Jim Maxim
Prayer moves the hand that moves the world.
—Charles C. Spurgeon
Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
—Exodus 32:14 (niv)
If that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it.
—Jeremiah 18:8
We have come to the end of our 21 Days of Deeper Prayer together. What I want to do on this last day is to pour my heart out before you.
The need for prayer and the power of prayer in our lives is the greatest thing God has done for us, made possible through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The Lord listens to our fervent prayers and even changes His mind in response to them. The very idea that we have the privilege to know the Creator of all mankind and interact with Him whenever we want, and then not do it…I can’t find the words to describe it other than prideful stupidity.
Here are just a few of God’s attributes: the infinity of God, the eternity of God, the holiness of God, the oneness of God, the impec- cability of God, the transcendence of God, the eminence of God, the omnipresence of God, the mutability of God, the omnipotence of God, the supremacy of God, the sovereignty of God, the veracity of God, the mystery of God, the goodness of God, the kindness of God, the grace of God, the mercy of God, the love of God, the faithfulness of God, the justice of God, the joy of God, the peace of God…
Knowing that we can have access to all that God is and has, and then to dismiss it, stupidity doesn’t even begin to describe the mis- appropriation of these attributes. The Bible tells us, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).
The idea that I could speak face to face with my God and not do it is simply a sin. The greatest thing in my life, the greatest thing that I can ever do, and the greatest thing that I will ever do is bow before almighty God, worship Him, honor Him, and declare His sovereignty, His authority, and His power over my life and the lives of all of my family.
I love God; I need God; I want God; I must have God. My mornings are crying out to Him. My mornings start with being in God’s presence. I need the very presence of God to touch me every single day. I want my Father to minister to me. I want my Father to touch me, encourage me, and allow me to sense His presence. I want almighty God to fellowship with me. I want the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to be in my life in such a way that everywhere I go, men and women will see the very presence of God in my life. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ that God Almighty would permit me to have the ability to describe Him to others.
The greatest thing that I ask of God is the ability to describe Him to somebody else. The greatest thing that I’ll ever do is to lead a sinner to the cross of Jesus Christ. The most important part of my life is to seek someone who doesn’t know God, doesn’t know His attributes, and doesn’t know how much He longs to be with them and how much He longs to have fellowship with them, and to describe the love of Jesus Christ on the cross for them. The idea that the Holy Spirit of almighty God can take up residence in me, flow through me, and use me to bring others to the cross of Jesus Christ is the greatest truth that I will ever comprehend.
I must have God’s presence in my life! I will pursue almighty God more than anything else in my life because I know that I need Him. I cannot serve God without His anointing, without His strength, with- out His presence, or without Him enabling me to serve Him. And yet I know that God longs to be with me.
Why does God long to be with me? I’ll never truly understand other than to say that it’s because of His Holiness and His love, His attributes, His kindness, His goodness, His grace, and His love towards mankind. Those are the only reasons I can begin to under- stand why God would want to be with me.
Yes, I need God so much in my life, and I long for you to under- stand just how much God wants to be with you. God is longing for His church, His bride, to come and be with Him, to fellowship with Him, and to desire to be with Him. God has so much for His church, but His church is just not entering into receiving what He has for them.
“Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11). Let’s ask God to allow us to be His friend
as Moses was. This is what He wants us to ask Him. God wants to draw us into His presence. God is longing for us to ask Him to let us be His friends.
When we get to heaven, we will see God face to face; we will see His holiness and understand His divinity. Why not go to Him right now, today, and ask Him to allow you to understand Him more and truly be His friend…on earth as it is in heaven.
Excerpted from “21 Days of Deeper Prayer: Discover an Extraordinary Life in God” by Jim Maxim with Daniel Henderson, © 2020 by Jim Maxim. Published by Whitaker House, New Kensington, PA. Used with permission. All rights reserved. www.whitakerhouse.com.
Free audio prayers found here: www.acts413.net/deeperprayer