Waiting on the Lord

Proverbs 8:33-35 Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.  For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.

Of the all the spiritual forms of prayer that are spoken of in the word of God, only in one is the one is called blessed.  This is not to say that if one prays, one offers supplication, one intercedes, or one prays in tongues that they are not going to be blessed.

The scripture in Proverbs 8:33-35 is merely indicating that there is a greater blessing in store for those who take the time to wait on God..

What is waiting on the Lord? Waiting on God is simply coming before the Lord and sitting in his presence.  Waiting is sitting in silence and communing in your spirit with the Lord. Waiting is just spending time with God, and appreciating who He is, while asking nothing of him. Waiting does not include praying, speaking in tongues, or worshipping though there may be periods of any or all of these in the course of a meeting of personal session with the Lord.

Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.

A Word of Faith pastor I know preached in my hearing that sitting quietly for hours waiting on God was worthless, that we need as believers to be proactive in prayer and demanding and commanding God to do what we ask.  For nine months his wife has been dying of cancer week by week she has had noticeable changes. The pastor recently burst into tears during a sermon and told the congregation that for years he had taken his wife for granted, but no more because he had a revelation.  Now every moment with his dying wife was precious. And now he was content just to sit in her presence. Just to be with her was enough.  After the service I gently spoke to him that what he had discovered with his wife he needed to discover with the Lord.

All of us have been guilty of taking Jesus and God for granted. All of us at sometime have demanded and commanded and promised the sun moon and stars if he would just grant us this or that. But few of us have come to appreciate God for who he is. Few of us consider moment by moment the time we spend her with God on earth precious. Few of us have found contentment just to sit quietly in his presence. Few of us has discovered that Jesus having died on the cross for our sins in and of itself is enough. Few of us have discovered the value of being a disciple of Christ alone and not following the voice of another. Few of us have discovered that when we lean on him alone an not on our strength or on someone else – that there is life and power hidden in Christ. Tens of thousands pass him everyday commanding demanding and giving him lists of their wants and needs but few spend anytime with Him just for the love of being with Him.

Blessed is the man who heareth me.  It is in waiting before God that you learn to hear the voice of God.  It is in waiting that you come into contact with the word that proceedeth from the mouth of the father. It is in waiting that you hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit saying this is the way walk ye in it. 

In Genesis 3:8 And they (Adam and Eve) heard the voice (sound) of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day:

When I was a young man I used to frequently go on nature walks with my eldest son. My son like most small children wanted to talk and sing and trample underfoot every leaf and branch while he walked – making it virtually impossible to see any of the animals in the woods. Over time I was able to teach him to be quiet and walk in silence – once that was accomplished we were able to hear and catch glimpses of God’s creatures.

When most people come to pray they come to talk, they come to sing and stumble and bumble about, so that short of being struck by a lightening bolt they see or hear nothing of God. The first thing we need to learn is to be quiet enough and to wait long enough to be able to hear God. I am not speaking about hearing God speak in an audible voice, but rather like Adam hearing God as He walks and moves among his people.   

In time one can learn to hear the Holy Spirit speak in your hearts. Now I also need to mention that for most of us this being able to hear the Lord, or hear the voice of the Lord is a process in other words hearing God is to be considered and Art or a Discipline rather than a right and it is only was we exercise ourselves in waiting on the Lord that we can begin to see the benefits of our doing so.

For even after we have been born again, baptized in water, and filled with the precious Holy Spirit of God we still find ourselves in a rather deplorable condition.

This condition is described in some detail in:

 Revelation 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Now when one accomplishes this initial hearing they might think that they have arrived to a very special place but of a truth you have only just begun. One of the things you will discover is the holiness of God and the unholiness of you.

This is not the to say I rebuke you devil I am not sinful but made righteous through the blood of Christ. I an not unrighteous but made righteous by Christ.  All of this is irrelevant as you stand before God.  What is happening is the sin in you and on you is becoming illuminated in His glory and grace and we need to ask God for forgiveness and cleansing from the uttermost to the guttermost. This is where the deepest work of God occurs as he attempts to write his laws on our inward parts.  Unfortunately most stop well short of this.  Seeking instead to justify themselves and to get busy with fleshly activities to make one feel in control and that they are “earning” their salvation

Look again at the Proverbs 8:33-35

Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.

