I’ve had many different things on my mind lately, and when that happens, blog posts become sparse, journal entries go silent, and I just sit with the Lord. I was reading the book of James a few minutes ago, and the words “drawn away” jumped out at me. I decided to turn on my laptop and go to blueletterbible.org (which is my home page). Instead of typing in James 1:14, I typed in drawn away. The first verse in the list was Deut. 30:17 “But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;” I then pulled up biblegateway.com to copy and paste the verse into this post, but it was set to the Amplified Bible Classic, which reads, “But if your [mind and] heart turn away and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them,”
I have been feeling the Holy Spirit lately drawing me into a deep place of prayer, to sit a little longer with the Lord. I know there is more in God than I am currently walking in, and by saying that, I’m not talking about a manifestation of signs and wonders, although I believe in that; I am talking about a sense of nearness to God, an increased sensitivity to a lifestyle of holiness.
The Vine’s Expository Dictionary defined “drawn away” in James “as in hunting or fishing the game is “lured” from its haunt, so man’s lust “alures” him from the safety of his self-restraint.”
How can we stay in the safety of self-restraint? Psalm 15 “Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? 2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. 3 He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour. 4 In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. 5 He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.”
Psalm 91:1-4 (AMPC) “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand]. 2 I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust! 3 For [then] He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. 4 [Then] He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a shield and a buckler.”
James 4:7-8 (AMPC) “So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery].”
There are other verses coming to mind as well right now, but for the sake of brevity I will just mention them; Psa. 119:9-11 (AMP); Jn. 14:3-5,14-17; 2 Cor. 10:3-5.
There are two things that are the foundation of our nearness with God; prayer and Bible reading, Bible reading and prayer, these two should never be separate from one another. Bible reading and prayer are forms of worship. Worship is not singing on Sunday morning, I submit; it’s not even the primary mode of our worship; giving is (Gen. 4:3-4; Gen. 12:20; Matt. 6:1-4; Acts 10:1-2).
We need to devote time to reading and praying. As hard as this may be to hear, I believe the recent trend of pastors telling people to not feel guilty about missing Bible reading has missed the mark, guilt may not be the right word, but look at these two Scriptures; Matthew 4:4 “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Job 23:12 “Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.”
As Christians, we should definitely feel like something is missing when we miss a day reading our Bible. Is every day going to be filled with great revelation and filled journal pages? No, but The Word is nonetheless LIFE to us.
The same thing can be said for prayer. When pastors began letting people off the hook of a dedicated time and place of prayer and encouraged prayer in the car, and using “pray without ceasing” as a mechanism to diminish the place of intercession, travail, and church prayer meetings that in the bygone era at times went for hours and even sometimes all night long, we have missed it. Both kinds of prayer are necessary; the dedicated time and place, and the on-the-go prayer.
I definitely want to talk more about prayer in the coming days, as I am asking the Lord to bring me into a deeper place with Him.
I want to recommend three books that have helped me draw near to the Lord. The first is The Crucified Life by A. W. Tozer. I have found no book that causes a greater stirring in me for more of God than this one. Every time I read it, I realize how easily drawn away from my first love I still am, and am encouraged to leave debates and innocent amusements behind so that I can simply know Christ and the glory of God.
Secondly, a book on Ministering to the Lord that challenged me to focus more on my relationship with God than my knowledge of Him. My knowledge of Him should cause me to want to KNOW HIM for Himself, His beauty, and His holiness.
Lastly, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Pastor Jim Cymbala. It’s the story of how a weekly prayer meeting transformed a struggling church and ignited repentance towards God, holiness of life, and fellowship with others in the church.
As I wrote those brief sentences on those three books, I thought of 2 Corinthians 2:2 (AMPC) “For I resolved to know nothing (to be acquainted with nothing, to make a display of the knowledge of nothing, and to be conscious of nothing) among you except Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and Him crucified.”
My prayer for myself right now is that I enter into the depth of prayer I am being called to, that I yield fully to the moving and leading of the Holy Ghost, and to his purification and revelation in my life.
My prayer for the Church is that we return to the days when we were not ashamed to be The Church. To look like a Church, sing the hymns of the Church, and make much of Jesus and not the “brand” of our individual churches.
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