Stop, Breathe Deep, and Listen

Stop, Breathe Deep, and Listen

I feel a spirit of prophecy all over me. It has been here for days but, although I have been listening, I have heard little – nothing really. So I feel the urge to worship – and what song leaps to the fore? A song from the 1904 Welsh Revival – “Fill me now” by Elwood H Stokes. The first verse is

Hover o’er me, Holy Spirit, Bathe my trembling heart and brow; Fill me with Thy hallowed presence, Come, oh, come and fill me now.
Refrain:
Fill me now, fill me now, Holy Spirit, fill me now; Fill me with Thy hallowed presence, Come, oh, come, and fill me now.

Beautiful words, sung quietly,  always brings me seemingly closer to the presence of God. As I listened to it again this afternoon, I was once again drawn into that wonderful presence.

I felt God saying this to me – to all of us, “Your lives are lived at 100 miles per hour as you fill yourselves with rush and hurry. Your days are never long enough. Those of you who seek to do My will always seem to forget that, in My realm, time does not exist, therefore hurry does not exist either.” As I listened, I felt myself relaxing. He continued, “Stop trying to do so much! The majority of your busyness is not from Me anyway. It is a diversion away from Me. It does not pull you into My presence, rather, it keeps you away from my presence. At the same time, this pulling away manages to convince you that you are in My will. You are not in My will; not in the place of rest I have prepared for you. You are rarely in the place where I can actually talk to you. At least talk to you without causing you to rush off on your next self-imposed errand.”

How many of you know that when God talks to you like this, there is no condemnation, only sadness. Father God longs for moments, long moments of quietness and solitude with you. A place where there are no distractions. Holy Spirit has so much to talk to you and say to you. How can any of us hear Him properly if we won’t stay still for a few moments? It’s a ploy of the enemy that whispers to us, “Do you hear that? It is your Heavenly Father. He probably wants to talk to you about what you didn’t do for Him today. What you forgot to do for Him today. Better get busy!” And that’s it – we run from His presence, no matter how unwillingly, but driven on by the thought that we may have let Him down.

Oh, clever Satan! Crafty Satan! Ignore Satan! He is a liar !!

If you think God might be calling you, then He probably is and, like Samuel, you need to stay still and say, “Speak Lord, I am listening for you.”  That’s right – stop, take a deep breath, and just listen. If God isn’t calling, it doesn’t matter. Either you will have a few moments of quiet in the middle of a busy period, or God will take the opportunity and speak to you anyway. All He needs is the chance to do so. On the other hand, if He is calling you, then He can now speak while He has your attention.

What will you lose if you miss the opportunity? What will you gain if you take that opportunity? Why risk it?