Do not pray from where you are. Pray from the PLACE OF FULFILLMENT.
The place you are in emotionally when you pray influences the prayers that you offer to your God. It also determines the outcomes you receive
in prayer. What if you could simply shift
the platform you are standing on when you pray?
Radical transformation.
I have started In The Trenches Through The Fire even as I
walk through the closing phases of a seventeen year long walk with sickness. I write about joyous expectancy, living life lustily, exhilaration, joy. I write by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
There are days when my heart and mind are not caught up with
Spirit, they are firmly stuck in the experience of the lived
reality. Yet every day Spirit calls me into
alignment with God-Reality.
From the place of the lived reality praise is oftentimes so
hard, joy feels almost impossible and even hope is sometimes hard to reach. Yet every day Spirit starts my day by sending
me songs of praise. Some days I fuss and
rail, mostly I have learned to surrender to the Holy Spirit.
There is such blessing to be had in surrender. You just have to let Jesus take the wheel. When you do that in prayer, Spirit will move
you from the place you are in and take you to a more elevated place. From that perspective when you look at your life
as it is unfolding in this very moment, it looks very different.
You can see the purpose to what you are going through, you
can see the promise in it and the seeds that our Father has planted, just for you. You can see diamonds in your path, you can
see mercy, you can see grace.
When you pray from that place, it’s a whole new kind of
prayer. Then, in even the most abject
circumstance gratitude flows freely, you feel a sense of humility and awe
before your God, because in your suffering He is honoring you. Holy Spirit allows you to see the magnitude
of His heart for you and it is humbling.
Who am I Lord to be worthy of such things?
I call this place of prayer my in-between. It’s not quite lived reality, it’s not quite God-reality
it’s somewhere in between. It is a very
healing place to be. I have found it to
be nurturing, comforting, strengthening.
In this place I have found a faith I did not know I was capable of and a
resilience that is astounding.
“And Elisha prayed, ‘Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” - 2 Kings 6:17-20
In this place I have been blessed to see the angels,
archangels and other divine helpers who minister to us constantly, lifting us
up when we go down, patching us up, cheering us, sustaining us, directing us, fighting
for us. Christian friends no matter how alone
or unsupported you may feel, know that you are never alone. You have
hosts.
You may feel neglected by your God, even forgotten or
rejected by Him. Know today that His
heart is for your good. Everything He has
orchestrated is for your good and He has already set in motion everything that
is required to take you to the place where you are walking in the benefits.
The place of fulfillment
God has put in place a flow that will take you right into
His desired end for you. It’s like
rafting. There are times to row and
there are times to just rest your oars and allow the current to take you. All too often we are impatient,
we’re checking our watches and then we start trying to speed the process.
We paddle to exhaustion, we get caught in cross-currents,
sometimes we go in circles, other times we capsize. All while declaring scriptures, attending every
service and calling passionately on the name of the Lord. Yet the very wind whispers ‘just go with the divine
flow’. We tend to be slow learners.
Allow God’s Flow To
Take You
If we learn to pray from the place of
fulfillment we turn our little boats into the current and allow God’s flow to
take us. Then we may actually enjoy the
ride. We may find that the route is
scenic, we may find places of rest, hidden treasures and delightful surprises along the way.
We learn to run the rapids with perfect timing, paddling
with all our heart at the right time, easing our efforts at other times. We learn to just take a breath and let our
boats fall, trusting that even if we go under we will pop back up. Then we release shouts of wild exhilaration.
We did it!
That’s the place of fulfillment. After you have gone through your journey, navigated
all the twists and turns, the calm waters and the turbulence, you get past the last bend and paradise lies
before you. It is yours. And the amazing thing is, as you navigated
the ride you were picking up the keys to the kingdom.
We tend to get so focused on the suffering that we miss the grace as we
journey through the trenches. But Holy
Spirit is working with your spirit all the way.
Endurance, empathy, kindness, passion, purpose, these are some of the gifts
you will have picked up along the way without even noticing it.
So when you get past that last bend and the kingdom lies
before you, you already have the keys.
It is no strange place because in your journey you were taught the
mindset of the kingdom, a kingdom heart was regenerated within you, the language
of the kingdom is on your lips.
