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Soaking in the Holy Spirit
By Keith A. Paul
By Keith A. Paul
Soaking in the Holy Spirit is waiting in His Presence and communing with Him. It is different than any form of intercessory prayer. It is also different than prayers of thanksgiving. Soaking in the Holy Spirit is for the purpose of knowing The Trinity God and for fellowship with Him. Intercession may flow out of it, as you begin to see and feel what concerns are in His heart. Soaking in the Holy Spirit often does include thanksgiving, as you respond to the relational revelation you receive in His Presence, as well. John the Beloved Disciple of the Lord says in Rev 1:10: ' I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet .' This is what soaking in the Spirit is all about, namely, bringing yourself into the realm of the Spirit.
The following are some helpful spiritual postures to take below which will help you to soak in His Presence.
David says in Psalm 139: 17 'How precious to me are your thoughts, O God.' It is important to train your mind to hear His thoughts.
1. Quiet your soul before Him.
Psalm 131 :1 O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
Psalm 131:2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.
This is likely to one of the greatest battle grounds that your inner spirit will face. Distractions such as daily activities, needs, expectations and other mental conflicts will be difficult to control. But this is where the Holy Spirit is available to help you. Use the authority of Jesus' Name to dismiss contrary thoughts and command your mind to focus on Jesus and nothing else.
2. Focus on Jesus.
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
This word 'acknowledge' is a powerful Hebrew word. This Hebrew word 'yadah' means ' to know (or ascertain by seeing)'
This means to see Him in all your ways or to see Him being with you at all times including during this important time of soaking in His Presence. Acknowledge that He is with you and that you are in His Presence. The Holy Spirit will reveal His countenance to you or reveal specific attributes of His nature to you. For example, you may become aware of His mercy, compassion and tender love on one occasion. At another time you may become aware of a measure of His deep wisdom. In another session of soaking, your thoughts may shift to His great creative power or to His great faithfulness or His unchangeable Truth. Your thoughts may focus on His justice and judgements or His awesome power to defeat the enemy and change battles into victories. Allow the Holy Spirit to take you into these revelations of Him. At this point, you are no longer directing your thoughts, although you did as you came into this soaking time. Focusing on Jesus means to align your thoughts with His. At this point the Holy Spirit begins to direct your thoughts because you have simply yielded yourself to Him.
Something important begins to happen when you surrender to this leading. You begin to gaze upon Jesus and are transformed into that image according to 2 Corinthians 3:18.
3. Sing a melody to the Lord or turn on some soft background worship music.
Don't let the music dominant this time. Either with singing or background music, the emphasis is to serve you, not to overpower the moment and thus distract you from Him. This is about you entering His Presence not being entertained by your or someone else's worship experience.
4. Keep listening to and loving Jesus as He directs your thoughts and imagination.
By the way, 'imagination' means ' the ability to image'. He is able to create images within your mind that are part of His communication to you. This ability is where visions, dreams and other revelation occurs within you on a visual basis. Your physical eyes may have nothing to do with this inner use of God given imagination. Continue to express your love to Jesus. Remember to acknowledge that He is there with you or you are there with Him. What would you do in His actual Presence? If Jesus were to appear before you, what would you do? Well, He is with you at all times according to His Word, so just accept this truth. Do what you would want to do because you are in His Presence. Loving Him is His first priority and should by yours, so make this time with Him a time of deep communion based on an exchange of love together. He definitely responds to that kind of laid down love. Your actual physical posture is not that important. You can sit, walk back and forth, kneel or lie down in His Presence.
As a result of doing the above, your mind becomes controlled by the Spirit who gives life and peace according to Romans 8:6
Some additional thoughts on activating your Godly imagination:
1. Meditate on a scripture passage such as Psalm 23 and envision yourself in it with Jesus.
2. Go to your suite of rooms in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6) and meet with Jesus there.
3. Go to the Throne Room to meet with Abba Father and Jesus. (Hebrews 4:16)
4. Use someone else's vision to activate your own experience in His presence. The scriptures are full of visions that occurred to God's people. Meditate on one and enter into it with the Holy Spirit. You will notice that the Holy Spirit will start with that and lead you into an application that is more personalized.
