For many people, I believe the idea of getting alone with the Lord is a foreign idea. Then, to instruct someone to go beyond that and spend any length of time telling the Lord how much they love Him is far beyond what most Christians consider normal.
The first question most would have is obviously, "Why would I want to do that?" For the majority of Christians, the few minutes of worshipping the Lord during a church service is more than enough. The music is playing and people are singing so it is easy to join in and become one in a mass choir singing about the goodness of God. There is nothing wrong with that, but this is not the type of worship I'm speaking about when I say, "Private Worship". In a public assembly filled with fellow worshippers and beautiful music your soul is being energized by the beat of the music and instead of reaching out with your spirit and truly ministering to the Lord you are being emotionally moved and are able to coast into God's presence through the help of others. Yes, there are some who are able to offer up some level of worship out of their spirit, but the depths of true worship are never able to be explored in these brief church experiences. Until a person makes the decision to take a step beyond "normal" and begin their own personal Jouney into Private Worship they can never know the joy that awaits them for offering up their soul on the altar of private worship.
"Mark, what do you mean, 'offering up my soul on the altar of private worship?'"
Our spirit is encased by layers and layers of what I will refer to as the unrenewed parts of our soul. This is the residue from the fallen man that has yet to be transformed. All the while your spirit man is wanting so desperately to enter into communion with the Lord Jesus and offer up words of adoration, but your unrenewed soul resists. In the early stages of trying to enter into private worship your mind will do everything it can to convince you that this is a waste of time. It will tell you that you would be better off reading your Bible or passing out tracts rather than spending 30 minutes to an hour just telling Jesus and the Father and the Holy Ghost how much you love them. Finally, you decide that you are done letting your soul rule over you and you plant yourself in a solitary place for predetermined times of worship. Second by second your soul is being offered up to the Lord on this altar of private worship and layer by layer your soul is giving way to reveal your born again spirit. As your spirit tastes more and more of this freedom it becomes less difficult for you to return for more sessions of private worship.
Pastor Dave Roberson was given a vision one day of a rock falling into a pond of water. I'm sure you are familiar with what happens when a rock is dropped into a pond of calm water, ripples are formed. Pastor Dave watched as these little rings began to spread out all over the little pond. There were three rings. He knew that they represented our spirit, soul and body. What the Lord was showing Pastor Dave was that as he spent extended periods alone in worship this would begin the process of breaking down the walls erected by the soul that hold our spirit in check. Through worship these walls would begin to come down and little by little God's presence would begin to radiate outward beginning in the spirit, past the soul until finally the space that surrounds your body would be filled with the presence of God. Smith Wigglesworth walked with this kind of presence of God surrounding him. Pastor Dave calls this the "Anointing of the Believer".
Think of it, you too can reach a place where God's presence fills the air around you. How does this happen? It happens because you have spent the time to offer up your soul on the altar of Private Worship. Be warned, your soul will not give up easily. The longer you sit there trying to focus on the Lord, the more it tries to convince you that you are wasting your time. Your soul is like a spoiled little child. It wants to be entertained. It wants to feel something. Most importantly, it wants to be in charge. When it feels threatened your soul will fight back for its position of dominance. For most Christians their soul dictates to them every aspect of their life. It is time to dethrone the soul.
So, let me ask you, what would you be willing to do in order for the presence of God to fill the space around you? I'm sure most of you reading this are thinking, "Anything". Anything? "Oh, yes, anything!" Would you be willing to subject your soul to regular daily periods in which you sit and offer worship to the Lord and the Father? "Maybe, if it is not too hard." What if I told you that there is actually a secret weapon you could use to silence the flesh and help you break down those soulish walls like a bulldozer, would you be interested? How about if it involved going without food? "What???" How hungry are you to get past your mediocre Christian life and really begin to impact the kingdom of God? When a person finally becomes more hungry for the things of God than they are pacifying their unruly soul they become much more willing to do whatever it takes to experience His presence.
Be aware, this is not going to happen overnight. It is going to take time and dedication. But, if you will make this your lifestyle and not just a passing fad, I believe you will eventually walk in an anointing that will astound you.
I welcome your comments about this Blog. Let me know if this is blessing you and how you are doing in your own Journey into Private Worship.
~
