The late Tim Keller, an American pastor and Christian apologist, wonderfully described prayer as “a conversation that leads to an encounter with God.” Prayer isn’t just asking God for help or praying just because it is what a good Christian does. Prayer is an opportunity to connect so intimately with God that you are conscience of His Presence.
“For this reason,” Paul prayed, “I bow my knees before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:14-19).
Paul is praying for the Ephesians to receive strength from God’s Spirit, enabling Jesus to dwell in their hearts through faith. He desires for them to experience such a closeness with Christ that it leads them to comprehend God’s love filling them with all of His fullness. God’s love is so vast it is hard for us to comprehend. But Paul says that we can know the love of Christ that is greater than knowledge. To understand the fullness of God’s love, Paul is praying for the Ephesians to encounter God in ways they have never before experienced.
There is a joy like none other to be experienced as you receive the fullness of God’s love and His Spirit. John Wesley described this work of the Holy Spirit as his heart being “strangely warmed.” His description captures the certainty and also the mystery of experiencing the presence of God. Personally encountering the One who created you is life-changing. It is the indescribable joy of being one with the Father who loves you, knows you, fashions you, and gives you life. It is the deep spiritual connection you experience as the Holy Spirit prays from within you, revealing the Father to you.
Prayer is interceding for others. It is praying for God’s help, but it is also coming boldly into His presence to experience Him. You must come expecting in faith. It is in His presence that the Spirit intercedes, you receive His help, and His purpose becomes revelation. When you encounter Jesus, the blindness that has hindered your comprehension of Him is lifted, allowing you to perceive Him as you’ve never perceived Him before, hear Him as you’ve never heard Him, and comprehend Him as you’ve never comprehended Him.
“Be still, and know that I am God,” Psalm 46:10 instructs.
Just be still and quieten your heart before the Lord. When your heart is settled, come near to God, and ask Him to come near to you. Ask him to examine your heart and reveal anything that is not of faith. Whatever He shows you, repent, and refuse it any place in your heart. Ask God to help you to experience His Presence. Ask Him to fill you. Expect Him. Listen with your heart.
Your heart may become “strangely warmed,” but it also may become so much more. As you surrender even more to His Presence, you are more open to receive from Him. When you receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, it is an experience like none other. There is a completeness in Him, an awareness that He is in you like you have never known before. In His Presence is the fullness of His indescribable love and grace and the spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him.
Experiencing the Lord is a joy unequaled and full of glory. It is the Holy Spirit praying God’s will within you. It is your Father loving you deeply and personally. It is His fullness that surpasses all else in this life. It is the Lord declaring, “You are mine, and I love you. I’m going to use you beyond anything you ask or think. Now move forward. Walk by faith and not by sight. Let me continually fill you and manifest in your life.”
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