I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt; Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low by thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.
– John Wesley

Grant, Almighty God, that as thou not only invitest us continually by the voice of thy gospel to seek thee, but also offerest to us thy Son as our mediator, through whom an access to thee is open, that we may find thee a propitious Father; O grant, that relying on thy kind invitation, we may through life exercise ourselves in prayer, and as so many evils disturb us on all sides and so many wants distress and oppress us, may we be led more earnestly to call on thee, and in the meanwhile be never wearied in this exercise of prayer; until having been heard by thee throughout life, we may at length be gathered to thine eternal kingdom where we shall enjoy that salvation which thou hast promised to us, and of which also thou daily testifiest to us by thy gospel, and be forever united to thine only-begotten Son of whom we are now members; that we may be partakers of all the blessings which he has obtained for us by his death. Amen.
– John Calvin

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, and in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
– St. Patrick

Speak to Him thou for He hears,
and Spirit with Spirit can meet -
Closer is He than breathing,
and nearer than hands and feet.

When I was I kid I used to have this image of God as an old man with a long, flowing beard wearing a white robe seated on a throne made of clouds way up beyond the sky looking down on me. I don’t know where this mental image came from, maybe paintings I’d seen a long time ago or maybe that’s how I had separated myself from Him. I pictured heaven as God’s realm in a really far away place, very removed from me in my location.

Bill Gillham, author of Lifetime Guarantee, paints the picture of heaven being one inch above the earth, not 40 million light-years beyond the stars. I think this is such an awesome description as it really brings God in close. When I pray, if I picture myself standing next to God while he literally puts his arm around me like a Father, it is such a different experience. I’m not praying to a far away God. No, I am speaking to my Father who has me in a bear hug, looking into my eyes, and listening very intently. I know He hears my prayers because He is standing right there next to me. In this context I think of God as the Abba Father, "Daddy."

Truths: God created us for an intimate relationship with Himself. When we get close to God we become who we were meant to be. God indeed pays attention to those who call on Him as that is an abundantly clear throughout the Bible. And as we call on Him he is close.

Closer is He than breathing.

Well, quite honestly, I don’t really know.

In thinking through what I might write about this morning, I was taken to this passage in Habakkuk. Most mornings I try and rise before my family does, which has become exceptionally hard since daylight saving this past week. I go down stairs and make my cup of coffee and sit in one little corner of this little room off the side of my kitchen. I open the blinds and let the morning light slowly illuminate my Bible. I pray, read, listen, and sip. I’ve come to enjoy my morning watchtower.

As I read through Habakkuk, there’s mention of "How long, O Lord, must I call for help…" How long must I wait until I clearly can hear your voice? The basic story of this book is Habakkuk sees an injustice in the world, shows it to God… and then waits for God to respond. How long does he wait… 40 days? Longer? Just that morning?

So, can I expect that at the end of the 40 days leading up to Easter I’ll have a big revelation, a spoken word, a clear dialog? I don’t know for certain, but I’m certain of this – I’ve enjoyed my time of "looking to see what he will say to me". Perhaps that is the very thing God is speaking to me; my time with him isn’t a means to an end. My time with him is the very purpose of itself. I wonder if I were to hear something right away, whatever it may be, if I would continue searching him and listening. I wonder if that is exactly why I can’t say when my time of intentional listening is ending, because if I specifically heard something, a word, would I continue to listen?

I know this time has shaped my prayer life in ways I don’t even fully understand yet. I have slowed down. I am listening more, which is an ongoing activity. I don’t find it a coincidence that in this verse in Habakkuk, the prophet uses words like "watch" and "look". Perhaps for the 40 days after Easter I will just look and watch. I’m not convinced that they are entirely different, after all.

It is at these times when I respond to adversity incorrectly that God has to remind me that the situation is not over until He says it’s over. God calls us to be in difficult situations not to torture us, but so that we can learn truths, so that our faith will grow, so He can be glorified, and to demonstrate His power and authority.

On Mount Carmel, Elijah asked the people of Israel to choose between God and Baal. He then had two bulls brought before the Israelites and declared that one bull would represent a sacrifice to Baal and the other bull would represent a sacrifice to God. Elijah said that the God who answered prayer with fire would be the true God. You can guess what happened. The prophets of Baal prayed and nothing happened. Elijah prayed to God and God answered in power. Elijah prayed that God would be known. But Elijah also prayed that God would "…let it be known today…that I am your servant and have done these things at your command. "

If we prayed so boldly, God might not set anything on fire, but we would see that somehow, someway, He would show up because we are doing what He asked us to do, and because of that, He’s not going to abandon or desert us.

Ironically, right after this happens, Elijah runs in fear from Jezebel and ask God to take his life. He had just called down fire from heaven, and in no time at all, another human being had him afraid. So very human. So very much like me.

1 Kings 19:11-12 says: “The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”

It was in the whisper that Elijah heard God.

How loud do you think that whisper was after the deafening sound of that wind and a “rock shattering” earthquake of that size? That takes some intentional listening.

Stop the noise – Wholly listen – Hear God

Are you following all of this??

The Hebrews did make a distinction between a matteh and a shabet. A shabet was also a club or a spear. Likewise, thusly, and witherto (don’t ask!)… a matteh was considered a comforting staff, and a shabet was known as a ruling rod. This is probably why Proverbs 13:24 has become the proof text for spanking and thereby saving our kids. The word "rod" in this adolescent nightmare verse is "shabet" in Hebrew.

