Excellent Chanin,It exposes us for what we really are. Nothing in all creation can hide from him. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes. This is the God to whom we must explain all that we have done." Heb.4:12-13Very much find this verse embedded and is in one sense the measuring line of everything that comes alongside it, in our thoughts, in "application" of how we approach scripture, if we are to be teachable. The thoughts that we may be measuring by our own preconceived ideas, if it "fit's" what we already think we might know, instead of it's opposite, submitting even that to the test.And that can be tricky enough as it is, the tendency is to still measure from our angle, not the Lords. Not sure if this fit's rightly here or not but have found it a season of much difficulty in prayer. The first is in this not so curious "resistance" to stop the carnal mind of enmity against the Lord from getting to the place of prayer in the first place. It's the "I ought to be praying, I want to be praying...but I don't feel like praying, would rather do ______" And that can be well intentioned (possibly), reading scripture, a Christian Classic, a book on prayer :-? !!This may seem dissimilar to what you have presented here yet it seems to be much the same in Sometimes a person knows well what his trouble is and for this very reason has not consulted the Lord, fearing what He will say: Confess. Turn around. Quit that indulgence. Do not pity yourself. Forgive that person. Pay back what you owe. Apologize. Tell the truth. Deny yourself. Consider the other's well-being. Lay down your life.Would have to add Pray to the list.The sheer stupidity in it all is that if we could just discipline ourselves, make ourselves do some things that the flesh recoils at there can be great blessing in it. There is a getting through in prayer even when it is a struggle and that may not be on the timetable we imagine... it could take days, BUT that may be because of one problem itself, and though I know this all too well, the reality and the difficulty could be summed up in just this:Learning how to just shut up.Everything is always clamoring for attention, not only the outward things, but the noise generated in our own heads. What we 'think' we know, what we apt to jump to conclusions on, what we attempt to rationalize or dismiss, even before the Lord in prayer. The question that keeps begging for an answer is "What is it that you want?" And that is in the sense of ultimately, at the very core of our being. The present needs and specifics for whatever circumstances being set aside for the moment to get at a more pressing consideration. "What" or "Who" is it that we are seeking? I cannot think of any higher 'gift' to seek after than God's thought on the matter at hand, which is His will, not in general but in specific, at this moment in time, in this moment of prayer. And to be able to hear anything at all is to shut up everything to be able to hear, not merely listen. To lay everything, every thought, good, bad and indifferent at His feet and be silent. It is a mighty thing sometimes to get there, to a place of utter quietness and silence before Him, but it can be done, it just may take the time and effort to wrestle with ourselves or wrestle it out of ourselves.Rev 8:1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. Oh, for this in our prayers. How can we receive any counsel whatsoever from the Lord without it? Is it not the very essence of "Denying yourself"?This is not to open ourselves up to just any old thing in a sort of mystical sense, but purposefully before Him, to "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." Psa 46:10When you can get there, to this place of silence, it is rather amazing what you might find. Often it is in the praise and worship that comes forth even if in the struggle before hand you may have been vexed with any number of troubles, concerns, whatever emotions that had to be subdued. And peace, the rest from fighting against Him, against your own self, the greatest enemy there is. Then it seems we can truly pray and truly intercede for others, gain a truer perspective of ourselves and a clearer understanding of the Lord.The answer personally to the big question from the Lords perspective, "What is it that you want"?Keeps coming back to;Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. That's not mere flowery speech, but from the depths, to be able to share and give back out of the substance of what can only come from Him. It seems an impossibility to share that which we have not received, not from a storehouse of knowledge but from the Counselor Himself. To be clear, what I have found is that getting to this place of silence will bring forth that which has already been absorbed into the spirit, the verses that come to mind, that spring up after everything has been laid down, not that have been sized up before hand. The perception gets altered and you find you can learn something more so that you are willing to learn and willing to let go, willing to see things in a different light...Oh, could go on endlessly with this. Gain silence with the Lord, it's worth every ounce of effort.
