of Eden. He was in completeharmony with God and creation. His existenceconsisted of joy and fulfillment in God. Whenquestions roused in his heart the Lord immediatelyanswered it, and he must have delighted himself inthe light of divine knowledge and wisdom. Adamwas not acquainted with the concept lack of Godswisdom, knowledge or His presence or any otherthing. He knew no need. When sin entered Adam,he fell from fulfillment in God and he wasintroduced into lack and need outside of Him. SinceAdam sinned we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Ever since the transgression weshare in Adams need for God. Therefore, all borne-again believers have a need to wait on God to

know His voice and to experience His presence. It isnot the only way to experience Him but it is one of the best ways to learn His voice. His sheep knowsHis voice.

How do I practice the prayer of silence or waitingon the Lord? Firstly , I need to be physicallycomfortable. I will take a shower to get rid of sweaton my body. I normally use cold water at the end of


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my shower to sharpen my spirit. Warm water tends

to make me drowsy, especially during summermonths. Occasionally I drink a glass of cold water. Ido not like any bodily distractions when waiting onthe Lord. I will switch of my cell phone and go to mybig chair.

I normally wait on the Lord round about 4h00 in themorning. This time suits me best because it is thetime when I am physically rested and mentally andspiritually the most alert. It is also the time with theleast distractions. I have friends that prefer to waiton the Lord in the evening. I choose not to do itafter dinner because food makes me heavy andlethargic. My evenings are full of distractions, dueto dinner, attention to my wife and possible phonecalls. There are responsibilities in my live that Icannot neglect without leaving the will of the Lord.So I prefer early morning hours. Other times maysuit you.

Secondly , I also need to get spirituallycomfortable. My spirit need to be open to God. Ineed to be focused on the Lord, get silent in myspirit and at rest inside of my innermost being.When I remember You (focus on Christ) on my bed (place of rest) , I meditate on You in the night watches (time of silence) (Psalm 63:6).

It is not always possible just to start relaxing yourheart and to focus on the Lord. After waking upfrom sleep or coming back from work you cannot

just cold start your human makeup to focus on God

unless you know how to practice His presence whilebusy with other activities. Initially you will need toenter the presence of the Lord by doing some faithexercises. Normally, I start to pray for about 20minutes both with my understanding and also inthe Spirit.

After praying I will read a few verses of Scripture, just enough to meditate on it for about 5 to 10


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minutes. To make everything count I will choose a

passage in line with what the Lord is speaking tome. We must ponder those things where thepresent emphasis of the Holy Spirit is. I do theseexercises to line myself up with the Holy Spirit.Sometimes I am just pondering those things thatconcern or excite me, as long as I believe that it isof the Lord. I do this normally when I am looking foran answer from God.

Thirdly , I need to empty or clear my mind of allpreconceived ideas or doctrines that may stifle thevoice of the Lord. I am determined to know nothingexcept Gods truth. It is not a blanking out of themind. Do not attempt doing this because it isdangerous. You must always maintain your focuson the Lord. Use your imagination but withoutwords, like a television that is on mute mode.

Initially my thoughts love to run off just like my doginvestigating every tree and bush when we go for awalk. It is difficult to control my thoughts. Iendeavor not to develop a struggle within me. So Itrick my mind by imagining the Lord and me goingfor a walk. Sometimes we walk in forests, then onthe beach, then in the mountains and then down ariver. I will remain silent and just watch him silently.

Use that which works for you. It is not aboutfeelings but faith. It is Christ who lives in you andall of His faith and hope and love flows through you.Sometimes God will bless you with feelings butmostly not. Feelings are deceptive. The heart of

man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked [Hebrew: incurable] ; who can know it?(Jeremiah 17:9) Eventually you will develop a senseof Christ in your spirit but it is rather a deep-rootedawareness and knowledge of Him and not so muchfeelings. You must remember your spirit dwells inthe realm of spirit but feelings belong to the realmof soul. As the spirit and soul belongs to twodifferent worlds, so does faith and feelings.


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Fourthly , when you are looking for an answer fromGod you need to focus both on the Lord and theobject of meditation simultaneously. Meditate onyour question and ask the Lord for the answer. It isthe glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter (Proverbs 25:2).

