Knowing God

Knowing God – Insights from God’s Word
Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you. And nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. - Isaiah 60:1-3

Knowing God – Stretch and Grow
Prayer: My Father, O what a privilege we have in being called children of God. O how awesome are Your ways -- they are beyond anything my human powers could ever accomplish -- and yet they are attainable for those who truly yearn for them. The mystery of my faith is a blending of so many wonders, all being knit together by a Craftsman who alone can see the tapestry as a whole.

My greatest desire is to understand You, my God, in a way that causes Your wisdom and power to be joined with the people of God who are now laboring in Your harvest fields. The understanding I need is not just for learning -- it’s for the purpose of survival. The knowledge I do have helps me to understand how critically important it is to reach out to You asking for the understanding only You can give -- the understanding that sees Your will in heaven being accomplished right here on this earth.

Your ways are mysterious, and I acknowledge I only see in part. Your ways are affirming, and they cause even the weakest child of God to be strong. Maybe it is the way I have been taught over all these years that causes me to seek after a depth of knowledge that always seems to be just beyond the horizon. If this is true, Father, than I am glad You have made me this way. It is that hunger I have to go deeper that protects me from becoming lukewarm -- which I know is an abomination in Your sight.

As I navigate the waters around me today, Father, I know there are going to be moments of quiet desperation -- moments when I know You are calling me to stretch and grow. Almost every day now I feel myself learning about You and Your nature, and I know this is the result of the prayers I have prayed over many years seeking a deeper understanding of Your nature. Each day I recognize something new, and it’s always just enough to cause me to dig a little deeper into Your truths. This hunger is shared by countless multitudes of believers around the earth. As You are growing us in the places You have put us, You are also knitting us into a fighting force. You are igniting a flame for this force of warriors, and Your truths are the fuel we need to move ahead.

I pray today for any who have not yet gotten to that place of understanding where You can use them to further the reality of Your truths as found in heaven -- here today on this earth. I pray they will understand that we have just begun to recognize the depth and breadth of Your kingdom truths. I pray they would be ignited by the flame of heavenly passion delivered by the King Himself, that they will begin the process of staying so close to Jesus, that if they falter and fall, they will recognize it immediately, and get up and move forward.

I pray also, Father, that those who have been entrusted with great authority in the Body of Christ will recognize their need to be joined at the hip with Your Son. I pray they will be so tightly woven with Him and with Your truths, that if they falter they will realize they have become weaker, and promptly get up and move toward the goal You have set for them.

These men and women of vision are a treasure for all of us in Your Body, and I know that Satan is picking up his attack against them in an attempt to derail them from the glorious future You have laid out for them. Protect them and all the rest of us as well by surrounding the areas where we are camped with a mighty army of warrior angels, fully clothed with Your righteousness and purity and power, and fully capable of deflecting the attacks coming our way.

All that I pray for today is leading to a time where Your Body will need all of its leaders and followers in their proper place. It is the call on my life to sound the alert bell and pray for my brothers and sisters to find their rightful place. Jesus alone is to be glorified and worshiped, and I know as we mobilize together under His direction, the enemy will begin to flee, and Your kingdom will start to be seen on this earth as it is in heaven.

To You, my Father, I submit all I have to give, and in thanksgiving I pick up my armor today and move out -- alert to Your Holy Spirit’s call and ready to fall on my knees in prayer when the Spirit calls. Thank You, God, for your Body of Christ. Thank You that I do not walk alone on this earth, but instead I walk in the midst of the greatest army this world has ever seen -- a force so great that Satan and his evil ones have begun to retreat simply at the sight of it.

Knowing God – Making it Personal
Reflect: One of the greatest biblical truths for me is that by God’s own design, His children can walk in power and truth unimaginable to those who do not yet know Christ. Remember, you don’t receive oftentimes because you have not asked -- God will not force you. My challenge today -- do you have the courage to ask?

A prayer I prayed for many years went something like this "Ignite a flame of passion in my heart that burns with desire to know you better and to understand Your ways more fully. Make my life a life of purpose that leaves behind in its wake Your trail of life so others can see it and be filled themselves as they understand their own need for Your truths and for the Presence of the King Himself in their lives. Help me to recognize the path You have for me and bring others around me to accompany me on this journey. To walk closer to You every day is the reason You made me. Send Your Holy Spirit to purify and cleanse me deep within. Consume the chaff of my life and purify my soul and the souls of those with whom I walk. I ask You Father to move now on the earth and make me holy and pure so I can be used by You to do Your will on this earth -- just as it is done in heaven. Help all of us to recognize Your will and ignite a flame wherever You see darkness in my being so I can be freed from the bondages that hold me captive. AMEN!"

Remember, you don’t receive oftentimes because you have not asked -- God will not force you. My challenge today -- do you have the courage to ask?