Soaking By Todd Bentley
SOAKING - Part of the Secret Place Series
Todd Bentley
Those of you who heard my message, The Wells of God, this is going to go deeper. That was what The Wells of God was all about, going deeper. I want to go deeper
Psalm 63: “God, You are my God. Early will I seek You. My soul thirsts for You. My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. I’ve looked for You in the sanctuary to see Your power and to see Your glory. Because Your loving kindness is better than life, my lips will praise you. Thus I will bless You where I live. I will lift up my hands in Your Name, and my soul will be satisfied as with fat and abundance. My mouth will praise you with joyfulness.”
Now, what was David saying? David was saying, “I’m so desperate for you, God. I’m so desperate to know you, God. How lovely are Your tabernacles. I want Your alter to be my home. I want to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I’ve got a holy passion inside of me, and I’m desperate for you, God, I know You are my God, and because You are my God, I found this hunger inside of me, this passion to know You. I love Your Presence. You are my God and early will I seek You. I’m saying I will seek You even though I’m in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water, God I will seek You.”
Do you know what it means to be in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water? The Holy Spirit is the water. He wrote the Bible. The water, the river, speaks of the Presence of the Holy Spirit. David says, “I’m in this place, and I’m hungry for You. And I’m going to seek You. And I’m going to bless You and I’m going to praise You, and I’m going to lift my hands up in Your Name. Even though I’m in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water, where there is no manifestation of God. It feels like God is a million miles away from me, it feels like God is deaf to me right now. There’s no revival, there is no renewal, there’s no refreshing, there’s no water, it’s just dry land.”
Do you know where David was when he wrote this Psalm? David was in the wilderness. Do you know what he was doing in the wilderness? He was running for his life. The very King that he served faithfully was now trying to kill and destroy his life. David had to run like a dog and hide in the strongholds and he was out in the wilderness. And he said there, “God, though they’re trying to kill me, though I’m in trial, though I’m in tribulation, though I’m in persecution, though it’s a dry and thirsty land, and there is no water, You are my God. I’m so hungry for you, I don’t care how dry it is. I’ll seek You, I’ll bless You, I’ll praise You, and I’ll lift my hands up in Your Name.”
Then he made a prophetic decree, because David knew the key to finding God. He said this, Verse 5 of Psalm 63: “My soul shall be satisfied. I’ll be filled with fat and abundance and my lips will praise You, with joyfulness I’ll praise You.” Do you know what he was saying? “I’m in a dry and thirsty land, hardship, persecution. He (Saul) is trying to take my life. There’s no water, there’s no renewal there’s no refreshing, God, you’re a million miles away, I feel like Your ear is deaf to me. I’m in the valley time, but I’m going to seek You. I’m going to bless You, I’m going to praise You, I’m going to lift my hands up in Your Name anyway, because I know that’s the key. “That’s the key to breakthrough. That’s the key to finding You. That’s the key to going deeper. And I will be filled. I will be satisfied. I can say I’ll be satisfied because I know that if I can seek You even when it’s dry, You’ll fill me.”
It’s easy to seek Him when it’s wet, but will you seek Him when it’s dry? I want to share something with you now, because many of you live in the wilderness. Many of you have forgotten the manifest Presence of God. You’re either in the place of feasting or you’re in the place of famine. The Bible is either famine or feast. I want to help you get to the feast when you’re in the famine. I want you to be soaking in God’s Presence. I want to give you a key, because David was in the wilderness, David was in the valley.
IN THE DESERT
Do you know what the desert is? The desert is a place of prayer. The desert is the quiet place. The desert speaks of the Secret Place. The desert is the place that you meet God. And if you have the perception of what the desert, wilderness, valley speaks of in the scripture, the next time you fall into a valley, rather than murmuring, grumbling and complaining, and giving up on prayer, giving up on reading the Word, you’re going to have a joy. If I can help you understand what happens in the desert, you’ll love the desert. I love the valley. I love it. I love the dry and thirsty land where there is no water. Because, do you know what happens when you come up out of the wilderness? Do you know the first place that you go?
Where was the first place Jesus went after He came out of the wilderness? John 2; The wedding. He came straight up out of the wilderness, straight up out of the dry land and He went to a wedding. Do you know what was at the wedding? Lots of wine. The best wine. The wedding was a party. The wedding was a feast. And the wedding was a celebration. So, the first place that God brings you after you’ve gone through your desert, after you’ve gone through your dry land, is to the wedding. He brings you to the place where at the wedding, was His glory. At the wedding was His wine. At the wedding was His party. At the wedding was His celebration. At the wedding, there was a feast.
And Jesus went to the wedding in the power of the Spirit. Do you know why God puts you in the desert? Because, He says, “I just want to bring you to another party. I wanted to put you in the desert so that when you come out of the desert there can be an increase of My Spirit in your life. Jesus came out of the desert, “in the power”. And, God says, “I’m bringing an increase of the power, so I’m putting you in the wilderness.”
And you know that if you’re in the wilderness, you should be able to have joy because you should say, “I know a wedding is coming, hallelujah! And I’m going to do what I can to quicken up my desert time.” And you know how you can quicken up your desert time? You say, “God, yes it’s a dry and thirsty land and there is no water, but I’m saying I will seek You. Yes, God, though I don’t feel like it, I’ll seek You. Yes, God, and I’ll bless You. Yes, God, and I’ll praise you. Yes, God, and I will lift up my hands in Your Name.”
But you know what most of us do in the wilderness? We murmur, we grumble and we complain. And we become the children of Israel. We wander around and end up being in that dry place longer than God wants us to be there because we go, “Oh God, the Word is not fresh. There’s no revelation. My desire for the Word is gone, I’m just not going to read it. You’re not hearing me, God. Look at this trial and tribulation I’m in. Look at my financial mess.” We become bitter and we stop praying. Then we get into depression, and we murmur and we grumble. Then we end up staying in that wilderness longer.
