How Long Must I Wait?

How long must I wait for you O’Lord?

I need to see Your mighty face.

My heart, soul, and spirit in one accord

Is crying out to You in this place.

I desire Your intimacy.

I long for Your immediacy.

I yearn for Your Holy Spirit.

My love for you is within each lyric.

The Lord says to you, “You have sought for me,

So therefore, you have found Me.’

‘You desire me, so therefore, you have Me.’

‘I will show you My holy face.’

‘The closer you lean into Me,

The more you will feel my heavenly grace.’

‘If you invite me, I will come.’

‘No matter the circumstance, you are never alone.’

‘You are my prized creation.’

‘I crafted you from My imagination.’

‘I’ve known you since the beginning.’

‘I love you with all that is within me.’

‘I long for you to long for me.’

‘And when you call my name, I am there.’

‘No need to wait, no need for despair.’

‘I am your God.’

‘I have no limits.’

‘If you desire to see my face,

I will reveal it.”

Devotional: Seek the Face of God Series: Post 5 (FINAL Post for the series) 

How long must I wait to see His manifest presence (God’s face)?

Isaiah 55:6: “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call on Him while He is near” (NIV)

“Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call on Him [for salvation] while He                            is still near.” (Amp)

If you are in Christ, the answer to this is immediate. If you are yet to have a relationship with Christ, the answer to this is the moment of salvation. The moment that you call out to the Lord to forgive your sins and to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that He died, resurrected, and ascended for you to have eternal life with Him, he immediately moves in. So really the answer to this, is immediate. God is omnipresent, so therefore, He is always there. But to have the special, close intimate meeting with God, we must seek it. In Isaiah 55:6, we can sense the matter of urgency to draw nearer to God. The command to “call on Him while He is still near,” makes clear that God will only be readily available for a time (for those who are not yet believers). It is so important that if you have not yet asked Jesus into your heart that you do while you still can. This opportunity does have a shelf life, and it will, one day, expire. God so longs for you to seek Him, to know Him, so that He can do miracles in your life.

Jeremiah 29:13:

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (NIV)

“Then [with a deep longing] you will seek Me and require Me [as a vital necessitiy] and [you will] find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” (Amp)

I love the amplified translation of this verse. When you develop a “deep longing” for the Lord you will then need him daily as a source of survival. The best part of this verse is the last. He will be found if you seek him with ALL of your heart. This goes back to that section of our series that talks about approaching Him with a surrendered heart. When we give Him all of us, He can then give us all of Him! What an amazing gift this is! What a powerful gift! There really are not words that can fully grasp this kind of love. What this also shows is that this is a two way street. Like all relationships, we must give what we receive. So much more, we should be giving to God. He deserves all of us because ultimately, we are already His creation–His handiwork. Also, in Matthew 5:8, he further emphasizes that, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” When we approach our king with a heart that is surrendered to Him and His word, then we WILL see God. His word is faithful and holds true.

Revelation 3:20: 

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” (NIV)

“Behold, I stand at the door [of my church] and continually knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him (restore him) and he with Me.” (Amp)

Do you hear the words of our Lord? He is already waiting on you! He continually stands outside the doors of our hearts and consistently knocks on it. He is so wanting for you to open the door so that He can come in and “eat with you.” I like how the Amplified version clarifies that phrase “eat with you” to “restore you.” The word restore means “bring back (a previous right, practice, custom, or situation); reinstate.” The “previous right” that God wants to bring back to us is the right we had to commune with him face to face as he did with Adam and Eve in the garden before the corruption of man took place. This is what we were designed and created for–a intimate, close, face to face relationship with the God Most High. He CREATED us for his own delight. What love He has for us! How could we not want to know Him? Restore also means “return (someone or something) to a former condition, place, or position.” God wants to return us to our former condition prior to the fall of man. He wants to remove the separation that sin created by mending our spirits and souls with the blood of Jesus. When Jesus paints the doorposts to our hearts with His blood, then the separation between us and God no longer exists. We are one. (We are not on the same level or above God, but the Holy Spirit then resides within me connecting me to my King) Lastly, restore can mean “repair or renovate (a building, work of art, vehicle, etc.) so as to return it to its original condition.” I love the illustration of this. I can see the Holy Spirit coming into my heart as the divine architect takes assessment of my heart, and tears down the old and corrupted belief systems and replaces those ungodly beliefs with His word–the Truth. In Psalm 145:18, “The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.” If our hearts are filled with the truth, then he is already with us– there is no need to “wait” on His presence–you already have it!