You may meditate on Scripture, word from God,problem, invention or project. We need to know theLord in all our ways and not to lean on our ownunderstanding. Finally, brethren, whatever thingsare true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything

praiseworthy meditate on these things(Philippians 4:8). To illustrate: The keys of myhouse were gone. I asked God where they were. Ifocused both on the Lord and the keyssimultaneously. I saw in a vision where they were.Sometimes He will, but seldom, answers youimmediately as it was in this case. Normally it takestime to find the answer. You need to persevere andpractice patience for some time (hours, days,weeks, months and sometimes years or even theafterlife). It is the Lords way of drawing you into arelationship with Him, to teach you to trust Him andto love Him regardless of delays. God is always ontime; it is man that must learn endurance andpatience. You will not receive fresh revelation everyday. The Lord will give you revelation and thenilluminate and break it open day by day as long asyou seek the Lord. The Lord will give you new

revelation if you are faithful with what He hasalready given you.

When I only seek to fellowship with the Lord I focuson Him alone.

Fifthly, record your impressions. Then the Lord answered me and said: Write the vision and makeit plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it


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(Habakkuk 2:2). The impressions that you have

recorded should agree with the Scriptures. The HolySpirit and the Word is one and shall never disagree.Sometimes you receive a witness from the HolySpirit concerning personal matters, which cannotbe verified in Scripture. Time alone can prove if itwas a word from God or not. Sometimes youreceive conformation of a word from God, but itdoes not always happen. The Holy Spirit normallygives you an unfolding revelation of the will of Godin bits and pieces. So in recording your revelationyou can discover after a short time what the Lordswill is for your life or what He is working out in yourlife. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here alittle, there a little (Isaiah 28:10). When you startwriting pages then know you have an overactivemind. The Lord normally speaks short and to thepoint.

An example of my Devotional Journal is as follows:April, 18, 2010: 1) Place your eye on me. 2) Avoidconflicts inside of you. 3) If you become nothing inyour own eyes, I will be so exalted in your sight, tothe degree, where I will fill your whole vision. Hemust increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30).

I believe I have received these words from God, notonly as personal instructions but also as a result of rewriting this article. Everything the Holy Spiritspeaks has purpose. I am normally changing orrewriting my articles as a result of new revelationand growth (my practical faith) in my relationship

with the Lord. Stagnancy is death; it becomesmechanics without His presence.

If I see visions while waiting on the Lord I will recordthem immediately in my Dream and Vision

journal. The longer I delay the more detail I forget.Record all details such as colors, numbers, directionof objects, field of vision and your frame of mind, if it was a positive or negative experience. Do not add


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(never assume) or take away from the vision, as it

will influence the interpretation. Have a pen andpaper on you while waiting on the Lord. Sometimesyou will see visions and sometimes not.

Sixthly , sift, sort and evaluate impressions afterrecording them to discern between carnal input andwhat was from the Holy Spirit. I normally gothrough this exercise over and over. I am recordingimpressions which I believe I have received fromthe Holy Spirit on a word processing program. Itleaves me with the opportunity to come back to itand to change it as often as I wish.

Seventhly , meditate on your impressions andinterpretations of your visions. Let us consider theimpressions, which I believe I have received fromthe Holy Spirit on April, 18, 2010. It mainly refers toa focus on the Lord. The more you focus on theLord the less inner conflict you will experience andthe more He will be exalted in your heart. The firsttwo impressions I heard were as clear as an audiblevoice. The last one is a deep inner knowledge, yet Iheard His voice; a word of wisdom. Now you cancontinue meditating on these important words fromthe Holy Spirit. To focus on the Lord is the heart of waiting on God.

Lastly , take responsibility for what the Holy Spirithas revealed to you by praying it through until itsfulfillment. As long as you cry out for wisdom andunderstanding to do His will, He will let you prosperin all areas of your life. And he sought God in the

days of Zechariah, who had understanding in thevisions of God; and as long as he sought the Lord,God made him to prosper (2 Chronicles 26:5).

For what period of time must you wait on the Lord?It can be anything between 20 minutes and twohours or longer. It depends on your hunger for theLord. Why do I say 20 minutes? While I was doingathletics I believed that training for less then 20


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minutes did not yield any physically benefits. It may

be a wrong assumption as far as waiting on theLord is concerned. When you start out waiting onGod it will be beneficial if you wait on the Lord forshort periods, a few times a day. This is to conditionyour system for this new experience. The secret isenjoyment otherwise you will grow weary of it andquit this way of coming to know the Lord.

Be flexible. If one way is not working for you,experiment with some other way until you findwhat is working for you. When your spirit is trainedin this manner you will unconsciously starting towait on the Lord while being busy with other things.

This does not happen overnight. Training your spirittakes perseverance and patience. The more you doit, the easier it becomes. No matter what, do notquit! You will never regret it!

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28 Eight Steps to Wait on God