Wait Upon the Lord

God Is Spirit:
Learning to Listen, Love, and Walk With Him

Worshiping the Father in Spirit and in Truth

I truly love God with all my heart,

all my soul,

all my mind,

and all my strength.

And the older I get,      the more amazed I am that following God's will has turned out to be far more joyful and peaceful than following my own.

If someone had told me years ago that      surrendering my plans would actually give me more freedom,     

I probably would have smiled politely,      nodded,

and then checked to see what they were trying to sell me.

Yet that has been my experience.

The love,

joy,

peace,

patience,

kindness,

goodness,

faithfulness,

gentleness,

and self-control,

that Paul describes as the fruit of the Spirit have become more than beautiful words printed on a page.

They have become treasures that God patiently grows within us as we learn to:

listen to Him,

trust Him,

obey Him,

and walk with Him.

And unlike most treasures in this world,

you don't need a bigger house to store them.

You automatically get a bigger heart.

I don't actually mean cardiomyopathy, where your heart grows in size.

I mean our spiritual hearts become bigger to be able to hold the Holy Spirt's fruit and gifts.

God Is Spirit

When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well,      He said something that completely changed the way I understand worship:

“The true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth,      for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers.      God is spirit,      and those who worship Him,      must worship in spirit and truth.”

Think about those words.

God is Spirit.

And God is actually seeking people who will worship Him      in spirit and truth.

Those words have become one of the foundations of my understanding of Centering Prayer.

Centering Prayer is taking the time to listen to the Spirit of Truth.

Then,      discerning the Spirit of Truth.

Obeying the Spirit of Truth.

Serving the Spirit of Truth.

Then,      listening again      to the Spirit of Truth.

Discerning.      Obeying.      And,      Serving the Spirit of Truth,      once again....      and again....      and again.

While worship is certainly expressed in songs,

prayers,

Scripture,

and gathering with other believers.

Jesus also points us toward something deeply personal—

a living relationship with the living God.

The Father is looking for people whose hearts are open to Him.

People who sincerely desire to know Him.

People who love Him.

People who listen to Him.

And people who are willing to follow Him.

That makes worship much bigger than what happens inside a church building.

Church may last an hour on Sunday.

But,      our relationship with God lasts a lifetime.

God doesn't disappear when the closing hymn ends.

“Lord, How May I Serve You Today?”

Each morning,

before the day's appointments,

errands,

surprises,

problems,

phone calls,

and misplaced reading glasses begin competing for my attention,

I simply ask:

“Lord,      how may I serve You today?”

And then I try to listen with an open heart.

Sometimes the answer is wonderfully ordinary.

Call someone who needs encouragement.

Show patience instead of irritation.

Help a stranger.

Be generous.

Forgive quickly.

Keep your mouth shut when your mouth has developed an entirely different plan.

Sometimes the greatest acts of obedience don't look very spectacular at all.

There are no trumpets.

No angels appear.

Nobody writes a book about it.

Sometimes God may simply be asking us to love the person standing directly in front of us.

Occasionally,      God's plans are quite different from mine.

Which is funny,

because I keep acting surprised      —

as though the Creator of the Universe's plan might not be quite as well thought out as mine.

You would think I would have learned by now.

Pray Without Ceasing

Paul tells us to:

“Pray without ceasing.”

I don't believe that means we should spend every waking moment on our knees,      with our hands folded,

or trying to sing hymns while standing in the grocery checkout line.

That might be especially confusing to the person standing behind us.

Rather,      I understand it as taking the time,

at intervals throughout the day,

to listen for what the Holy Spirit wants me to do.

All through the day I pause and ask simple questions:

“Lord,      should I say this?”

“Should I buy this?”

“Should I go there?”

“Should I do this?”

More often than not,      I experience the answers as coming quickly and quietly.

Sometimes they seem to come before I have even finished asking the question in my mind.

To me,      those moments are reminders that God already knows what is in my heart before I finish putting it into words.

Sometimes it's a phrase.

The most common advice I'm given is:

“You don't need that.”

It seems that my desires,      and my ego,      are so big that I keep hearing that one phrase.

“You don't need that.”

Later I'll hear,      “You don't need this.”

Even later the Holy Spirit says,      “You don't need that either."

I have discovered that the Holy Spirit,      and advertising agencies,      occasionally have very different plans for my money.

Sometimes God puts into my heart a growing conviction.

Sometimes it's a persistent nudge that simply refuses to leave until I pay attention.

I've learned that God rarely needs a megaphone when we're willing to listen.

The problem was not that God was always silent.

Sometimes,

I simply wasn't listening closely enough to hear Him.

Life Is Filled With Tiny Crossroads

Life,      I've discovered,      is really a series of tiny crossroads.

Hundreds of times each day we choose between serving our own pride,

our fears,

our comfort,

our ambitions,

our money,

our egos,      —

or serving God.

Most of those decisions won't make tomorrow's headlines.