But I realized that when I’m in the wilderness, the minute I feel that I’m moving into the wilderness, I go, “Oh, God, You don’t know what You’re doing because, I’m going to seek You. And I’m going to search for You with all of my heart. And, I’m going to find You. And I’m going to dig You up and I’m going to climb up into Heaven and get a hold of You. I’m going to bless you, I’m going to praise you, I’m going to read Your Word, I’m going to worship You, even though I feel nothing. I don’t care if it’s a dry and thirsty land. I don’t care if there is no water. You are God and You are My God, and I love You, and I’ll seek You, I’ll follow, You I’ll worship You. And, I’ll bless You.
Do you know what else the wilderness is, friend? Do you know why God puts you in the valley? If you get an understanding of this, you will be able to have joy in the wilderness. Do you know where the rivers are? Rivers are in the desert. You can’t go to the wedding, you can’t walk in power without the desert. But most of us just murmur and grumble when we are in the desert. But David said, “No, I’m going to bless You. I’m going to praise You. I’m going to seek You. I’m going to lift my hands up in Your Name and I know that that is the key to coming out of my wilderness. And then my soul will be satisfied. Heaven is going to open and You’re going to fill me. Though I’m out here, I know, because I’m blessed when I’m seeking Your Face and lifting my hands up in the air, my soul will be satisfied by God. You feed a hungry heart. Blessed are they which hunger and thirst, for they will be filled.
You know why God puts you in the wilderness? Because you aren’t hungry enough. God puts you in the wilderness to see how hungry and thirsty you are; to see how desperate you are. To see how much you really want Him. How much you really want to seek His face. How much you really want to bless and praise Him. It’s easy to bless and praise Him at the table and the wine at the wedding. But, if you want to go deeper, if you want to go to the next level, it’s in the wilderness.
Look what God says, Psalm 107:35, “He turns the wilderness into pools of water, dry land into water springs.” Turns what? Wilderness into pools of water. Turns what? Dry land into water springs. Refreshing! Renewal! And what does He do? There He makes the hungry dwell so that they may establish a city for a dwelling place, and sow fields, plant vineyards that they may yield a fruitful harvest. He blesses them and they multiply greatly.” Where do the hungry dwell? The hungry dwell in the wilderness. Why do the hungry get to dwell in the wilderness? Because God knows they’re hungry enough that though they’re in the wilderness, though they’re in the dry and thirsty land, that they’re going to know how to cause rivers to come forth in the desert and they’re going to know how to turn their wilderness into pools. They are going to hunger and thirst and hunger and thirst, and keep on hungering and thirsting and they’re going to keep on saying, “God, you are my God. I’m going to seek you, I’m going to find You. I’m running after You, I’m going to search for you, I’m going to seek after you with all my heart and I’m not going to give up until this wilderness becomes a pool.”
So, He puts the hungry there. He knows the hungry won’t murmur and grumble. He knows that they will say, “God, I’m going to the wedding. I’m moving into another level of power.” Most of our perspectives of the wilderness and the valley is, “Oh, no! Not another valley again, God.” You’re depressed. You give up. You get apathy. You get complacency. But God says, “Nah, that’s where the river is. I turn wilderness into pools of water and make hungry ones dwell there.” Because, the hungry are desperate enough to hunger and thirst.
That’s what God wants to do with you. That’s what God wants to do with me. The desert speaks of prayer. The Bible says that Jesus often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. Do you know why He often withdrew into the wilderness? Because He said “I know that the wilderness represents the place of desperation. It represents the place of hunger. It represents the place of seeking God.” That’s what the dry land is. He said, “I’m going to put myself willfully into a place where I’m going to go out of My way to seek God and be desperate and hungry because I know that’s the key to another level.”
So He often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. He often put Himself into the dry land. He often withdrew to a place that He knew was a place you met with God. The desert is the place you meet with God. Where did Moses meet with God? The desert. Where did John the Baptist come up preaching? He came up out of the wilderness. Where did Paul the Apostle go right after he got saved? Three years into the Arabian Desert. Where was Jesus forty days and forty nights? In the desert. Where was David? Out in the desert. Out in the dry and thirsty land.
Why is the Bible so filled of men of God, men of great measure of the Presence and anointing of God, but every time before they do, every time before the wedding, every time before the power, every time before the revelation, where were they? The desert! The wilderness! If you can understand that then you would say, “Hallelujah, I’m in the desert. Yes! I’m going to another level! I’m going to the wedding! Another revelation! I’m getting myself ready. I’m walking in power and going to come up out of the wilderness in power. I’m coming out with a new revelation.
Revelation came to Paul the Apostle when he was where? In the Arabian Desert for three years! He received the message and he said, “Hey, Galatians, when I got saved on the road to Damascus, I didn’t confer with flesh and blood. In fact, the revelation I got didn’t come by the will of man, it came by the will of God. I got it in the desert.” The desert is the place you meet God. The desert is the place your flesh dies. The desert is the place of prayer.
THE QUIET PLACE
You know what else the desert is? Do you want to find the Secret Place of the Most High? Who’s hungry for the Secret Place of the Most High? Do you know where the Secret Place is? It’s quiet. did you know that? The desert speaks of the Secret Place. Usually you’re out in the desert and there’s nobody else out there but you. There’s no TV, there’s no hockey game, there’s no entertainment, and there are no friends. There’s just you. There’s no music, there’s no distraction, and it’s quiet. All you can do is seek God’s face. All you can do is meet with God. All you can do is be desperate, fast and pray, and seek the Lord.
And, Jesus often withdrew into that place. He often put Himself there. He was hungry. He was hungry for more.
Some of you have been in the wilderness way to long. I’ve learned to dig up my wells quick. (You need to get the message before this one called The Wells of God). I’ve learned how to dig up my well fast. I will lock myself in my room for 24 hours and not eat or drink, and seek God’s face until Heaven falls on me. Because, I want Jesus. Just Jesus. That’s it!