Psalm 27:8

“My heart says of you, ‘seek His face!’ Your face, Lord, I will seek.” (NIV)

“When you said, ‘Seek My face [in prayer, require my presence as your greatest need],’ my heart said to You, ‘Your face of Lord I will seek [on the authority of Your word].” (AMP)

I hope that this is the cry of your heart as we are closing our series on “Seek the Face of God.” When we are truthfully seeking God with a surrendered heart and our hearts are in a state of needing His presence, God will show up. He will send His manifest presence in abundance to complete and fulfill the destiny and purpose for your life. Take Him at His word. Seek Him and find out for yourself, and I encourage you to journal the experience or experiences you have so that you can see with your own eyes how God is showing up for you. Press in to Him, and He will meet with you Face to Face, Spirit to Spirit, and when He does, mountains will move, chains will be broken, and freedom will ring!

I will leave you with my first personal encounter that I had with the Lord after I became saved. I asked Jesus into my heart when I was twelve. I had grown up in church, and I always felt the “knocking” of the Lord on my heart. But when I was twelve, I invited Christ into my life, and then the most unexpected event happened, an event that would forever shape and mold my perceptions of God, my family, and myself. My mother passed away leaving me with an emotionally and often physically absent father. There were many nights I cried alone in my room, desperate to have my mother back, to have a family again, to feel the warmth and love and peace that a home should bring. I remember at the height of my grief telling God that I couldn’t take the pain and loneliness anymore. I was sitting on a park bench after completing a half mile run that my Aunt had led me to do. I laid down on the bench, face directed towards the “sun” and I cried and I prayed for God to make a move. I pleaded with Him to change my circumstances, to bring me peace, to fill the void of hurt, loss, shame, guilt, and abandonment. Just as I finished my prayer, my Aunt, who had been continuing her run while I was sitting alone on the bench came up to me and said, “God told me to pray with you about the hurt you are feeling, the loss of your mother and father, the shame and guilt you have for what you feel towards your dad, and for the loneliness that is so heavy on your heart.” I was so in shock that God moved so fast. My aunt then proceeded to pray with me about each aspect that I asked God to move in. Some things he moved in immediately–he healed my hurts, removed my shame and guilt, and he comforted me and filled me with peace. I remember shaking and feeling weak and exhausted after her prayer. This is the first time I experienced the filling of the Holy Spirit. He moved within me that day. I know without a shadow of a doubt that he physically touched me and met with me face to face. It was not a physical face to face, but rather a meeting of my spirit with His spirit. As far as the loneliness and abandonment, he did not deliver me from it that day. Instead, a year and a half later, I was removed from my home and placed within my aunt’s care. This move of God altered my path forever. This move is what ultimately lead me to this moment right now. His presence creates movements in your life that may be immediate or may be in the future, but one thing is for sure, he is MOVING in your life and within you.

Please let me pray for you: 

Heavenly Father, Lord, You are glorious! Your presence is infectious and powerful. We are so thankful for Your majesty, glory, and sovereignty on this earth. You are the Lord, Creator of all things. We are in awe of You and all of that You have done in our life. Lord, we believe that when we call on Your name and trust in Your word that You are there with us. You word says that You will never leave nor forsake us, and we put our faith in Your word. Lord, Your presence is mighty and has the ability to break every chain that is binding us to our circumstances. Lord, You sent Jesus to loose us from bondage, and You sent Jesus to bring Your Holy Spirit so that we may experience a face to face, spirit to spirit meeting with You. Oh, how much You love us! We thank You for Your love, we thank You for Your mercy, Your grace, and Your peace! Lord, at the moment of salvation, You painted the door posts of our hearts with the blood of Jesus–a shield to protect us from all that comes against us, and to cleanse the thrown room of our hearts for a holy place for Your spirit to dwell. Lord, help us to always trust in You, have faith in You, and to continue to grow and produce good fruit, and to keep our eyes focused on You and Your kingdom. We ask for heaven to come to earth, to send your presence amongst us, and to heal our hearts, our communities, our land. We love You Lord. In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen!

Scriptures to study:

Isaiah 55:6

Jeremiah 29:13

Revelation 3:20

Psalm 27:8

Songs of Worship: 

Holy Ground by Passion Ft. Melodie Malone

In Your Presence by Elevation Worship

With Us by Hillsong