BUT… because both shabet and matteh are somewhat interchangeable and can both mean a branch, tribe, standard or sign (banner), what if parents are also supposed to hold up the banner or sign of Jesus in their kids life, and lose our offspring when we don’t? What if "rod" was also a banner? Hmmmm.

HOWEVER, class, in our text, Moses throws out another interesting word… Jehovah "NISSI." Whaaaaaa? Did you see it in verse 15? "Nissi" is another Hebrew word that can also mean a standard, sign or banner. Are you tracking with me here? Have I lost you?

Why didn’t Moses call God a "matteh" (comforting staff) or a "shabet" (ruling rod)? Why did he use another Hebrew term for banner or sign? Hmmmm.

This is my opinion here, but I think Moses uses "nissi" to say, "God is our banner no matter what. Sometimes in our battles He is a quick and comforting staff. In other fights, God can seem distant and disciplinary like a ruling rod. God is both, but no matter what, HE is our banner. HE has already won the battle! He is Jehovah Nissi."

Are you in a battle right now? Are you praying and lifting up the banner of Jesus? He has already won the war against sin, death, and Satan. Is someone else standing in the gap for you and holding up the banner? Who needs you to pray, stand in the gap, and lift up the glorious, victorious banner of Jesus for them?

Go to our 365prayer.org website, and stand in the gap for someone. Also… ask for someone to stand in the gap for you. Lift up the banner of Jesus!

I have a friend who used to go to Cumberland. He moved on to take a job with another church. I remember one time having a discussion with him on prayer. He told me that he was having a hard time praying. He would try to find a quiet spot but just could not focus on GOD.

One day, he was in his house trying to pray and could not concentrate. He got up (frustrated) to get something to drink and came back to his empty chair……and then it hit him! Was the chair really empty?

In standing there looking at what most people would think was an empty seat – he saw JESUS! CHRIST is alive! We are alive in CHRIST! He went and got another chair and sat next to our LORD (who is in all things). He saw JESUS sitting there with him. This allowed him to focus and pray.

The Apostle John writes that "We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, JESUS CHRIST" (1 John 1:3). He is talking about participation in experiencing the incarnate CHRIST. We all have this incredible opportunity to experience GOD everyday through the gift of the HOLY SPIRIT.

The question is what are you doing to spend quality time with our LORD?

When Nehemiah was rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, he faced lots of opposition. So he took a two-step approach to their problem. Both steps were important and so was the sequence. First, he prayed. He didn’t act rashly or impatiently. Then, he posted a guard. Nehemiah and his followers had faith that God would protect them, but even though they acted with faith by praying, they didn’t pretend that the threat didn’t exist. They realized that they had a responsibility to take reasonable and appropriate action.

When trouble comes, and life gets hard, there are two things we need to do, and we have to do them in the right order. We pray so that God’s hand is moved. Then, we act in a reasonable and appropriate manner. Sometimes, the action to take is waiting. Waiting is a conscious action. I try to remind myself of this principle all the time. Man, that pot still isn’t boiling.

Do you have kids?  Maybe your don’t have kids, but do you have ’spiritual children’ (younger believers whom you disciple)?

Parenting is tough.  There never seems to be enough hours in a day, and before we know it, our kids are grown.  There are many things we can do help our kids spiritually.  We can teach them scripture, we teach them disciple, we can teach them to serve, we can teach them to pray, etc, etc, etc.  But, I believe the most important thing we can do is pray for them. 

Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians (1:17-19a) is a great one for us to pray over our own children: 

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

I wish I could say I was good at this myself.  Can we agree to all help each other grow in this area?  Can we hold each other accountable in this area?  Can we ask each other in a few months how we are doing praying for our children?

I didn’t know what was causing this hurriedness; I just felt that I was rushed, my mind crowded. I should have plenty of time to pray and be alone with God, I mean, I’m a vocational pastor for crying out loud– if anything, I should have plenty of time to pray. Time wasn’t necessarily the problem – it was what I was praying. Or more specifically, it was what I was speaking – it was the fact that I was praying through my agenda – my family, friends, ministry events, yada yada yada…

My conviction and my confession were this – I was talking AT God way more than I was conversing with Him, enjoying Him, listening; that often thought of ethereal state of just being in his presence. So, for Lent, I decided to stop speaking to God. I am spending an intentional period of just listening.

But for what am I listening? That is just it… I have no agenda in what I am listening for. I just want to hear Him. And slowly-by-slowly, day-by-day, His voice seems to be getting stronger, closer.

Here is one thing that I did hear. It was through reading his Word in 1st Peter 4:7: The end of all things is near. Therefore, be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.

The word that kept coming to my mind was "perspective." "The end of all things is near" brings back perspective. I know somewhere in the back of my mind that Christ will return… someday. But I think I had lost somewhere the notion that Christ WILL RETURN like a thief in the night… when I least expect it. It very well could be in my lifetime! I have no way of knowing when the big day will come. But having that on the forefront of my mind makes my prayers much more urgent, much more specific, much less yada yada yadaa. Praying for family, friends, and ministry events are vital and valuable – really. But they should never become a to-do list for me.

So, I’m proud to say that I’m no longer speaking to God… for a while. Listening has proven to be much more enjoyable.