So that’s what the desert is. It’s a quiet place. It’s prayer. Do you know what God is doing right now, in fact? God is calling the church back to prayer. God is calling the church back to a different kind of prayer. He’s calling it back to what I call the desert. He’s calling it back to the quiet place.
Now, what do you think Jesus did in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights? Do you think He walked around praying in tongues for an hour? “Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah”, worshipped for an hour? Read the scripture for an hour? Prayed in intercession with prayer and supplication for an hour? Cast all His cares and needs on God for an hour? Prayed in tongues for another hour? Went to bed and got up the next day and start over again? Are you catching the picture of this? Jesus, doing all the talking. Jesus, doing all the doing. Jesus doing all the business and going to bed.
But the Bible says that Jesus only did the things He heard the Father speaking. And Jesus only did the things He saw the Father doing. Well, when do you think He saw the Father doing things? When do you think He heard the Father speaking the things He was to say? It was all those nights on the mountain. It was often withdrawing Himself into the wilderness. It was in the Secret Place. It was in the desert. What’s the desert? It’s quiet!
It was a quiet place of prayer. It was this place…listening prayer. It wasn’t all busy like most of your prayer life and mine was. My devotion, my tongues, my worship, my reading the Word…all that fits in, but you know what? When I sought God and I was in the room for an hour, I probably talked 55 minutes. Now, if you did that in the flesh, I’d think you are pretty into yourself and I wouldn’t want to have a conversation with you. I’d just take off.
A lot of us are in the prayer room, praying in tongues, and “Hey God! God!” and we pray in tongues some more and, “Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord!” “ I seek you Lord, You said if I draw near unto You, You’d draw near unto me.” And more tongues… But we just forget the quiet place.
GOD'S CALLING THE CHURCH BACK TO INTIMACY
(Sitting at His Feet)
There’s a different kind of prayer that God is bringing the church back into and its called intimacy. I think there were times where Jesus just sat at the feet of the Father and watched. And, sat at the feet of the Father and listened. Do you want a key to a revelation? Do you want to know Jesus like you’ve never known Jesus before?
I want to talk about how three months of soaking anywhere from four to twelve hours a day launched me into a fulltime itinerate ministry, a miracle, healing and prophetic ministry. The manifestations of God’s Presence on my life where God became more real to me than you, I want to talk about that.
The Bible says this, “Be still”. And what happens when you “be still”? “Know that I Am God”. Do you know where the knowing comes? It comes from the stillness. In fact the very word, “know”, in that verse in Psalm, where it says, “Be still and know…” in that very verse, know, actually means perceive. If you will be still, you will actually be able to perceive. If you’ll be still, it also means understand. It means come to know by revelation, like, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you, but My Father Who is in Heaven.”
That’s what that word “know” is. That is the Hebrew meaning of the word, knowing. All you’re doing is being still. You’re just being with Jesus. Just sitting in His Presence. Just not saying anything. And all of a sudden, you understand, and you perceive, and you’re coming to know God by revelation and you’re not even doing anything. You’re just sitting with Him. There is something about sitting at the Lord’s feet. Then, you get to know the Lord.
Sometimes I sit with my wife on the couch. We don’t have to say anything, I just want to look into her eyes and fall in love with her all over again. I just want to look at every line in her face. I just want to look into her eyes, because she’s got beautiful French eyes. I could crawl into my wife’s eyes and get lost forever. Sometimes when we just sit there and just hold hands looking at one another, I feel more love and I feel closer to my wife than when we are having conversations and talking.
Unfortunately, most of us do not know the still place of prayer. This is going to get deeper. I’m going to talk to you about how to get “pickled”. How you can become pickled. You go in a cucumber and come out a dill pickle. You’re going to get marinated. I’m going to talk about marinating in the Presence of the Lord.
I don’t know if you’re hungry for this, yet. But, I want to marinate. I want to bake. I want to get fried, I want to get soaked. I want to get saturated inside and out with God’s glory. But it comes in the desert. It comes in the quiet place, it comes with soaking. Be still.
“Shhh! Shhh!” God’s saying that to some of you. I’ve heard the Holy Spirit do that. I heard the Lord Shhh! me. “ Shhh! Shhh! Shhh! Can’t you sit still for ten minutes?” “God, it’s driving me nuts! It’s too quiet!”
But the Bible says in Isaiah 30:15, “…In quietness and confidence shall be your strength” Isaiah talks about being in that place of quietness. There is a confidence and strength that you can only get in being in quietness. Being in stillness. God strengthens you.
The Bible says that Mary sat at the feet of Jesus. Do you know what it says Mary was doing, sitting at the feet of Jesus? Here it is, “hearing His saying” Why was she hearing Jesus’ sayings? Why was she hearing the Voice of God? Mary was positioned in a place of receiving and surrender. Looking on the Lord’s face. “Oh, You’re glory. I receive Your glory. You’re awesome” She just sat there, looking on His face…listening.
Soaking is all about “How are you positioned in prayer?” I want to reposition you in prayer in this message. Most of you do not know the position of Mary. You do not know the position of quietness. You do not know the position of yielded, therefore you are not touching the intimacy that you could touch with Jesus.
Sometimes there is an intimate place I can hit with my wife, and sometimes I’d rather be there where we don’t talk. “I just want to enjoy your presence, Honey.” Sometimes my wife is like that. “Todd, can’t you just be with me? Be with me, just sit in the room; just be in the room. You’re presence is good enough.”
That’s what I tell the Lord, “Your Presence is good enough. I just want to be with You. I don’t want to talk to You about my cares, don’t want to talk to You about my needs. You know the things I have need of anyway.” Do you know what? If you can grasp this truth, your needs will begin to get met more than when you ask God to meet your needs. Do you know why? Because the Bible says “The Father knows.”
