I woke up at 5am this morning, made some coffee, and sat down in one of the upholstered chairs in our living room, grabbed my soft blanket and began to settle my mind. Before I get to the place of sitting, there is this internal rush that I can sometimes enter into, as I am desperate to sit with the Father, and I know if I waste time, then my time with Him will just get shorter. Getting the husband out the door, getting myself dressed for the day, fix hair real quick - its a puffy ponytail kind of day because gardening duties are calling.
I make it to sit down, and I jump back up because I forgot something. Sit back down again, then up one more time. Third times the charm right? Maybe it was. I exhale and start intentionally slowing my mind and my soul. I pick up my devotional and start reading the scripture for the day and its:
”Oh God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. “-Psalm 63:1
I pray some more, and the Lord starts speaking. He started showing me much of the body of Christ and how many have become desperate, because we haven’t fully learned to be with him. The other part is the commercialization of the prophetic. This has been stirring in my spirit.
There is a whirlwind of prophetic words and voices out there. If we can pull ourselves back and come up higher, we have eyes to see. Some of it can feel like in infomercial. It can be really noisy and easy to get lost in the sea of it all. Not even just the words but the getting caught up in following man. Feeling as though we are drawing near, but in reality we aren’t. We are drawing closer to man, but not necessarily closer to God.
It is very easy to make the prophetic words, the seeking out prophecy, or the people speaking them an idol. In this space, words become more important in our lives, than true sacrificial time with God to hear from him for ourselves.
May we not replace him and his voice with all the other voices. He is very well capable of speaking to us and actually wants to speak to us. Man can lead us astray, but He most definitely will not. Hear what I’m saying. There is absolutely nothing wrong with prophecy or prophetic words nor receiving one, but when we fall into desperation of wanting/needing a word, constantly seeking someone to prophesy over us, jumping from one voice to the next, elevating man, wanting a “word” more than we want to sit still and spend time with God, we can enter into a sea of confusion, in the midst of the whirlwind.
When Jesus left us the helper, to be able to teach us all things, He didn’t just leave us without. Holy Spirit is there to help us and teach us - we will know what he said to us, even when we may have forgotten.
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” - John 14:26 ESV
He can speak to us and lead us, so before we believe a lie that God isn’t speaking, and go running out seeking prophecy, may we remember the truth first. At times it may feel like he has gone silent, and we may be desperate for an answer, but what is true and what do we know for certain according to the bible? May we not get into a pattern of seeking out a prophet to constantly fill a void in our life.
Jesus is the void filler.
We don’t need to become collectors of prophetic words. We don’t tend to take action, much less steward those words, as we are constantly looking for the next new word. I pray that we become willing to sit back long enough to ask ourselves if something is really going on within. May we be willing to take it to the Lord and deal with it. But also make sure we examine our relationship with the Father to make sure He is still first in our lives.
The Father wants us to draw near to him and his heart.
One translation of James 4:8 says “Move your heart closer and closer to God and he will come even closer to you” TPT“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” NKJV
How do we draw near to the father?
we spend quality time with him personally
share our heart and talk with him
we learn how to rest in him
we seek his face over all else
we become still
we cast our cares upon him
we give our days over to him and invite him into our day
we read his word more to know more about his character
we put him first in our days
we sing praises unto him with a heart of gratitude
we develop a true relationship with him - not just seeking what he can do for us.
we listen for his voice
we take up our cross and follow him
Much of this happens in the secret place. Its not the place where everyone can see us. Its easy to look a certain way and behave a certain way in front of others, but what really matters is what we are doing when no one can see.
What will we do when its just us and God?
Will we truly make space, so we can truly know him and get out of the space of constantly seeking a prophetic word? To truly know him, is to know that he wants to speak to us and spend time with us. When we build a true relationship, we are not handing over the breadcrumbs of our day, but we are actively present in creating space, preparing our minds to linger longer and giving ourselves over to the Father.
Because there is a lot of noise out there, we must make sure we are able to discern the truth in the midst of all the noise, and in the midst of chaos. Most of all we must make sure we know The Father's voice and follow Him more than we seek to follow man or become popular with man.
"The sheep that are My own hear My voice and listen to Me; I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they will never, ever [by any means] perish; and no one will ever snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater and mightier than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand." John 10:27-29 AMP
We will only truly know his voice by getting into his presence and truly spending time with him. He will lead us into all truth. May we always seek his face, and his kingdom over our fleshly desires and may desperation become the place where we cry out to him, drawing near to his heart.
May we be known by the heart of Jesus beating through us in the love we give, how we lead, how we pour ourselves out for others, and truly knowing him.
Much Love, Crystal Keefer
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