Tag Archive | Worship Leader; Praise and Worship; Music Ministry; Psalmist

How To Ask of The LORD

Jul28

I was seeking an answer from the Spirit of Truth regarding how to ask of the LORD YAH my Father.  Normally, when I think of ask I think of questions, requests, and inquiries, etc.  Still, in all that I consciously know, I yearned for revelatory clarity on “how to do” these things called ask.

While I prayed for answers, my brain was gently wiggling as the scriptures were pouring in.  I recalled my meditation from a few days ago on John 15:1-8: “7IF ye abide in me, AND my words abide in you, ye shall ASK what ye WILL, AND it shall BE done unto you.  8HEREIN is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye BE my disciples.”  While chanting these scriptures, it arises in me that bearing much fruit, in this contextual manner, is produced from:

  1. two-fold abiding,
  2. asking what I will, AND
  3. it being done.

What I will should BE the same as what the Vine’s will is IF we are two-fold abiding.  In contrast, I ultimately bear no fruit IF the two-fold abiding is not my structure.  Instead, I will BE withered and burned by men.  SELAH!

So then, Luke 11:10 rose up in me in that “For every one that ‘asketh’ receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it SHALL BE opened.”  In times past, I’d studied the Greek tense of the word ‘eth.’  Today, revisiting it and its power was necessary.  The archaic suffix ‘eth’ is a noun and it is added to the end of verb words to tell you about the behavior of that word.  SELAH!  This suffix signifies a behavior of continual action known as Greek ‘perfect tense,’ vs. an action without continuation (or one-time action) known as Greek ‘aorist tense.’

With this in the forefront of my mind, I understood that for every one that continual ask (asketh) they continual receive (receiveth).  SELAH!  

However, I was yet uncertain if I understood “how to do” these things called ask.  Luke 11:8 told me exactly how to.  Importunity!  Shameless persistence!  Of the sort, this word is synonym with ‘eth.’  Again, this signifies continual action.  This is how we should pray (ask) of the LORD, Our Father, Who art in heaven – with shameless persistence.  To BE an importunate person, we must boldly persist, despite difficulties, in order to boldly receive.  Some might confuse what I’m saying with vain repetitions, much speaking, as mentioned in Matthew 6:7.  That is not the same as continual action, shameless persistence.

In the same scripture, Luke 11:8, the parable reveals that the friend, who came asking, was an importunate person.  His importunity (his persistence, his demand for help) was fervent.  Thus, his friend, who had what he needed, WILL rise and give him as many (loaves of bread) as he needeth.  The friend asked for three loaves, but it can BE deduced that the one who was giving gave more than three loaves, i.e., he give as many as he needeth.  He gave ALL that was needed to fulfill, not to merely get by for a little while.  SELAH!

Now then, although this law of reciprocity called asketh, seeketh, and knocketh responds for every one that doeth these things, it does not imply that everyone is bearing fruit.  SELAH.  You are only bearing fruit when you are two-fold abiding AND asketh.  SELAH!

Finally my brethren, this is the confidence that I have of Him, the Son of God:  that IF I ask any thing according to His will, and I will ask accordingly, He heareth me.  And IF He heareth me, and He does, whatsoever I ask, I know that I have the petitions that I desired of Him.

The LORD is my desire, I shall not want.  SELAH!

© 2015 Angela M. Smith

The Presence of the LORD!

Aug16

The very first time that the presence of the LORD was mentioned or made known is in Genesis 3:8 i.e. and they HEARD the voice of the LORD WALKING in the garden; and they hid themselves from the PRESENCE of the LORD.  A significant thing I noticed here is the VOICE of the LORD was WALKING.  Adam and Eve HEARD His voice WALKING.  This very thing reminds me of the scores of times that even though we don’t SEE our parents speaking the instructions they have pounded in to us time after time, we can still hear their words, their guidance, and their speech walking around in our heads.  We see them not, but we do HEAR them toddling i.e. walking and treading about our minds; coming up to consciousness.

In this first take, the presence of the LORD was “heard” and “recognized.”  Adam and Eve knew the LORD was there; they hid themselves.  Today, it is intensely insinuated that we only know that the LORD is present BEcause we can FEEL His presence i.e. many worship leaders say phrases like, “Can’t You FEEL His presence?  He is here!”  Hardly ever, if at all, do they say, “Do you hear His voice?  He is here!”  SELAH!  This is not to say that we are not able to feel His presence, but majority of the time we are not feeling the presence of the LORD, we are experiencing feelings or emotions from a situation.  Adam and Eve FELT a certain way and had a particular emotion when they HEARD the voice of the LORD walking.  That emotion was shame; thus, they hid themselves.  IN the BEginning, hearing His voice indicated that He was present.  Also, I do say, in this particular scripture, Genesis 3, that the atmosphere was conducive for the presence of the LORD.

Something was done for Him to make His presence known to them.  What was it?  In this instance, Adam and Eve yielded to the deception of the serpent.  That yielding is what brought about what I call “The Interrogation and Sentencing” (Genesis 3:9-24).  Adam and his wife were not worshipping the LORD when He made His presence known.  They were disobeying Him.  Even Jonah, when he HEARD the voice of the LORD, disobeyed and fled to a place the LORD did not send him.  The scripture didn’t say Jonah felt the presence of the LORD and fled; he heard the voice.  So, based upon this truth, worshiping the LORD is not the only way to invoke the presence of the LORD.  Disobedience is a way too.

As Worship Leaders, those who lead the congregation into a posture of devotion unto the LORD, we can usher in i.e. announce, state, declare, decree, pronounce that the presence of the LORD is amongst us.  This is also bringing an awareness i.e. “I hear the voice of the LORD…He is here!”  SN:  Often, when we do hear the voice of the LORD we will sing it.  Others of us, who are minstrels will play it.  And, there are others of us with a scribal anointing who will record it i.e. write it down and/or speak it.  However, each individual parishioner is responsible for hearing His voice and KNOWING that the LORD is present amongst them.  Not just BEcause we said He is, but BEcause they heard His voice.

We, Worship Leaders, are responsible for “leading” the people i.e. guiding them, teaching them, and showing them how to worship the LORD.  Sadly, many worship leaders hassle the people i.e. “C’mon PRAISE the LORD!  How dare you come in to the house of the LORD and not PRAISE Him!  C’mon church; get with us.  This ain’t no dead church.  Look at your neighbor and say, “NEIGHBOR!”  When we do those things, we’re not leading (teaching) the people, we are mostly harassing them.

Those of us who are “The True Worshippers” must and do worship the LORD in Spirit and in Truth.  Any others who desire to BE the true worshippers have to BE taught, just like we were taught.  I’ve heard many ministers say that “worship is a lifestyle.”  If that BE true, and I BElieve that it is, then that lifestyle has to BE taught; it has to BE practiced.  Likewise, I’ve heard some say, “Enter into the presence of the LORD.”  However, entering into the presence of the LORD would BE very difficult to do if a person doesn’t know that the LORD is there i.e. they’ve not heard His voice or don’t even know what His voice sounds like.

© 2012 Angela M. Smith