“All right yes, Todd, but what about “ask and receive”? Yes, there’s a place. But do you know what it says in Isaiah 64:4? It says “God is a God who acts for the ones who wait for Him.” And there were times when I’d decide to just wait for the Lord’s Presence and just be with Him. Just have Him be with me in the room, didn’t have to do any talking, just be at His feet and behold His glory. It was good enough for me. “I just want to sit in Your glory. For four hours, Lord, I just want to sit in Your glory, just be with You. My mind can focus on you, that’s it.” Oh yes, four hours. That’s it, that’s all I’d do. The whole time I’d be thinking about, “What a King!” And every once in a while I’d say, “You’re a King! I love Your glory. I just love Your Presence, I just love being with You. Oh, thank You, Lord. Ummmm. Ummmm. Drinking and receiving. For four hours, I’m in His Presence .
But some of you are like this, “But if I stop talking, God’s going to forget that I’m there and go away.” I know that you know that you’re like that, because I was like that. I thought that the minute I stopped talking in tongues, or stopped praising, or stopped worshipping, or stopped reading the Word, the Presence of the Lord was going to wane in less.
God is a God who acts for the one who waits for Him. I walked in such intimacy with Jesus when I first got saved. One time I was walking from my kitchen to my bedroom, and I thought, “Oh, I’ve got to have a peanut butter sandwich” (I like peanut butter.) Anyway, I went to open the cubbard and there was no peanut butter. So, I thought to myself, “Oh, man, I want peanut butter”, and I went to bed. That’s it. That’s it. And I was waiting in extended times of prayer sitting at the Lord’s feet. My wife got up the next morning, opened the garage door, and there was one jar of peanut butter sitting on the steps. Now, I never told my wife or God that I wanted peanut butter.
I don’t know how many times in this season, just over a year ago, where I was sitting in the Lord’s glory, sometimes up to ten to twelve hours a day. Not that I didn’t talk, worship, or pray in tongues, or read the Word at all in that time, but there were times, literally, of hours of just sitting at His feet. Basking. That’s it. And the revelations, almost everything I have on my tape table, came out of those times, came out of the wilderness. God dropped stuff on me so fast, at times I’m writing four sermons at the same time. I had nothing to do with it. It was just in me, burning.
But the key to revelation, the key to having a manifestation of the prophetic is here. It says Mary said, “I sit at Your feet and I hear Your sayings. I’m positioning myself in quietness and stillness at Your feet. Therefore, I’m positioned to hear.” Many of you don’t hear the Voice of God because you don’t know position. You don’t know quietness, you don’t know stillness, you don’t know the feet of Jesus. You don’t know basking, you don’t know soaking, you don’t know bathing, oh, oh, oh, in the Lord’s glory.
Oh! That’s where God wants to bring us. Do you know what the Bible says in Micah? This is where God is calling the church back now, do you hear me? God is calling the church back to this. Micah Chapter 7 : One thing, oh man does God require of you, that you walk humbly with your God. Oh, how the Father longs for your fellowship. Oh, the Father longs for your presence more than you long for His.
Once I was lying on the floor and I said, “God, how I want You. You don’t know how much I want You. You don’t know how much I want Your Presence.” And He said, “I want yours more.” He spoke to me as clear as I’m talking to you. “I want yours more.” I said, “Lord, You want me more than I want You? Do you know how many times I don’t give myself to you?” Oh how the Father loved to come down and walk in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve. How the Father went on a quest, saying “Where are you, Adam? Where’s our fellowship? Where’s our intimacy? Where’s our communion? Where’s our just being together in the garden and talking? Where is it? I miss it. I want it, I’m looking for you. I want your presence more than you want Mine.”
Adam and Eve weren’t doing any ministry in the garden. They weren’t talking about their needs and cares. They were just walking with God, enjoying the Presence of the Lord as He breathed on them. As the breeze of the Holy Spirit blew through that garden, they were in that breeze, talking and walking with God. “There is one thing that God requires of you, that you walk humbly with your God.”
Somebody had a vision one time and they shared this vision with me. They said, “Todd, the Holy Spirit put me out into a big open plain. And in this plain, there were all these rolled up mantles, all over the ground. I saw the mantle of Smith Wigglesworth. I saw the mantle of Kathryn Kuhlman, I saw the mantle of Elisha, I saw the mantle of Elijah, I saw the mantle of Amy Semple McPherson, and I saw the mantle of all the greats that have gone on before us. All the greats of the Bible, all their mantles were there.”
Now a mantle is the anointing, the authority and the power and ministry that was on someone else’s life. Then all of a sudden the Holy Spirit spoke to this man and said, “take any mantle you want. What do you want, pick it up, take it, any one of them.” “Oh, I want Elijah! Oh! oh! I want to be like Smith Wigglesworth. Oh! Oh! The mantle of John G Lake! Oh! My! The mantle of Elisha, think of that anointing!” Then all of a sudden this big glow came up off of the ground, and he looked down and he saw another mantle in the middle of all these mantles, and he saw the name on the mantle and it said “Enoch walked with God so intimately, he was not.”
And that man said, “before all the power mantles, I’d rather have the Presence of the Lord.” He picked up Enoch. I’d rather have the Presence. I want the Presence. I want the Glory. I want Jesus, not the power, not the ministry, not the miracles, not the signs, not the wonders. I’m saying yes, to the walk of intimacy and communion with Jesus, of basking and sitting at His feet and knowing the times of quietness and stillness with the Lord. Holy Spirit, come. Come and soak us right now.
POSITIONED IN QUIETNESS
There was a time, over a year ago, that the Holy Spirit fell on me with holiness and desperation. And all of a sudden, I felt like I didn’t know God. And I felt like God was a million miles away from me. And I knew that I knew the Holy Spirit.
I knew that there were people around me who said, “Todd, if I could only have half of what you’ve got, I’d be satisfied. Who are you to hunger for more, Todd, I mean, don’t be so greedy. I don’t even have half of what you want to have. I mean, man, I don’t even feel God when I pray. What’s this about visitations and manifestations of the Holy Ghost, and being gone under the power for hours? I don’t have any of that, getting drunk in my prayer closet. I do this in my bedroom with me and God. People think I’m nuts. I’m laughing, I’m filled with the wine, I’m groaning, travailing, weeping, lying in His glory. Having moves of God’s power and presence even more intense than any revival meetings I given.
