It has been longer than I’d like since I wrote something in this space. As I wondered why, I thought to myself, “is it because I don’t feel I have anything to say?,” but at that moment, I realized it is quite the opposite. I almost feel overwhelmed this year with too much to say. The more and further I lean into my relationship with Jesus, trusting Him increasingly more with all that I am, I have been overwhelmed (in the most beautiful, wild way) with an inundation of Him. An inundation of experiences with Him. Every new day encountering Him in new ways– in ways I have so desperately prayed and longed for.
At the start of this year, as the world clicked from the last breath of a year gone by at 11:59pm to the fresh start that is midnight on the first of January, I felt God speak a word over my life– a word that would be a theme throughout the year. He spoke the phrase, “there’s power when you agree with Me,” or “come into agreement.” The second He spoke, I felt chills. I knew it was from Him. To come into agreement with someone, you must be very close to them. You must lean in and be near to hear that which you will agree with. How can you agree with someone whom you do not know? How can you agree with someone whom you’re not inclining your ear to hear and intently listen to? I knew that it was going to be a year of coming into even more agreement with God in all ways at all times. I wrote this prayer in my journal that night, and it has trickled into and informed my every day since:
“Lord, I pray to be quick to agree with You– Quick to agree with what You say! I want my whole life to come into agreement with You! I realize that it takes humility and selflessness to continually agree. It takes surrender and a quick, eager, willing, servant-hearted “YES” to constantly come into agreement with you, Lord. It takes BIG BOLD courage and faith to walk in agreement. It takes action, obedience, and follow-through-power to truly come into agreement. Lord, I pray for the grit, gumption, continued-security, big-bold-faith, discipline, obedience, zeal, joy, willingness, and courage to forever come into agreement with You! Lord, I CHOOSE to believe You and trust You at Your Word. Holy Spirit, please teach, reveal, guide, convict, and do what needs to be done to bring me into an ever-increasing agreement with You. I pray to come into agreement with what You say about me and the promises You have over my life. Let my whole being live in absolute agreement with you, Jesus. I love you. THANK YOU.”
The past few years I’ve gotten continually more and more passionate about spending time with Jesus. I have craved quiet times in His word– time spent listening for His still, small voice– time spent simply dwelling in His Presence and worshiping Him. One of my biggest prayers entering this new calendar year was that I would gain an even greater zeal and passion for devouring His Word. I had this desire in my heart to not be able to get enough of the Bible– to absorb and digest it like never before. There is so much gold in His Word, and I knew that if I wanted to truly submit every ounce of myself in agreement to Him, I’d need to know His Word like never before.
One of the most beautiful promises is a scripture found in 1 John 5:14-15. I personally love The Passion Translation’s version of this scripture. It reads, “Since we have this confidence, we can also have great boldness before him, for if we ask anything agreeable to his will, he will hear us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we also know that we have obtained the requests we ask of him.”
The Amplified version is also incredible. It reads, “This is the [remarkable degree of] confidence which we [as believers are entitled to] have before Him: that if we ask anything according to His will, [that is, consistent with His plan and purpose] He hears us. And if we know [for a fact, as indeed we do] that He hears and listens to us in whatever we ask, we [also] know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted to us] the requests which we have asked from Him.”
WOW– IF WE WOULD ASK ANYTHING AGREEABLE TO HIS WILL, HE WILL HEAR US, AND COME THROUGH ON OUR REQUESTS.
If you are at all in a place like me and desire to know God– to know Jesus– to know the Holy Spirit– and I mean really, really, really, deeply and intimately KNOW Him increasingly more forever and ever, all you have to do is ASK.
If you want more passion to read His Word, ASK.
If you want more zeal for His ways and His plans for your life, ASK.
If you want to find yourself talking in prayer to Him more often, ASK.
If you want a greater desire to seek Him and serve Him, ASK.
If you want the courage to look lies and brokenness in the face and have His power heal it all, ASK.
If you want freedom from anything that has held your mind, heart, or spirit captive, ASK.
If you want to understand the power and authority that resides in His Name, ASK.
If you want to forgive, ASK.
If you want to uproot bitterness in your life, ASK.
If you want to see and love yourself the way God sees and loves you, ASK.
If you want the boldness to walk back into church for the first time in years, ASK.
If you want the resilience that comes from Him to break addictions and strongholds, ASK.
If you want to wake up in awe and wonder of Him with each new day, ASK.
If you want childlike, undignified faith and zeal for Him to reenter your bones, ASK.
If you want to hear Him or encounter Him, JUST ASK.
I think many Christians, or even those who are not Christians but have a curiosity about God, find themselves in dull places with their faith or pursuits of Him. So many make a life of following Him look dull and tasteless, but it is ANYTHING BUT DULL AND TASTELESS. You have a rich encounter with Him, but then life gets going, everyday matters take over, and you forget that you can live every ounce of every day in wide-eyed-wonder of your Savior. I want to remind you that a life of knowing God NEVER has to be stale. Waking up and meeting with Him every new day does not have to be a monotonous routine. Religion is stale and lifeless. Relationship with Him is all things vibrant and full of color and zest. Relationship is ever-learning and ever-experiencing new things about someone. Relationship is a choice. We get to CHOOSE to know Him and encounter Him. We get to choose to ask that which is agreeable to His will and watch in amazement as He hears and answers our requests. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never known Him or spent your entire life thinking you knew Him in massive ways, now is the perfect time to ASK to get to truly, intimately KNOW HIM. Whether you’re 15 or 50, ASK. It’s a promise in His Word in Acts 2:17 that God says, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” There are divinely-prompted, revelatory encounters with Him promised to each one of us. Forevermore. TO ALL PEOPLE. We just have to ASK.
I get asked frequently about this passion and enthusiasm I have for knowing and serving God, and I want to scream from the rooftops that God has this for anyone and everyone who asks for it. I asked Him to have more zeal and fervor to get in my Word every day, and He answered immediately. I have never had more excitement for reading the Bible. I cannot get enough of it each and every day. I asked Him to continue to encounter Him in new ways, and I have been! I’ve been hearing and seeing Him speak to me in ways I’ve never known. God delights in knowing us. He wants us to know Him, but we have to choose to! We have to choose to ask and lean in with all that we are to come into agreement with Him. And, by the way, it’s OKAY if you have to re-ask Him for these things every day for a while. Ask Him upon the arrival of every new day if you must. He still hears and answers. He never grows tired of us coming to Him.
I’ve had so many new encounters with Him lately that I cannot wait to share and write about in the future. God is so infinite and so beyond our wildest imagination and understanding that we have only skimmed the surface of knowing and encountering Him, and that excites me to my bones. There is more. There is always more. He is a grand, big God that loves us and delights in knowing us and hearing our requests to know Him. If I could plead one thing before you today, lean into agreement with God and ask for that which He has for you. ASK GOD. Ask to know Him more intimately if you are at all curious about Him. Ask Him the questions you might be wrestling with– Be okay with hearing a response that might be affronting. If you’ve loved Him and known Him your whole life, ask to know Him more deeply. He has an infinitely wild love and increasingly amplified awe-and-wonder of Himself for you to discover. And If you’d like to talk about any ounce of this with someone, please don’t hesitate to ask me.
“Since we have this confidence, we can also have great boldness before him, for if we ask anything agreeable to his will, he will hear us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we also know that we have obtained the requests we ask of him.” 1 John 5:14-15
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