WAITING ON THE LORD

Matthew 26:40  "Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?"

Visited in a church this morning where the Glory fell as we waited on the Lord.  "I'm waiting, Lord, I'm waiting."  And we waited.  As we sang and waited on the Lord, the Lord spoke to me, "How long will you wait, how long do My children wait for me?"

I saw back at the times I had prayed and prayed and when finished got up, went about my work, or went to sleep.  I know I am not alone here, the Lord would not have shown me this knowing I was to share if I were the only one.  I am thankful He showed me, for how often do we wonder why we do not receive an answer.  Or when we worship, longing for His presence, but we worship for a little while, sit down and the remaining program of the service takes place.  And we leave, wanting, disappointed because the Lord did not come, His Spirit was not with us, or if He was, He left.  Why would He have stayed.  We went from worship to offering and sermon without giving Him a chance to respond to our worship.  See, the Lord showed me His Spirit is not readily evident as soon as we begin to worship.  He will come and search our hearts first to see if we truly are longing for His presence, His being with us must be our heart's desire, no other need in us but to see the manifest presence of the Lord with us.  To have the One we love with all our hearts come to be with us, to pour out on us His glory and His sweet, sweet presence. 

As often at Destiny, ELCI did not have a sermon this morning, the pastor choosing to let the Holy Spirit have His way in the service, and as we worshiped asking the Lord to come, we waited on Him.  We worshiped, we poured out our love to Him through our songs of worship, and He did not disappoint.  Wave after wave of His beauty passed through the room, pouring a shower of blessing as He went by, touching each with His Power, His Grace and His Majesty.  We waited, deep into worship and praise, and each time as we waited, He would walk among us again.  Sweet, sweet Spirit of the Lord, drawing us into His presence as we were obedient and waited.  It is a beautiful truth, "good things come to those who wait".

I believe that the reason we miss the Lord so often is that we are not willing to wait for Him.  His time is not as our own, He wants to see if we will forget about our agendas, our schedules and seek Him.  Instead of just lip service, "we wait on you", we truly wait.  We forget about ourselves and concentrate on Him, and just worhsip Him.  Time will virtually stand still for those who wait on the Lord.  Our Lord wants to be the only thought on your mind, the only desire in your heart; when He sees this take place through your prayer and worship, He will not be able to stay away.  He so desires to be worshiped, to be adored by His children.  He loves us so much He wants to spend time with us, but He wants us to truly desire Him to come; so He lets us wait a bit to see how long we are willing to wait for Him; how long will we stand and worship, entreating Him to come, our souls longing for His touch on us; how long will you wait?

How long will you pray, and sit quietly, silently, nothing on Your mind but thanksgiving to the Lord for His precious love for you, His sweet touch of grace on you each day.  Asking, receiving, two ends of the spectrum, and in the middle is waiting; waiting for the answer that is coming for those who will wait with the Lord.

When you worship, is the presence of the Lord your heart's desire; enough to wait for Him, to give time in the service, or at home, to wait on His presence.  As you pray, seeking an answer from the Lord on concerns, healing, ministering; are you willing to stay quietly before Him and wait for His answer, to just love on Him and give Him your time, your devotion, your complete attention?  Our Lord asks for very little from us.  He desires to be with us, but it has to be what we desire deep within our hearts.  It takes waiting.

My Lord God, let me never forsake the blessing of Your presence by being in a hurry.  Let me always wait upon You my King. Let me wait, and if necessary I will wait longer, for Your presence is what I desire more than life.  I love to worship You my Lord, to give You all the honor and glory.  Let me wait, my Lord, for You to come to spend time with me, let me always remember You come, when You see my heart, and my willingness to wait on You.

01-22-12