But all of a sudden one day, I said, “Holy Spirit, I don’t know You. I really don’t know You, Holy Spirit. In comparison to the more that I know that there is, I don’t know You. With the comparison of the depth I know I can go, I’m not even deep. And this revelation fell on me. This passion and this holy desperation fell on me. And I said, “God, I’m not even scraping the surface. I don’t know You. Lord, I’m not deep,” but yet, I was deep. You’ve got to understand something. I was deep. I was walking in things others had not even walked in yet. I was deep. And I said, “I’m not deep.” And I came into this valley of death, wilderness. But yet I was still manifesting and still feeling God’s glory on me. I was still feeling the manifestation of God’s Presence. But all of a sudden I was saying, “No, Lord, there’s more. And I literally became for a season of a few days that I was in prayer from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed. And all I was doing was seeking. Drawing near unto God, saying, “Lord, more. God, increase, Lord, more. Oh, deeper, oh deeper.” Praying in tongues, locking myself in the bedroom, reading the Word, worshipping for four hours with a worship tape, day in and day out.
I was on a quest. I was on a pilgrimage. I wasn’t satisfied with where I was or where I had been. I was looking for the next glory. Glory to glory. And I was going down fast. And whatever was going to get in my way was going to get out of the way because I didn’t have a shovel in my hand, I had a bulldozer. I was going to drill ten wells. I was hungry for God. I was starving. I was so hungry I literally felt like I was about to die if God didn’t touch me. Either God touch me, or I was going to Heaven. That’s it!
It was an unquenchable thirst. I was on the floor, I was getting drunk, I was in revival meetings getting hammered but there was still this, “more”. “Deep, deep, deep called for me. The fountains of the deep, got to go deeper. There’s a well I haven’t touched. There’s more. And I was seeking God’s face, I was running after God, I was stirring myself up to take hold of God, all that stuff. I said “God, I’m seeking you, I’m searching for you with all of my heart, You said I’d find you. You said if I’d draw near unto you, You’d draw near unto me. Draw near unto me. Fall onto me.” I started doing all of that.
And one day in the middle of all that business, because I was hungry, The Holy Ghost, in the middle of a prayer, took the words right out of my mouth and I went mute. Mute! I was like, “Hey, Jesus”--- nothing. Just like that, mute. And I was forced, and I was just in my chair…no words. Then it was like literally, liquid honey, which was the Glory of the Lord. And it was warm hovering in the living room. I was in the Glory of the Lord. And the weight of glory was falling on me, the Presence of the Lord grew to such intensity that I was bent over and fell off of my chair onto my face. And I lied there in God’s glory for I don’t know how long, not being able to talk or move.
Later, I went to bed and woke up the next day and I felt the lingering Presence of the previous day’s meeting with God. It was like dew resting on me, and I thought, “Wow! I’m feeling the leftovers here. I can still feel it on me.” Then I went into the bedroom for another session with God. And I closed the door. As soon as the door closed, literally it was as if Jesus in his full self, stepped into the bedroom. And the Presence of the Lord was intense and radiating. And I was once again forced, in the intense level of God’s Glory, just to behold His Glory. It was so thick. Thick. Thick.
Then, I was starting to pray again one day, and I was able to pray again. And I was praying in tongues again, and saying, “Oh, God, I seek You. Draw near unto me. You told us, the Bible says this, and the Bible says that, quoting all the stuff that God knows already. Then all of a sudden, The Holy Ghost fell on me. And I was out onto the floor for three hours in my prayer closet. Then suddenly I had this desperate hunger in me like I’ve never been hungry before. Do you know how this happened? The Presence of the Lord began to wane. And I felt the Presence of the Lord lifting. At other times, I would have thought, “Oh, the Lord’s leaving, fellowship is over. I don’t feel it any more, it’s lifting.”
We’ve all been there, right? Anybody that’s really been close to Jesus and felt the manna of His Presence, you know the time where it wanes. It’s just not the same. You know like when you feel prayer comes to an end.
But this time I was so hungry and so desperate, get this! I felt the Lord lifting and I said, “What! No!” And I jumped off my floor and I said, “God, I’m going to take hold of You.” And I chased after God, and I stirred myself up and I said, “Draw near unto me, Fall on me again. Who are You to make me hungry and not feed me? Who are You to make me thirsty and not give me to drink? You fall in me with this Glory, and then You just take Yourself out of the bedroom? Forget it, God. I’m going to seek You until you fall on me again.”
Then, I’d pray in tongues, and seek the Lord for another hour. Wham! Sandwiched to the floor another four hours. The Presence of the Lord would lift again and I was like an animal. I’m telling you, I felt like a wild animal after my prey. That’s how I was in seeking God’s face. The Presence of the Lord lifted again, and I jumped up on the floor and I said, “Lord, No” and I’d chase God down again. And, wham! On the floor. I had times of that for up to twelve hours. Three and four hour sessions, out. Then I’d get up and seek God for an hour. Wham! Out three or four hours. It was like “God, what’s going on?”
And the Holy Spirit said, “Todd, I’m trying to teach you something. I’m trying to teach you how to receive. I’m trying to teach you that you don’t have to strive. I know you’re hungry and I want to reveal Myself to you more than you want Me to reveal Myself to you. But, you’ve got to quiet yourself. You’ve got to become still. That’s why I took the words out of your mouth, that’s why I’m pouring out such glory on you. It’s to get you positioned in quietness and at My feet and in the place of stillness so I can speak to you.
Now, you know that if you and I were having a conversation and we were both talking at the same time, I wouldn’t hear you. And you wouldn’t hear me. It would be kind of hard.
