I gathered up everything I needed to work on the Bible study I was writing. Then, I finally sat down and started to go to work. Immediately I knew something was wrong. Something very important was missing. I didn’t have my reading glasses and I couldn’t see the computer screen clearly. I had to get back up and get my glasses so I could see clearly to do the job right.
If
we are planning to work with God, we need to be able to see clearly to get His
work done right. We need to hear Him clearly before we jump in with both feet.
After all, the kingdom of God is the place where the will of God is always
done. And we don’t have to wait for heaven to live in God’s kingdom. We can
live in His spiritual kingdom even while we remain in this world.
When Jesus
prayed for us, He told the Father that He wasn’t praying for us to be taken out
of this world, but that we would be kept from the evil one. We are here as
witnesses of Christ in this world to our generation. And the power and wisdom
to do the will of the Father is within us by the Holy Spirit when we are born
again. It is the only way we can be effective witnesses.
In
Matthew 7, Jesus tells us, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord,
Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does
the will of My Father in heaven. That won’t change for anybody. Even those who
have the best intentions. So, there is an important question we need to ask
ourselves. “Are we really doing the will of the Father? Or are we just
following our own desires? Does Jesus just get an honorable mention in our lives,
or is He everything to us? Or maybe we are busy doing works in our own power,
ability and wisdom, and just hope that it’s enough. The fact is that our works
will never be enough. It’s only by the Holy Spirit that we can do God’s will.
Do
we really want to know what the Lord is saying to us? So many people are
groping in the darkness when it comes to following Jesus. But it doesn’t have
to be that way. Too often we are
self-assured and think we have everything we need to perform our Christian
duties. We say a prayer before we start on our newest project and ask God to
bless our hard work and planning. But we know something is missing. Why do we
see so few lasting results from our efforts? Let’s ask ourselves honestly,
“what results are we looking for?” A good turnout for the meeting we planned? applause
for our spectacular presentation? A
record number of book sales? a flurry of excitement in the music? notoriety for
ourselves? Seriously, are our expectations for results the same as God’s
expectations? Have we asked Him? Before we start “laboring for the Lord”, let’s
make sure we are at the right job site and have the right tools to get the job
done.
Oswald
Chambers said, “How much Christian work there is today which has never been
disciplined, but has simply sprung into being by impulse! In our Lord’s life
every project was disciplined to the will of His Father. There was not a
movement of an impulse of His own will as distinct from His Father’s.”
But
we can’t do His will if we don’t know what it is. And we can’t know what His
will is if we don’t know Him well enough to hear Him as He gives us His
instructions! So, how can we know Him and become one with Him in spirit and
purpose? We get to know Him through prayer, faith and as we follow Him.
Psalms 27:8 says, “When You said, “Seek My face [in prayer, require
My presence as your greatest need],” my heart said to You, “Your face, O LORD,
I will seek [on the authority of Your word].” His Face is His presence, His countenance.
Without His presence there is no life, light or power in what we do. We are in
desperate need of the presence of God among us. Not just an emotional experience,
but for God to be among us and within us; for His words to come forth in power
and with such Life that hearts are changed. We need to know Jesus Christ and
surrender all to Him so He can work through us and accomplish His will.
I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live.”
We seek Him through prayer - earnest
prayer that will not give up until we have heard from Him. But few are willing
to take time in His presence. We don’t just pray for His guidance and wisdom,
then move on to implement the plans we have already decided on. We find out
what His plans are and we adjust to them. We enter into His presence and linger
there until we hear from Him, until we get to know His heart. Prayer is about
knowing God.
Prayer is a two-way conversation between us and God. Jesus
prayed often and heard from His Father. He only did what the Father told Him to
do and only said what the Father told Him to say. We can too if we take time to
listen to what God says to us. He may speak through the Holy Spirit within us,
through Jesus’ teachings or other parts of the Bible. But however He speaks, we
need to be listening. Hearing what God says is the most important part of
prayer.
C.S. Lewis said, “In worship, God
imparts Himself to us.” In other words, He makes Himself known to us and reveals hidden spiritual
secrets to us. He opens our hearts and minds to spiritual insight that can only
be known by those who seek Him.
We need to seek God Himself. Then we will have the mind of
Christ and can actually accomplish things of eternal value. We will have the
presence of the Holy Spirit to lead us and empower us to truly make a
difference.
Elisabeth Elliot said, “Prayer lays
hold of God's plan and becomes the link between his will and its
accomplishment on earth. Amazing things happen, and we are given the privilege
of being the channels of the Holy Spirit's prayer”.
Can you imagine hearing from God and being part of
accomplishing His plans? It is overwhelming and exciting, almost unbelievable. But
it really is part of His plan for us. We may think that God revealing His plans
to us is impossible, that it was only for people like the disciples, the
apostle Paul, or the prophets in the Old Testament. But they are all gone from
this earth, and the work of the kingdom still needs to be done. It’s up to us
to carry it forward for this and future generations. We don’t need to miss out
on it because we are too busy carrying out our own plans.
Remember the part of the Lord’s
prayer that says, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in
heaven”? How can that be done? Only through those who are emptied of
self and filled with the Holy Spirit. Only through those who give up their
rights to serve others, and do the will of the Father; those who see the
possibilities of living in the kingdom of God as opposed to remaining
earthbound. Those who only have earthly eyes and earthly interests miss out on
seeing into the heavenly realm…a whole new dimension.
“The Lord came to Jeremiah, His prophet,
and said, “Call to Me, and I will answer you,
and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’” God
will show us what we need to know if we will just ask Him. He wants us to be
part of what He is doing. But, first, He wants to tell us things we have no way
of knowing or understanding through this world’s knowledge. Why? So we can be
equipped to work with Him. And we can know which jobsite we are supposed to be
on and what time we are supposed to be there, accomplishing great things and
winning great victories for the Kingdom.
Jesus never conferred with His flesh man to decide what He
would do or what He would say to the people. He conferred with the Father. He
was representing His Father, not His humanity. The same holds true for us.
God is always looking for someone
who is seeking Him so they can work with Him. Those who work with Him receive
the power of the Holy Spirit to carry out His plans. Daniel 11 tells of a very
difficult time for God’s people, then he says, “But
the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great
exploits." And those of the people who understand shall instruct many” (Daniel
11:32-33)
Remember Noah? Moses? Joseph? Esther? Those are just a few
that God used mightily. They are all gone from this earth, so we need to step
up to know our God and do great exploits.
We can do the will of the Father!
Are we willing?