First we must come to a perception of the Lord and his presence in our lives. This perception is of his comings and goings from among his people at His gate. 

We might say this perception is at first somewhat of a distant view of the Lord and his comings and goings but even at a distance a mere glimpse of His glory and person are life changing to say the least.

Viewing the king of kings passing by in his palace courtyard from the outside of the main gates one might say is somewhat impersonal but look again at this verse, we are told that waiting on the Lord gives you in time privilege beyond the masses of the mixt multitude that waits with out the court.  Wating on the Lord takes you within the gates and in time  places you directly at the posts of His door.

One might say that while all those who are praying praising interceding and speaking in tongues and petitioning God do so from without the gate. – Waiting on the Lord puts its participants at the head of the line within the gates.

Now when one accomplishes this they might think that they have arrived to a very special place but of a truth I have to tell you again that you have only just begun.

Being at the posts of the door is being right at the juncture of a personal encounter with God. But being at the door is not an encounter in itself, nor does it guarantee the person waiting at the door an encounter.  So the waiting and hearing process begins anew and afresh

We now begin to come to an understanding of our personal state with God and the State of the Church in general before God.  And of a truth things are not well in the house the Lord.

Revelation 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

I would not be doing my job if I did not make you aware that the Church fell from grace some 1800 years ago. And though when we first came to the Lord we were told that all was well and that the church was walking in the fullness of what God has, the truth is that we are not.  There is a vast difference between what was taught and occurred in the Gospels to the early church and what we see and are taught today.  Our teachings are riddled with hundreds and hundreds of years of the doctrines and the traditions of men. 

The credo of the Church of this day is truly: I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; We have teaching on everything in God, healing deliverance, intercession, the gifts of the spirit, the five fold ministry. We have been told that every promise in the bible is ours. Yet all of this is shifting sand. There is no real substance to what we have in this day. The healings and the prophecy that we speak are all very hit and miss to say the least.

We have been lied to and greatly deceived by our Pastors, our Teachers, and our Evangelists who in turn were greatly lied to and deceived by those who taught them, who in turn were  . . . I am writing this not as a blame game but as cry of warning in the night. The night is far spent and the day is close at hand. We have our lamps as the 10 virgins did with very limited vision, but we act as if we are being led by the pillar of fire that led the children of Israel by night in the wilderness.   

The truth of the matter is that the Church is deaf to the voice of God and busy with all their carnal and fleshly works (their buildings, and programs, and patterns) that God has no respect upon. Instead of knowing all things we in fact knowest not. Instead of being pure and holy thou art wretched, Instead of being filled with Joy unspeakable we are miserable, Instead of being rich in spirit we are poor, Instead of having great spiritual insight and vision we are blind, and instead of being clothed in the righteousness of God we are naked:  

Why would I mention all of this when writing about waiting on the Lord?  Because as we wait on God and learn to hear Him, a process is begun to open our eyes and ears. This process entails removing the scales from our eyes and the filth that has stopped up our ears. 

David knew of this process

Psalm 40:6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.

In this Psalm David has a powerful revelation that few knew in his day.  This was later spoken of by the prophets, but David heard this hundreds of years earlier. And what does he attribute the hearing of this truth to? His teachers, his study of the word? No, David says  Mine ears hast THOU opened. The word “opened” in the Hebrew is actually “digged” So David is saying He has come to this revelation because God has digged his ears.

It is when we wait at the doorposts of God that we get our ears digged and the scales removed from our eyes. In preparation for that meeting with the King of Kings he is going to deal not only with our being deaf and blind but our knowing not, our wretchedness our misery, and our nakedness.

Revelation 3:16 Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come into him and sup with him and he with me.

