The Lord in His mercy and grace showed me a spiritual truth recently. Most Christians probably know this, but we should all be reminded of truths from time to time. The Holy Spirit breathed a breath of life into my heart as I was meditating on our Savior.
You know, it’s funny sometimes that we forget that all human interaction with God starts and ends with Christ. 
I have never encountered the glory of His presence without first starting with Jesus in the forefront of my mind. I have never seen the anointing power of the Holy Spirit rain down on a congregation without first glorifying the blood and sacrifice and passion of Christ. I don’t know why it works that way…it just does. Through Him (I think through being the operative word) all things are possible, all experiences originate, all love is poured out. If you are a struggling believer, if you are a burned-out Christian, if you have hit a proverbial “wall” in your prayer life, I pray right now that the Holy Spirit through Christ blesses you with this message.
An overwhelming truth about prayer seems to get lost in the melee of life. In a very significant way, prayer is an opportunity for God to remind you of who you really are. He reminds you of who you really are by simply being in His presence. By spiritually beholding Christ Jesus, His Spirit transforms us into what we so pitifully try to accomplish by ourselves. 
His intent is so pure and so very simple: rest in Me, gaze upon Me, meditate upon My beauty. He reminds us of who we really are by simply beholding Him beholding us! Being in His presence is to be filled with His love for you…telling you and showing you that indeed, you were worth dying for. You are His beloved, you are His prize, you were worth the price, you are His hope and glory.
In the flesh, this sounds ridiculous.
We view ourselves as weak, sinful, unworthy, and acutely human. He says to you and I, “Don’t look at yourself; look at Me. See truth. See that I paid a high price for you because you are worth every drop of blood, every lash across My back, every tear I cried…you are all I ever wanted, and I will never leave you or change My mind.”
All things beautiful, all things productive, all things of God start and finish in this time together. I know some out there have more of an orthodox approach to being in God’s will, but for me, God’s will is to be with me and for me to continue to seek His face. We know that faith comes by hearing…hearing the word of God. This is an active voice, not just a verse in the Bible. We can’t hear Him speak if we don’t fellowship together. You can’t walk in faith unless you hear Him speak. Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice.” So to try and live a holy, righteous, and loving life without the power to do so is quite futile. Your power to live a pleasing life to God comes from listening to Him. Honestly, it IS just that simple. Obedience to His voice is actually a natural reaction, an act of worship, and a way to return at least a little of His eternal love. We obey because we adore Him; if we don’t adore Him, it is because we have not spent any time with Him. For me, that sums it up because to know Him IS to love Him!
If we wake up every day as merely an employee, or a parent, or a child, or a student, or a pastor, or a mere human, then we miss the stunning beauty of a spiritual life. We get caught up sometimes that we are merely human, but God wants to remind us that we are a child of God, a holy priest, a minister of fire and passion, and most of all His glorious bride. Sometimes we think of prayer as something we do for God; but that is foolishness when you comprehend that it is truly something God does for us. 
You can either believe what He says to you or you can discard His words. Everything, and I mean everything, God asks us to do is to prosper us and bless us and to transform us into the image of His Son. Many times we think of His laws and commandments as something we must do in order to avoid disappointing Him or being disciplined by Him. This is the real truth: God only wants to love you, to bless you, to reach the potential intended for you and to remind you of what life is truly all about. We pour our hearts out to Him for one reason…so that He may fill that now empty heart full of His love to the point of running over. Dear Lord, that is all we want, that is all we thirst for, that is all we need.
Our short lives here on a planet we call earth are but a foreshadowing of an eternal life in His presence. I ask you today to taste the Lord and know that He is good.
Come taste a little of what lies on the other side of this temporary life. When a person makes a transaction with the living God, they cannot help but be changed. He wants you to trade your belief for His faith, He wants you to trade your weakness for His power, He wants you to trade your yearnings for His love, and He wants you to trade what you cannot keep for what you can never lose.
Christ invites you to die, so that you may truly live; He invites you to take up your cross, so you can walk in victory; He invites you to put to death the flesh, so you can walk in the Spirit. In His presence is liberty, hope, peace, and love. His presence is our salvation.
So the next time you pray, ask God to remind you of who you really are; ask Him to speak His love into your heart; ask Him to reveal to you His beauty; ask Him to remind you that you were worth the price. When you pray, let Him transform you by simply listening to Him. Be quiet and wait on Him to enter into your act of worship. Breath Him in and stay still. God already knows what is on your heart, prayer is a time set aside for Him to enter into you and heal that heart. Listen to His whispers of love and devotion and faithfulness. If you can speak after He has spoken, then you are stronger than I…
disciplegideon 