So, all of a sudden, I caught the picture. So, then I went into the prayer room, and this went on for three months, this whole season then it ended. Three months. I walked into the bedroom, and I said, “Alright, Lord. You know I’m here. I don’t have to tell You I’m here, You’re not dumb.” So I said, “Alright. Let’s try this”. I closed the door. Then I said, “That’s it! I’m just going to get on the floor.” Wham! God’s Glory. Four hours later, I get up. Then, I’d go back into prayer that evening. Here’s my prayer, “Come Lord. I just want to lie in Your Glory, lie in Your river”. Wham! God’s Glory. Four hours later... Seriously!
Now this came to such a place that literally people started to understand the visitations I was having and they’d ask if they could just come over and lie on my rug with me in one of my soaking sessions. We called them soaking parties. People would literally come—I’d have eight people in my house, put on this tape, we’d all lie in the floor, Wham! We’d all lie there for hours and we’d get up. People would have visions, revelations.
Do you know what started happening to me during those times? Angels started coming into the bedroom. I started taking trips into the Spirit. The heavens started opening up and I started having visions. The Presence of the Lord would be on me and I’d feel electricity running through my body and my body would go numb. And I call it the “Honey Presence of Jesus” because the Presence of the Lord was so thick I literally felt like I was eating honey. Ummmm, ummm, ummm, it was so thick. Jesus was so near me. I was in such a place of being able to be aware of God’s Presence.
You know what? God never leaves. You leave. You know how you leave the Presence of the Lord? When your mind starts wandering. When you start thinking about something else, when your mind gets into worry and concern. You can live in God’s Glory. I encourage you to read Brother Lawrence’s book, “Practicing the Presence of God”. God never leaves, you do. How do you leave? In your thoughts, in your attention, in your mind, business. Do you know why you never get into God’s Presence even when your mind is on God? Because, you’re too busy trying to find God when He’s right there. And the key is, “Still’. “Quiet”
“God, I’m running after You, I’m looking for You.” “I’m right here. I live inside of you, all my Glory, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is inside of you.” Quiet yourself and think about entering into that Glory that’s in you. You are an ark.
So, one day after this season of all this soaking, I walk into this youth ministry that I was involved in and I saw the Youth Leaders that I was working with and all of a sudden the Spirit of Prophecy fell on me. Literally, a mantle. Whap! And I prophesied over them all, twice. I got so intense, I’m not kidding, after I prophesied over them I opened up the door and ran into the hallway into the church and said, “is there anyone out here I can prophesy over? It’s flowing.” It was like Paul never prophesied, but when the Spirit of Prophesy fell on him he prophesied from morning to night non-stop. And this thing came on me like that.
Then all of a sudden I walked into my church and prophesied over everybody. My pastor didn’t know what to do and he sat me down after five or six because he was feeling threatened. It was just going on and people were going out under the Power and they were weeping and they were getting witness to the Word.
Then I go into the Youth Ministry that I was involved in. Lined up 30 young people, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. Prophetic words. Then they’d get filled with the Holy Ghost, speaking in tongues; they started getting healed, their legs started growing out, Miracles, creative miracles, shoulders, bones straightening out, spines straightening out, necks, backs. Every kind of healing you could imagine.
Then all of a sudden I’m getting called to Prophetic Conferences. This thing just snowballs. Out of nowhere. All I did was remember to rely on God’s Glory. And now I’m a lean green bull preaching machine prophesying over anything that moves, seeing manifestations and miracles, and the falling of God’s Glory on whole congregations, sections go out under the Power and everybody can’t move. And I thought, “Lord, I was just in Your Presence. That’s it! In Your Presence, In Your face.
And it was in the midst of that soaking season that I was released in the full time itinerary ministry. I can’t even get into how that happened. It’s a whole story in itself. But, that was the fruit of this season. This is where what I’m in right now came out of. And I will stay in that place. And that’s the key to going deeper.
I often withdraw into the wilderness to pray. I often put myself in the Secret Place. I put myself in quiet place prayer. I put myself in the desert, I put myself in a place of hunger and desperation and I refuse to be satisfied. That’s often withdrawing into the wilderness.
SAMUEL AND ELI
Let me give you a perfect picture of soaking. I Samuel, Chapter 3. This is good. Here’s soaking right from the Bible. I Samuel 3— “Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli.” What was happening? “The Word of the Lord was rare in those days. There was no widespread revelation. And it came to pass at that time when Eli was lying down” Now catch this or you’re going to miss it. Where? “in his place. His eyes begin to grow so dim he could not see. And the lamp of the Lord went out in the tabernacle of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep.” Where was Samuel lying down? Samuel was lying down where the ark of God was. Where was Eli? In his place. What was happening with Eli? His eyes were so dim he couldn’t see. Do you think that might have something to do spiritually as well because it so happens that the lamp of God is going out in the tabernacle. Eli is in his place. The Word of the Lord is rare. There’s no revelation, his eyes are growing dim, he’s burned out.
Now all of a sudden Samuel was lying down somewhere. But he was lying down where the ark of God was. Do you know what he was doing? He was positioned in the place of rest. Like I was on the floor in the Presence of the Lord. He didn’t know what he was doing. The Bible says he didn’t even know the Lord at that time. Just like when I was soaking, I had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea that all of a sudden, the Word of the Lord in revelation was going to come in abundance. I had no idea that my eyes were going to be so opened that I was going to behold things that I never thought I was going to see. I had no idea that all of a sudden the lamp of God was going to get so hot in me, I can say that I was like a burning, shining, lamp. I had no idea that that was going to happen.
Now, here’s Eli in his place, he can’t see. The lamps going out in the Tabernacle, and he’s the priest. He’s neglecting the fresh oil into the lamp. It speaks of prayer, friend. Not putting the oil in the lamp, forgetting his priestly duties, he’s getting lazy and apathetic. He’s letting the lamp go out. He says, “Yeah, the eyes are dim and I’m in my place.The Word of the Lord is rare, there’s no revelation. There’s no prophetic flowing in my life”
But while Samuel was somewhere different, lying where the ark of God was, what happened to Samuel, friend? Verse 4: “The Lord called Samuel.” All of a sudden it’s the Voice of God. All of a sudden the Word of the Lord. All of a sudden, revelation. All of a sudden his eyes were opened. All of a sudden the lights came back on. A new anointing fell. How did the new anointing fall? Samuel became priest. Forget Eli. He got kicked out of the picture, and all of a sudden, now Samuel becomes Prophet.
