Winter 1996
Maintaining our Spirituality
Wade E. Taylor

"The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him;
and he will shew them His covenant" Psalm 25:14.

This word, "fear," speaks of a reverential awe, or respect that stimulates us to respond to His presence and wait upon Him with focused, undivided attention.

"But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even
the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the
world unto our glory" 1 Cor 2:7.

Our spiritual sensitivity and hunger, along with the anointing that enables us to unlock "mysteries" within the Word of God, will gradually fade until we are left spiritually barren, unless we maintain a time of active daily communion and fellowship with our Lord.

"Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
and the young men shall utterly fall. But
they that wait upon the LORD shall renew
their strength" Isa 40:30-31a.

To sustain our spirituality, it is crucial that we set apart a specific time and place in which to "Wait Upon The Lord." As we do this, we will be re-charged, or built up in our ability to understand spiritual things.

Just as a battery that has been discharged through use must be re-charged, so also, we must hold ourselves before the Lord in His presence to allow His life and power to flow back into our being.

These times of specific "Waiting Upon The Lord" will impart to us a divine strength which replaces our human weakness. This will increase our love for the Lord Himself and will produce within us the anointing that will quicken our understanding, enabling us to respond to spiritual things.

It is important for us to recognize that we function on two different levels of life.

"IT IS SOWN a natural body; IT IS RAISED a spiritual
body. There is a natural body, and there is a
spiritual body" 1 Cor 15:44.

Either one or the other of these will predominate. As our spiritual life increases, our carnal desires will decrease. The "strength" of each of these is determined by the choices we make, the preferences we give, and which one we nurture with our thoughts and actions.

The level of our spirituality will be greatly affected by the amount of time we spend in "Waiting Upon The Lord."

This time spent in "waiting" is not to be passive, but rather an active Waiting In Anticipation, as one who watches for someone to enter a room. It should include a time of "quiet worship." This is best expressed by holding the palms of our hands upward toward the Lord in an attitude of receiving spiritual impartation and enabling, along with the expectancy of His coming into our presence.

As we continue in our "Waiting Upon The Lord" to receive the impartation of spiritual life and strength that is essential to our spiritual well-being, there must be a parallel "crucifixion" of our natural, soulish life. This is accomplished as we commit to the cross all things which are contrary to our spiritual development and which seek to hinder, or replace our waiting before the Lord.

As we actively "Wait in His Presence," the Lord will, through this process of crucifixion, remove the agitations, or all that rebels against our becoming still before Him. We must pass through this time of "processing" before we will be able to fully experience the release of spiritual life that the Lord desires to make available to us.

Our ability to "Wait upon the Lord" will increase as we "Wait upon the Lord." As inspirational as they may be, relationships with other Christians will never satisfy our spiritual hunger. There must be the lifting up of our being into a vertical relationship with the Lord; an intimate, personal, coming to the Lord Himself, as to a person who desires to be known. As we "Wait in His Presence," He will make Himself known to us. Then we will be better able to fellowship one with another.

Jesus said,

"But you, when you pray, enter into your closet,
and when you have shut your door, pray to your
Father who is in secret; and your Father who
sees in secret shall reward you openly" Matt 6:6.

In our Christian experience, it is essential that we set apart special times when we are absolutely alone with the Lord.

"I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he
with Me" Rev 3:20b.

In "Waiting Upon The Lord," we are quickened and brought upward into the realm of spiritual life and reality. While we wait, the Lord works, re-orienting our desires and creating within us a sensitivity and openness to the Realm of the Spirit.

The Book of Hebrews states that not even a two-edged sword can divide between soul and spirit (Heb 4:12). The two are so closely intertwined that only the Lord can separate one from the other. This separation takes place as we spend time in His presence, Waiting upon Him.

As our spiritual senses are sharpened, we will better understand the desire of the Lord toward us, and toward mankind. As a result, we will be anxious to enter into a relationship of daily communion with Him in the outworking of His desire for us.

"That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection,
and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made
conformable unto His death" Phil 3:10.

This increased spiritual sensitivity which we receive through our extended times of "Waiting Upon The Lord" will also cause us to become more sensitized to the natural realm. We must learn how to bear this sensitivity without any reaction or retaliation because of what we see or feel.

"Who is blind but My servant? or deaf, as My messenger
that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and
blind as the Lord's servant? Seeing many things, but
thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth
not" Isaiah 42:19-20.

Because of the keen spiritual sensitivity that Jesus possessed, He knew the hearts of men, but He refused to react according to circumstances. He maintained His position in the heavenlies and was motivated according to what His Father was saying and doing, not man.

"Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual,
but that which is natural; and afterward that
which is spiritual" I Cor 15:46.

As we begin to "Wait Upon The Lord," we may "feel" very little of Him, or of His presence; but as we continue to wait before Him "in the light of the expectancy we have" we will pass from the natural realm into the spiritual where we become acutely aware of Him and of His presence.

"First, that which is natural, and afterwards ..." (I Cor 15:46). We are to move in the faith we have, and then, all at once, we will be lifted upward into the realm of the Spirit.

It is essential that we set apart time within the schedule of our busy lives to "Wait Upon The Lord." We will never be disappointed if we do.