There probably won't be a breaking-news banner announcing:

“MAN CHOOSES PATIENCE IN GROCERY STORE PARKING LOT.”

But perhaps heaven notices.

Because all those seemingly insignificant decisions,

taken together,

shape the person we become.

Centering Prayer is helping me discover that surrendering isn't losing freedom.

It's discovering that true freedom is walking with Christ.

Sometimes God Says, “Wait”

The Scriptures repeatedly invite God's people to      wait upon the Lord.

Jesus told His disciples to wait for the Father's promise.

David wrote:

“Wait on the LORD.”

Isaiah promised that:

“They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength.”

Waiting isn't wasted time.

It's one of God's favorite classrooms.

Unfortunately,      most of us would prefer the accelerated course.

We live in a world of instant messages,

instant answers,

instant deliveries,

instant entertainment,

and microwaves that occasionally seem unreasonably slow.

Then God says:

“Wait,      be quiet and listen.”

And suddenly thirty seconds feels like an Old Testament wilderness experience.

But while our culture rewards speed,

God often grows wisdom in quiet moments.

We wait because we trust that God is already at work,

even when we cannot yet see what He is doing.

Waiting teaches us something that rushing never can:

trust.

The Fruit Begins to Grow

As this way of life grows,      something beautiful begins to happen.

We become increasingly aware that God has never really been absent.

He has been quietly present all along—

in ordinary conversations,

unexpected opportunities,

peaceful moments,

difficult decisions,

and acts of kindness that seem almost too small to matter.

The Holy Spirit gently reshapes our hearts.

Love begins growing where bitterness once lived.

Patience begins appearing where frustration used to rule.

Kindness begins replacing criticism.

And peace begins moving into the rooms where worry had apparently signed a lifetime lease.

The transformation usually doesn't happen overnight.

God patiently works within us,

day after day,

choice after choice,

prayer after prayer.

Little by little,

we begin becoming more loving,

more peaceful,

more patient,

more gentle,

and more willing to serve.

The fruit of the Spirit begins to become the fruit of our lives,      filling our hearts.

The Bible Becomes a Living Invitation

Scripture itself begins to feel different as well.

It is no longer simply a remarkable collection of ancient writings,

although it certainly is that.

It becomes a living invitation to know the living God who inspired it.

Every page begins pointing us toward a deeper relationship with God.

We begin seeing people listening to God throughout Scripture.

Moses listened.

Samuel listened.

David listened.

Elijah listened.

The prophets listened.

The apostles listened.

Paul listened.

Jesus Himself continually sought the Father's will.

Again and again,

the pattern appears:

God speaks.

His people listen.

They trust.

They obey.

And God works through them.

The Bible becomes not merely a book to study,

but a companion that continually draws us back into God's presence—

to the God who is Spirit,

who teaches,

corrects,

comforts,

strengthens,

and leads His children.

But if we want to hear a      still,      small      voice,

we occasionally have to become...

still.

That's where many of us discover the difficulty.

Talking to God can be easy.

Giving God our prayer list can be easy.

Giving God our suggestions can be even easier.

Some of us could probably prepare a very impressive PowerPoint presentation explaining exactly what God ought to do next.

But listening?

Listening requires us to surrender the microphones,      and our hearts.

Worship Becomes a Way of Life

Jesus said:

“The true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth,      for the Father seeks such to be His worshipers.”

I believe those words describe much more than what happens during an hour on Sunday morning.

They describe a way of living.

Worship doesn't end when we leave church.

It continues Monday morning.

It continues at work.

It continues while driving.

It continues while making decisions.

It continues when somebody irritates us.

It continues when we're frightened.

It continues when we're joyful.

It continues when we're waiting.

It continues whenever we turn our hearts toward God and ask:

“Lord,      what would You have me do?”

Centering Prayer,      for me,      is simply making room every day to become still before God,

to listen with humility,

to discern what we receive in the light of Christ's teachings,

and then to joyfully follow wherever Christ leads.

We listen.

We trust.

We obey.

We serve.

And gradually,

the fruit begins to grow.

Love.

Joy.

Peace.

Patience.

Kindness.

Goodness.

Faithfulness.

Gentleness.

Self-control.

Then something wonderful happens.

Worship is no longer something we do occasionally.

Worship becomes the way we live.

Our lives become a continuing conversation with God.

Our choices become opportunities to serve Him.

Our love for other people becomes an expression of His love within us.

And every morning gives us another opportunity to become still,

open our hearts,

and begin again with one beautifully simple question:

“Lord Jesus...      how may I serve You today?”

Then comes the part of prayer that may be both the simplest and the hardest.

We stop talking.

We become still.

We wait.

And...

We listen.

Questions for prayer:
          What do these passages reveal about God?
          What response does it ask of me?
          Is the impression I receive consistent with the character and teaching of Jesus?
          What loving and faithful action should follow?

Daily prayer:

How may I serve You this day?”