“His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many.” - Matthew 25:21
When the Lord says ‘well
done my child, step into your reward’ you are elated but not
surprised. While you were on the journey
Spirit had planted the seeds and with your cooperation, allowed you to catch
glimpses of the place of fulfillment.
Your cooperation is the most important thing. Will you wander in the wilderness for forty
years, or will you allow the Lord to lead you into the promise? His way may not look at all direct, in fact
it may look chaotic, disjointed and painfully slow.
No worries my friend, He is leading you in the path of
righteousness, so that you may receive all the keys you need to open the doors
of promise.
Praying from the place of fulfillment is so simple, yet we
have to consciously choose to direct our prayers in this manner.
First and most important, reach for guidance on our Father’s
will for you in your situation. What does
your state of fulfillment look like?
For some it will be exactly what you want in this
moment. For some it will be a stunning
overturn of all your current beliefs and expectations. Be patient with this part of the process, don’t
try to rush a response, don’t try to rush past it. Be quiet.
Be receptive to your God. Hear Him
speak.
Be aware that your ego is loud and never stops talking. Don’t be fooled by the voice of your ego, don’t
be distracted by the noise within yourself, or from others. Surrender your mind to Christ and let him
guide you.
When you are practiced at this you will know God’s will clearly. He doesn’t send one message, he sends tens, scores, hundreds until you get it. Random strangers will speak over you, your friends will say something that resonates deeply, scripture will leap out at you, you will just hear and see and know something that may be surprising to you.
Be really mindful to keep your ego out of the way, set aside
your desires and patiently listen. You
will hear and know His will for you.
Sometimes His will is so far-fetched or so far removed from
your current experience your first response is to reject it as nonsense. You may push it way because you feel
unworthy, incapable or unqualified, or
because you simply cannot see the path from here to there. You have to practice trusting your God. Be better at it than Abraham.
Then nurture within yourself that fulfilled state. Feed it, tend it, pull up the weeds that
spring up around it, fertilize it. And
every time you pray, pray from that place.
Picture your fulfilled state as a garden. Picture where you are now as it feels to you
now. It may feel like a barren wasteland
littered with brambles and thorns. You
go into prayer feeling the thirst splitting your lips, the pain of weariness in
your bones and the sting of the thorns biting into your flesh.
Allow Yourself To SHIFT!
Now shift from that place. Just for a time, take yourself out of that place and step into your secret garden, the place of fulfillment. Step into the skin of the version of you that lives in that place. Feel their emotions, think their thoughts, live their experience. It is your personal Eden, from that place commune with your God.
How would your interactions feel? What would your conversations sound
like? Would laughter come easily, would
you feel a sense of reverence, contentment, even joy.
Everything your heart desires is in that place but it may
not be show up as you want it to be.
You may want a job but in that place you find a sense of security. You may want a spouse but in that place you
simply experience a sense of being deeply loved. You may want to be elevated in your business or
career, but in your secret place you just feel an intense sense of belonging
and worthiness.
God knows all your secrets, He knows why the things that
hurt you hurt so much, He knows the motivations behind your desires. In your garden of fulfillment He has already
planted every variety of food that is good for you, and has provided every
delight that your spirit needs to flourish.
So, just for a while each day, toss out your agenda. Go into prayer and just be receptive to your
place of fulfillment. You can picture
yourself opening the gate, walking into the garden and enjoying whatever comes. A butterfly may perch on your nose, Jesus may
show up and hang out with you, or a teacher may visit with you. Whatever comes, allow. Trust.
Enjoy. Rejoice.
You will get to a place where this is not just a receptive
prayer but an active one. You can step
into your place of fulfillment and get guidance for a business decision, strategies
for a family matter, counsel for healing.
You can connect to this place in a snap, in the middle of whatever is going
on and you can take what you need in that moment.
You see, your place of fulfillment - your kingdom, your Eden
- is there to support you not just
through your current ride, but through all your rides. It’s a place you will carry within you for
the rest of your life.
Wouldn’t it be fun to tap in?
§
Author: Max Patrick @VibranceMinistries
In The Trenches Through The Fire is written for Christians who are going through stuff. If you were blessed, uplifted or inspired by this message please let us know on YouTube. It blesses our heart to be a blessing to yours.
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