Take time to soak in the Spirit. Keep your open Bible close at hand or on your lap as you do this. As background music you may be directed to play the Gospel of John softly or another passage from the Gospels. Allow the Holy Spirit full access to the Word of God and follow His lead. Your life will become saturated with greater measures of His Presence as you spend time in His Presence. Amen.
May His goodness and mercy overwhelm you and transform you.
The following are some helpful spiritual postures to take below which will help you to soak in His Presence.
David says in Psalm 139: 17 'How precious to me are your thoughts, O God.' It is important to train your mind to hear His thoughts.
1. Quiet your soul before Him.
Psalm 131 :1 O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
Psalm 131:2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.
This is likely to one of the greatest battle grounds that your inner spirit will face. Distractions such as daily activities, needs, expectations and other mental conflicts will be difficult to control. But this is where the Holy Spirit is available to help you. Use the authority of Jesus' Name to dismiss contrary thoughts and command your mind to focus on Jesus and nothing else.
2. Focus on Jesus.
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
This word 'acknowledge' is a powerful Hebrew word. This Hebrew word 'yadah' means ' to know (or ascertain by seeing)'
This means to see Him in all your ways or to see Him being with you at all times including during this important time of soaking in His Presence. Acknowledge that He is with you and that you are in His Presence. The Holy Spirit will reveal His countenance to you or reveal specific attributes of His nature to you. For example, you may become aware of His mercy, compassion and tender love on one occasion. At another time you may become aware of a measure of His deep wisdom. In another session of soaking, your thoughts may shift to His great creative power or to His great faithfulness or His unchangeable Truth. Your thoughts may focus on His justice and judgements or His awesome power to defeat the enemy and change battles into victories. Allow the Holy Spirit to take you into these revelations of Him. At this point, you are no longer directing your thoughts, although you did as you came into this soaking time. Focusing on Jesus means to align your thoughts with His. At this point the Holy Spirit begins to direct your thoughts because you have simply yielded yourself to Him.
Something important begins to happen when you surrender to this leading. You begin to gaze upon Jesus and are transformed into that image according to 2 Corinthians 3:18.
3. Sing a melody to the Lord or turn on some soft background worship music.
Don't let the music dominant this time. Either with singing or background music, the emphasis is to serve you, not to overpower the moment and thus distract you from Him. This is about you entering His Presence not being entertained by your or someone else's worship experience.
4. Keep listening to and loving Jesus as He directs your thoughts and imagination.
By the way, 'imagination' means ' the ability to image'. He is able to create images within your mind that are part of His communication to you. This ability is where visions, dreams and other revelation occurs within you on a visual basis. Your physical eyes may have nothing to do with this inner use of God given imagination. Continue to express your love to Jesus. Remember to acknowledge that He is there with you or you are there with Him. What would you do in His actual Presence? If Jesus were to appear before you, what would you do? Well, He is with you at all times according to His Word, so just accept this truth. Do what you would want to do because you are in His Presence. Loving Him is His first priority and should by yours, so make this time with Him a time of deep communion based on an exchange of love together. He definitely responds to that kind of laid down love. Your actual physical posture is not that important. You can sit, walk back and forth, kneel or lie down in His Presence.
As a result of doing the above, your mind becomes controlled by the Spirit who gives life and peace according to Romans 8:6
Some additional thoughts on activating your Godly imagination:
1. Meditate on a scripture passage such as Psalm 23 and envision yourself in it with Jesus.
2. Go to your suite of rooms in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6) and meet with Jesus there.
3. Go to the Throne Room to meet with Abba Father and Jesus. (Hebrews 4:16)
4. Use someone else's vision to activate your own experience in His presence. The scriptures are full of visions that occurred to God's people. Meditate on one and enter into it with the Holy Spirit. You will notice that the Holy Spirit will start with that and lead you into an application that is more personalized.
Take time to soak in the Spirit. Keep your open Bible close at hand or on your lap as you do this. As background music you may be directed to play the Gospel of John softly or another passage from the Gospels. Allow the Holy Spirit full access to the Word of God and follow His lead. Your life will become saturated with greater measures of His Presence as you spend time in His Presence. Amen.
May His goodness and mercy overwhelm you and transform you.
Blessings..Keith and LaQueta Paul