What should you do? Find where the ark is! All in one minute the Voice of the Lord comes to him, he receives the commission. The new Prophet The Word of the Lord is not rare anymore because somebody’s finally heard the Voice of the Lord that has revelation. But how did he get it? “I don’t know, I was just lying in the Presence of the Lord.”
Maybe where Eli used to be, huh? There must have been a time where Eli used to lie in the Ark. Eli used to take care of the lamp and keep fresh oil in it. Eli wasn’t sowing in sin because he knew the sins of his sons. Eli was caring for the tabernacle. He was walking as priest at a time. But now you can just forget about all that. It’s dim now.
And the voice of the Lord comes and he runs off and he says this, “Hey, did you call me, Master Eli?” “I didn’t call you, go lie down again.” So he went and he lied down where? Where the ark was again. He got back into the Presence. Wow. When you’re lying down like that, you’re surrendered. God’s voice came again, three times and finally, It took Eli that long to figure it out. “Oh gee, boss, maybe it’s God”
That’s soaking. Do you know what happens to a lot of ministries? Pastors, leaders evangelists? They start out in soaking. They start out in passion. They start out like Mary, at the feet of Jesus. They start out being so in love with Jesus, so lovesick that from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to bed, it’s Jesus. And the Presence of the Lord is fresh on them. And they’ve got edge. They’re lying in the ark. They’re ministering to the Lord, like the boy Samuel. Then all of a sudden because of that, revelation falls on their lives. The Word of the Lord falls on their lives. Their eyes get opened. The lamp’s not going out. The lamp is burning. All of a sudden it’s revival. Then some other pastors and leaders and ministries take notice of their new flame, and they say, “You’ve got something fresh, come and preach in my church, preach in my church, preach in my church.” Then the phone starts ringing and you get so busy having to do books and all the practical things of ministry; in travel, in preparing words, in ministry. And you get into ministry mindedness, a mindset of give, give, give, minister, minister, minister. I’m the minister now, I can no longer receive at the altar under the ministry of somebody else, because I’m the one who should be ministering when their ministering, but right now I’m letting them do it. And all this stuff starts happening. Then all of a sudden, the most hard to receivers in renewal are pastors and leaders. Because, they say, “No, I can’t let the people see me receive because they’re always looking to me to give to them.” That kind of mentality slips in.
Then all of a sudden, a Mary comes along again and just sits at the feet of Jesus. And you see something that you once had. Then all of a sudden there’s a new fresh anointing and an edge on them, again. And all of a sudden there’s a fresh word and revelation on them. Then a young man or girl, or they could be older, but he’s young because he’s fresh, he’s in his prime, and he starts rising up. We look over and all of a sudden, it’s like, “Hey, Lord, I’ve been serving for fifteen years, Jesus. Now all of a sudden miracles are happening, yet I’m not having any miracles. How come that’s happening for him?”
And we start to feel threatened and envy and jealousy sets in. Then we start to feel the need to control and tamper it down because people are getting more excited about his preaching or her preaching or their preaching, than our preaching. And all of a sudden it’s “Oh, I’ve got to take the reins, I’ve got to slow this thing down. No! It can’t be happening in my church. But what if it runs me out of the church. I feel threatened, I’m not secure in my own call. I got so caught up in the Kitchen. I used to be at the feet, but now I’m caught up serving because of what I got at the feet, that I lost the feet place. And I’ve lost the passion.
And then somebody’s got what we once had and we know what that means and so we start feeling envious and jealous. We don’t understand. And then we start seeing pastors, when renewal breaks out in their church, burn out because all of a sudden they can’t control it. And they get so frustrated because it’s a flame that’s going out of control, and they don’t understand it, they’re against it, they’re not embracing it, and one guy almost had a complete emotional breakdown. And he said, “If you guys don’t stop this renewal stuff, I’m going to break down.” So it had to die down.
You’re going to burn out if you try to fight against the tidal wave of God. You’re going to get destroyed. Don’t you fight against the river. You get in or get out all of the way. Don’t you dare try to stop somebody else that’s trying to get in. If you don’t want to be in, you just go ahead and lie where you want to lie. But don’t you try to stop somebody else from getting in the river. I wouldn’t want to be into that thing. You may burn out.
See, I’ve got to guard my feet time. I’m preaching two-three times a day almost every day, having two-three days in between services for months. It’s been non-stop. I can’t remember the last time I went more than a couple of days without preaching. Then when I’m home, I’ve got so many books and tapes and orders to do, so many phone calls and bookings to do, that its nuts, and my WebPage is up and it’s like, wow! I have to hire somebody else. Just over a year and a half ago, I was nobody. Now my schedule is booked up almost a year in advance. I’ve got more phone calls than I can shake a stick at. Things are happening. And the Lord’s made me too big too fast and it’s like, “God, this is out of control. I’d better stay at Your feet.”
I’m being transparent, here. I’m being real. I’m sharing keys with you. I’m bringing you into my prayer closet. I’m bringing you into my life for a minute. Because, you know what? More than a sermon, if I could give you my life and passion, that’s it. If you could catch the flame of everything here, and run with it on your own. If I can be an example to you of what God can do with just a person, I mean, who is Todd Bentley? Really, I’ve only been saved about five years. When I got born again, I had nothing. Nothing, and that’s sad. No job, didn’t finish grade 8. I didn’t have one natural skill but speaking. Praise the Lord.
But in the natural if you were to know me after the flesh, I’d be looking like the last guy that God would use. Compared to some people who have been in the way for ten years. Got all the training and papers you could imagine; maybe the thing is they’ve been in the way. The thing is, they’ve never seen a miracle. They don’t even remember the last time they one a soul. I know leaders and pastors that, if they win a soul a year, that’s great. I couldn’t live like that. I hope you can’t. Sheep! I hope you can’t live like that. Hop out of the fold and go after one. Bring it home.