A most curious thing happens as we wait on the Lord at the posts of his door,  we are transformed from glory to glory opening our ears and eyes  being transformed within and without and then one day we find that He is knocking on the very door that we are waiting by. The truth is He has been knocking all along but in our corrupted state we could not hear it. And if we can perceive his knock, and open the door he will not only externally visit us with his presence and give us tokens of his affection but he will internally visit you and sup with you.

Isaiah 6:1-7 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. ²   Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. ³   And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. ⁴   And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁵   Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. ⁶   Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: ⁷   And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

In this passage we find Isaiah the prophet at the posts of the door from which he can see the Lord high and lifted up and his train or Glory filled the temple. Notice here that the angel cries Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts. The whole earth is filled with his Glory. While it is true that worship the angel is woshipping the Lord and this is moving the posts of the door and the temple was filled with smoke – the content of this worship is what moved the doors and in the next verse we can see that the content of the cry of the angel greatly affected Isaiah.

Isaiah already was a prophet. Isaiah already had dreams and visions, but in all of this Isaiah only at the door post of God. 

It was the angels cry not Isaiah’s that moved the posts of the door. This is divine intervention this is a visitation from God. And the doorposts were moved at the cry of Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts.   

At the moving of the posts and the opening of the door the temple is filled with the Shekina Glory of God and we can see that Isaiah is already completely overwhelmed with a sudden revelation that he had a complete lack of holiness or the righteousness before God.  In modern terminology we would call that a lack of sanctification.  So Isaiah cries out and confesses with his lips that this seasoned prophet finds himself to be utterly contemptible before God,. utterly undone before God;  that there is nothing in me that is worthy of You, and that there is nothing in me that could even carry your shoe latchet in ministry.

⁵   Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. ⁶   Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: ⁷  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

From this Isaiah comes out walking in a state of sanctification – this is what we are seeking at the posts of his door. Not a gift, not a ministry, but to be cleansed and made holy so that we can fellowship with Him in Spirit and in truth.

Psalm 130: 5-6  I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. ⁶   My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.

Paul the Apostle in Corinthians said “I speak in tongues more than you all.” Paul is attributing his gifts and operations to speaking in tongues more than these people

David says in Psalms that he attributes all that he has and knows because he waits on God more than them all

We need to understand that after Paul was knocked down and blinded by Christ on the road to Damascus  – Paul says he conferred not with men and sought the Lord. In those early days after having a revelation that he was a killer and murderer of  the people of God you can be sure that Paul did not offer up a whole lot of prayers instead he waited quietly and humbly before God for his reappearing and instruction.  Paul spent an immense time waiting on God. And during this time Paul was converted.

We need to further know that the Apostles after the death and resurrection of Christ spent 50 days waiting and seeking good during which they were transformed from the carnal bickering men that they were to the Holy Apostles in the book of Acts. This transformation occurred as they waited on the Lord.

Psalm 25:5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

Receiving truth and being led being taught of God are wrapped up in our waiting on God. Receiving truth and teaching directly from the Lord is different than being spoon-fed regurgitated truths that are tainted by the doctrines and traditions of men. The effect of

the words from these different sources are also vastly different.

Psalm 27:13-14  I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.  Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

For the sake of the Church and the sake of our generation there has to be a people that will see beyond what we have been programmed and taught to see.  We need to overcome our churches and the current doctrine and make this vital connection into God ourselves. You will be hated and reviled for doing so but this is our only hope to turn the tide and turn the hearts of the Children back to the father. W cannot effect yesterday because it is gone. We cannot effect tomorrow because it is not here. This is the day this is the only day we can effect – it is the only day that we live. It is the only day that we can see the goodness of the Lord and believes to see it affect others in the land of the living.

Psalm 33:20-21   Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.

Psalm 37:1-9 Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.  Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.   Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.   And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.   Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.  For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.

Psalm 145:15 The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.

Those that wait not upon the Lord.

Psalm 106:12-14 Then believed they his words; they sang his praise. They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel:  But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.

This is the mixt multitude this is the church of this hour they are in dire need of those who hear His counsel. 

Psalm 25:5  Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

Psalm 27:13-15 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.