Gabe Landes is finishing up another round of men’s blog discipleship focused on learning listening prayer. It’s been a great time of growth for all.
Gabe reports, “Some of these guys are like heat-seeking missiles, relentlessly determined to hear his voice and walk in his power in a way they’ve never experienced. I love it! And Jesus is speaking to them, softly, gradually, sometimes in whispers, sometimes a little louder, but always fulfilling His promise that “those who seek will find.” (Matthew 7:7).
I spoke with a friend on the phone the other day and she was sharing with me some things the Lord had put on her heart for the church she and her husband pastor. The Lord said something like this to her: My people are crying out for more of Me, for a deeper and greater hunger, but My people are not responding to My stirrings. They aren’t getting up in the middle of the night to pray, they aren’t in the word as they should be and if I give them a greater hunger for Me, they will starve – it will be spiritual anorexia.This stirred my heart because that is one of my most frequent prayers! Hearing this word from the Lord convicted me of the times I hadn’t responded to the Lord’s stirring, but it also convicted me that I would be sensitive to respond in the future. We can’t be satisfied to just be hungry and think this is good! We need to feed the hunger. This morning I was praying and found myself crying out for more of the Lord. I remembered this word and I stopped and asked the Lord to teach me how to digest His presence so I wouldn’t be starving myself. He immediately replied, “feed yourself on Me three times a day.” Further, I sensed I should feed upon Him any time I was feeding my physical body. Simple. I began thinking about what that would look like.
I normally eat three meals a day so that means I would need to read my bible and pray three times a day (I’m talking about focused prayer, reading, and listening like I do in the morning when I get up in the morning). I enjoy my mornings with the Lord and am often sad to leave that place of intimacy with the Lord to tend to my children (not that I don’t want to tend to my children, but when in His presence, the time seems too short). I always think that I will return to that place at some point during the day, but rarely does it happen. Not only do I miss it, but I’m sure He does too.
Father, give us a hunger for Your presence, Your ways, and Your word but also give us the grace to answer the stirrings of Holy Spirit. Teach us how to feast on Your presence.
Dear Daddy,
I am much blessed this .
We are apraying for Pastor Gabe.
May God bless him and use him mighty
way for His glory.
Emmanuel Sadiq
Thanks for this powerful reminder.
This morning as the early fog started to burn away I was reminded that we often confuse “busy” for “productive” and one of the greatest narcotics in the Kingdom is “noise”. The “blah blah blah” demons circle like sharks and distract from the life giving power of the Gospel.
Father keep me from being just another clanging gong. Help me to pull away as you did to find the gentle whispers which come from your lips and are often embedded in rocks, trees, streams and the wind.
Give me a jaw like flint, one eye to the prize and that spirit of fixed determination which is not will power but the fiery blaze of your raging Holy Spirit.
Let me be reckless when I know it is you driving me.
Amen.
“Something powerful happens when men join together to seek the kingdom…”
Over the last couple months I’ve been meeting together with a small group of other young men. It’s been very beneficial.
We were recently discussing “needs” vs. “desires”. We noticed how some of our needs (such as food) become powerful desires in short order when we don’t meet those needs.
However, other needs (such as praying or being in the Word) seem to work the opposite way: the less we’re praying or spending time in the Word, the less we want to.