I’ve had some thoughts stirring in my heart for a while now; A deep desire to walk closer with the Lord and be used by Him in a deeper way. I have been reading accounts of believers from other eras and it’s stirred a hunger in me to live more fully with the Lord. To be led by His Spirit…..to pray for people and see God move on their behalf. I watched a video a couple of years back called Paid In Full, God’s Desire To Heal through Today’s Believers. Oh. My. Gosh!!! That video set me on fire for praying for people. It made me realize that nothing’s changed as far as God’s concerned, when it comes to healing.

Check out this video clip to see some pretty amazing stuff!

I’ve also been reading some books covering the lives of some men of faith. One such book is on the life of Smith Wigglesworth. He prayed for thousands of people and saw them healed. He died in 1947 which is just a few years before I was born. The book, that I LOVE, is Smith Wigglesworth: Apostle of Faith by Stanley Howard Frodsham. He covers the life of Smith from his early years at home, his salvation, meeting his wife Polly and then being spirit filled and so many different healings and obstacles he encountered. Here is one excerpt from this book:

God gave me a great zeal in soul winning. Every day I sought to bring someone to Christ. I was willing to wait an hour any day to have an interview with anyone about his soul’s salvation. At one place I waited an hour and a half, asking God to direct me to the one of His choice. The road was filled with people but I kept saying to the Lord, “I want the right man.” After awhile I was somewhat impatient in my spirit and I said, “Lord, I don’t have much time to waste.” But God did not call it wasted time. After an hour and a half, a man came along with a horse and cart, and the Lord spoke to me just as He spoke to Phillip when He told him to join himself to the chariot of the Ethiopian. I got up in the cart beside the man and was soon talking with him about his need of salvation. He growled, “Why don’t you go about your own business? Why should you pick me out and talk to me?”
I wondered whether I had made a mistake, I looked up to the Lord and said, “Is this the right man, Lord?” He said to me, “Yes, this is the right man.” And so I continued to talk to him and plead with him to yield his life to Christ. By and by I saw that he was shedding tears, and I knew that God has softened his heart and the seed of the Word was entering. After I was sure a true work of grace had been wrought, I jumped down from his cart, and he went on his way.
Three weeks later my mother said to me, “Smith, have you been talking to someone about salvation?” “I am always doing that, Mother.” “Well, I visited a man last night. He was dying; he has been in bed for three weeks. I asked whether he would like someone to come and pray with him. He said, “the last time I was out, a young man got into my cart and spoke to me. I was very rough with him but he was very persistent. Anyhow, God convicted me of my sins and saved me.” My mother continued, “That was the last time that man was out. He passed away in the night. He described the young man who talked with him and I could tell from his description that you were the one.”

Again…..I have to say Oh. My. Gosh! To have that kind of walk…..to be used by the Lord in those kind of ways….. to be willing to sit an hour and a half  waiting on the Lord for just the right encounter. I am craving it. But I know there will need to be changes in my life for that kind of walk. I don’t know for sure what it is yet, but I am asking for wisdom to see what steps I need to take. I do know this though, my life needs to be simplified.  I need to make room for Him.

Unfortunately, today’s pace is fast, and full, and brimming with responsibility. We carry mini computers in our pockets so we have the world and all if offers, right at our finger tips. So convenient, and yet it can be so utterly distracting. To have such magnificent technology requires a discipline that would keep us from being sucked in. I have been sucked in, for awhile now. I’m taking steps to back out a bit from the constant drive to know……to do…. I mean I even eat my lunch, if I’m alone, looking at my phone or iPad. There’s not a moment that I’m not looking to see if I have orders, or scan Facebook (even though Facebook can be a good thing. I see needs I can pray for) , etc. So I’m reining it in a bit. That is step one.

I have been having this thought lately. I was praying one Sunday morning, on the way to church, that God would speak to me, or through me, or whatever He wanted, and I felt Him give an invitation. It was to leave the status quo of our lives and step into something deeper, something more fulfilling than the norm. Living life with the Lord should be anything but status quo…..but for some reason it has been.

I love church, I love going to church and worshiping and hearing the word. I love the fact that we have a prayer team of people just waiting to pray for us…..all we have to do it step on over. But we are caught up in the norm. We come in with situations that we need the Lord for, we worship, hear the word, go eat our bagel and get our kids and go home. I’ve been asking the Lord why that is. Why do we do that? I’m guilty too…..I have needs, areas I need God’s touch and wisdom, but I’m rarely over for prayer. That needs to change. So it starts with me. I’m stepping out of status quo. I reject the norm. I want the fullness of God. I want His thoughts and His ways directing my day. I want His divine interventions.

I read this scripture yesterday morning. “Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice. How blessed are all those who long for Him.” Isaiah 30:18

Check it out in the Amplified:
And therefore the Lord (earnestly) waits (expecting, looking and longing) to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who (earnestly) wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him (for His victory), His favor, His love, His peace, His joy and His matchless, unbroken companionship). This scripture challenges me. Am I living my everyday life with an expectation?   Am I looking and longing for Him? For some time now I haven’t been. I’ve been stuck in status quo…. normalcy….. But the hunger is stirring me, it’s waking me up.

So I spent some time yesterday morning asking Him what I needed to change. Right away I was drawn back to the book by Smith Wigglesworth. I almost felt guilty reading the next chapter as I was having God time, but the next chapter had such a revelation I realized it was what I was supposed to read next. It was a chapter titled His Secret of Spiritual Strength (that should have given me a clue…). It starts out saying, Many will ask, “Had Smith Wigglesworth any spiritual secret? Wherein did his great strength lie?” The two main factors in his spiritual life were these: his reliance upon the Spirit of God and his confidence in the Word of God. These were the foundations of his holy audacity and his constant boldness of action.

Then further down in the chapter it continued. “Years ago the Spirit of God began to speak to me, but I was too busy to heed His voice. He persisted, until I commenced to go aside when He spoke, so that I could hear what God the Lord had to say. This became my manner of life. I obeyed His pleading voice; until now, at the slightest breath of the Spirit, I leave everyone and everything to be in His presence, to hear and to obey His Word.”

I thought about this and saw this analogy. Those of us who are married, or anyone who has started a dating relationship can see what I’m about to say. In the beginning of a relationship we are willing to step aside anytime for a phone call or impromptu date night with the one we love. We make ourselves available and will rearrange our schedules to make a date work. We long to spend as much time as possible with that person and we will be flexible. But how many times have we had a thought or prompting from the Lord and we’ve said, “I’ll think about that later tonight, or I’ll pray about that later.” I have lots of times. That is the first thing I need to change to walk deeper with Him. I need to make myself available. I need to be flexible for Him to alter my day (right now I’m supposed to be paying bills, but He told me to write this instead). I’m trying….I know I’ll fall short, I’m human…but He is SO full of mercy and grace for me. I know He will help me.

So I extend the invitation to you. Are you ready to leave status quo? Ready to kick normality to the curb?   I am….I invite you to come with me. Let’s see how much more exciting life can be with Him leading instead. I invite you all to ask me when you see me how I’m doing with the flexibility aspect and you can ask me for prayer any time. I am ready to ask the God of Heaven to move on your behalf.