Here is something the Lord taught me about soaking. Ps. 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” The word ‘still’ means ‘idle, quiet and alone.’ In this verse, the word ‘know’ takes several phrases to explain the full meaning: ‘come to know by experience,’ ‘perceive,’ ‘find,’ ‘see,’ ‘be made known,’ ‘become known,’ ‘be revealed’ and ‘cause to know.’
The Psalmist David was the master of the Selah. That word indicates a rest. Every time in David’s Psalms that you see Selah, you can envisage that he went into a silence of the heart and mind. Then, revelation would come and he would write some more. I think he used it as a means of divine listening. In the same way, I came to understand the anointing of God, the power of God and His miracles. I gained a comprehension by laying in His presence, in stillness and quietness. I received a greater revelation of who He is as I meditated on His words, “Be still and know that I am God.”
In stillness, God said to me, “I release to you the revelation of who I am and I cause you to know, I cause you to see, and I reveal Myself in the stillness.” You Try It!
Revelation is in stillness. In Psalms 106:15, the Bible says that God put a wasting disease in the soul of His people. He called it leanness of the soul. Do you know what a lean soul is? It means there’s no power, no revelation, no word of the Lord, no revival. God put leanness in the soul of His people because they did not wait for His counsel (v.13).
The Hebrew word that translates into ‘wait’ in this verse contains the idea of waiting in hope and expectancy. It’s waiting with an expectation, waiting as if you are going to see something. That’s how I was as I learned to soak. I was waiting with my mind and thoughts on Jesus. I was waiting with music playing in the background. All my attention was on Jesus. If my mind began to wander I pulled it back in.
"In returning and rest you shall be saved: in quietness and confidence shall be your strength" (Is 30:15).
Following are some powerful scriptures to kick-start your meditation and motivate you to continue with this life-changing way of connecting with God and His Word:
With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. (Psalm 119:10,11)
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16)
My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh. (Proverbs 4:20, 22)
Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth. (Deuteronomy 11:18-21)
If someone told you that you could experience increased intimacy with God by laying on your bed, relaxing, and listening to worship music, what would you think? To some that suggestion might border on blasphemy. Do you equate pleasing God with working your fingers to the bone, serving on twenty committees, or having a regimented quiet time? If so, you probably feel guilty when you don't measure up to those self-imposed standards, don't you? Many Christians are trapped in the Martha syndrome when they should be like Mary, sitting, resting at Jesus's feet, and listening to his voice.
Who wants the power of God today? Who wants miracles, signs, and wonders? Those who do, need to learn to be still. Now, think about this. The Bible talks about the Spirits of counsel and might. Might is the Power of God. God's might does not operate without his counsel. I am going to make an amazing statement: It isn't that the church doesn't have enough power; it’s that the church doesn't wait to hear his counsel. We don't take time and wait in stillness to receive visions of what is going to happen in a service. The Spirit of counsel brings the Spirit of might. Waiting releases revelation, which ignites power. In the church today we are workers, not waiters. We are doers, not soakers. We are extremely busy people who can' silence our hearts and minds. It's time for God to bring us back.
For His Glory,
Todd