Changing the Atmosphere

There is something about being in the presence of God that I believe we all long for daily,but are we actually taking the time to do just that? Oh I am sure you are busy with the variety of roles you play in your life; Pastor, PW, SS teacher, Women’s Ministries Director, Children’s Pastor, Bible Study leader, wife, mom, friend, employee…. You get the picture. We all play different roles and all are important. But what good are we in those roles if we are empty,dry or exhausted? The only source we can go to is our Lord!
Right now I am in charge of 4 different aspects of our ministry. I do not share that to be prideful but to show you I understand the variety of roles we play. Sometimes we get so busy in the ministry that we forget to spend time with the One person we are doing the ministry for…Our Lord! Every other week we have our Women’s Bible Study of which I lead. Well this past week while preparing for our study I came across a passage that I honestly can say I do not remember reading. Oh I know I have read it, I have read the Bible from cover to cover but this time it leaped off the page. Right now in our women’s group we have been studying different women of the Bible, not just the famous ones like Ruth or Esther or even Mary but women like Tamar and Anna.
This week the Lord led me to study more about Anna. She is only spoken about in a few short verses but her life is one that I believe we as women involved in ministry need to take a deeper look at. We find her story in Luke 2:36-38:

"The prophet Anna was also there in the temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. In her youth she had been married for seven years, but her husband died. And now she was eighty-four years old. Night and day she served God in the temple by praying and often going without eating. At that time Anna came in and praised God. She spoke about the child Jesus to
everyone who hoped for Jerusalem to be set free.” (CEV)

This event takes place when Jesus was presented as a baby to the Lord as the Law of Moses commanded (Luke 2:22-23). There is a lot that I could share here about Anna and her importance in what took place that day but what I want to really focus on is in verse 37 -38. Anna dedicated her life to pray and fasting. Yes she lived at the temple (of which I am sure some of us feel we do now!) and yet she devoted herself day and night to praying and fasting. She was so filled with the presence of God that when Jesus, was brought to the temple by Mary and Joseph she was
sensitive to the Spirit of God and acknowledged that this baby was the Messiah they had been waiting for!
Did you catch that? She was so sensitive to the Spirit that she knew that she was in the presence of the Messiah. She heard it, felt it, knew it, so much so that she “praised God” because she had seen the Messiah, all because she had been spending time with the Lord in prayer and fasting.
I want that! I want to be so sensitive that when the Spirit of God speaks or reveals Himself to me at any time not just at church that I distinguish it immediately! I want to be so in tuned to him that I am able to recognize His voice whether it be in a mighty wind or a still small voice. I believe we are living in perilous times and it is so evident that Lord’s return is much sooner than we can fathom. I also believe that He is calling each of us to spend more and more time with Him so that when He speaks we respond.
Let’s get real for a minute, we all know we are suppose to go to our quiet place and spend time with our Lord, but how many of us do it regularly? How many of us actually set a time to do it and follow through? More importantly, how many of us are fasting and I mean a true fast … not just TV or caffeine or sweets, a true full fast? It’s not easy, it really isn’t but I think it is more than time to get serious about our walk with the Lord. When you set time apart for fasting and prayer, yes they have to go hand in hand because otherwise the fast is nothing but a diet. Let’s be honest, a diet is not very empowering and truly does not draw you closer to God. Fasting must be accompanied with prayer if you truly mean to reach the heart of God. When you take this practice seriously you will see God and He will speak to you about situations you are praying about and more importantly will draw you closer to Him.
When we are able to recognize the presence of God in our services the whole atmosphere changes and people get saved, lives get changed and miracles happen. I don’t know about you but yesterday’s miracles aren't good enough. I want more, I want to see more lives changed and I want it to start with me. I want it to start with you! Let us draw near to our Lord! Let us become Anna’s that recognize when we have been in the presence of the Messiah!