Oh, what God is doing right now in the river is so good. I’m going to swim in it. And all I have to do is swim in it with my mouth open. I can just be still and rest. I just want to go find the river of God sometimes and just lie there with my mouth open. Ahhhhhhhh! Ahhhh! Sometimes when I get into God’s river like that, it’s like getting into a hot tub after a hard day’s labor. Whoah! Whoah! Lord, it’s so good. Ahhh!.
I’ve learned to drink and to soak even when I’m preaching. And I take little drinks like that every once in a while.
WAITING ON THE LORD
Let me just end with this last story. Here it is folks. One day the disciples were told by Jesus, “the Holy Spirit is coming and when He comes, you’re going to be baptized. You’re going to be fully immersed. But you know what, I want you to wait. The power is going to come too. The miracles are going to come. The signs and wonders are going to come. The Presence of the Holy Spirit is going to come. The fire is going to come. You’re going to get immersed. You’re going to get sent into the river of God not many days from now, Acts 1:5. And He says, here’s the key, “I want you to wait, and I want you to tarry in Jerusalem until you’ve been endued with power from on high.”
And they weren’t in the upper room from the moment they woke up till the moment they went to bed, in constant prayer and busy doing. There were times when they were sitting in expectation, “Hey, Peter, do you think He might come today?” “What do you think the Holy Ghost is going to look like when He comes?” “How do you think He’s going to come?” “What’s it going to feel like?” “Maybe He’s going to come today, John?” “I hope so.” “Holy Spirit come like fire” and he’s still saying, “When’s the promise coming”. Do you know what was in their hearts? They were like children. They were waiting and they were expecting. They were like waiting for Daddy, “What’s going to happen, when’s He going to come?” is He going to come today? Is He coming today?
Every morning in the upper room, “Is He going to come today?” “Jesus told us all about Him. I remember what it was like”, “I can’t wait. Peter, It’s coming, The Power is coming! The Presence is coming.” There is an excitement! An expectation! They were like children, it was Christmas.
PICKLED
And do you know what happened because they were waiting? Because they learned how to wait? They learned how to tarry? The Bible says they were baptized. They were receiving the baptism when the Holy Ghost came and they were filled and they began to speak in tongues and the fire fell on them. That was the baptism in the Spirit. Do you know what the word baptismal means? I heard a minister say once and I gleaned this from him. Baptismal means for pickling pickles. It’s a Greek word. The first place you can find baptismal is in an old recipe for pickling pickles.
And you know what? The disciples were pickled. Do you know how I know? They went in as cucumber, friend, and they came out a dill. Transformed! Why? Well, just days before, like a month or two earlier, Peter says, “I’m never going to deny you, Jesus.” “And also said all the disciples.” Then they all forsook Him and fled. Peter, in fact, denied Jesus three times to a servant girl, he did it with cursing. Come on, now, St. Peter cursing, blaspheming? Yes! Denied Jesus three times to a servant girl. All the disciples forsook Jesus and fled. Then when Jesus rises from the dead, where did He find them? They’re all hiding in their little house for fear of the Jews.
Jesus appears through the wall and says, “Fear not! It is I.” That’s the disciples!. Then all of a sudden, they get pickled. They get baptized. They get filled. Do you know what the word filled means? Wholly saturated. Overflowing. Marinated. Filled to the abundance. Fed as if with fat. That’s what the word filled means. Study it out in the Greek. Study it out in the Hebrew. They were filled, abundantly satisfied, fed as if with fat. They were saturated. They were filled, they were overflowed, they were shaken, they were pressed, and it was stuffed inside of them, they were pickled. They became dill.
How do I know that? Because all of a sudden that same Peter rises up, preaches a message, and three thousand get saved. A message of repentance, becomes more bold to the very ones he denied Jesus to, now he says, “YOU crucified Him!” What did Peter do? Nothing! Just let the Holy Ghost fall on him and fill him. The Presence of the Lord.
Then he and all the disciples became pickled. They all became lean, mean, bold preaching machines, manifesting signs and wonders having souls added to the church daily and doing miracles, signs and wonders everywhere they went. What happened? Pentecost! Pickled! Baptized! Filled! Marinated! Saturated! Overflowed! Toasted! Pigged! Blasted! Taken over! They were just like, smoked! The Shekinah fell on them. They were transformed. The Lord’s Glory fell on them. Who knows how long they were in the upper room before they stumbled out into the streets full of the wine. I tell you, man, fire, wine, tongues, filled, all in the same moment? They were changed.
I’m going to help you get positioned. What we’re going to do is soak. I want you to put on a praise and worship tape. Then I want to encourage you if you can to find a place somewhere on the floor and get into a place of position. You can sit in your chair at the Lord’s feet if you want to, but I’ve done this all sorts of places and it helps when you get positioned. And you get into receiving mode, and you surrender. This is the best part. Don’t worry about your dignity. Get on the floor. You can lie on your face or get on your back. To soak, think about Jesus. Quiet yourself. Sit at the Lord’s feet. Let the Lord touch you. “come and pickle us, Jesus.” In your heart be crying out “Come, Lord Jesus,
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Todd Bentley
Those of you who heard my message, The Wells of God, this is going to go deeper. That was what The Wells of God was all about, going deeper. I want to go deeper
Psalm 63: “God, You are my God. Early will I seek You. My soul thirsts for You. My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. I’ve looked for You in the sanctuary to see Your power and to see Your glory. Because Your loving kindness is better than life, my lips will praise you. Thus I will bless You where I live. I will lift up my hands in Your Name, and my soul will be satisfied as with fat and abundance. My mouth will praise you with joyfulness.”
Now, what was David saying? David was saying, “I’m so desperate for you, God. I’m so desperate to know you, God. How lovely are Your tabernacles. I want Your alter to be my home. I want to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I’ve got a holy passion inside of me, and I’m desperate for you, God, I know You are my God, and because You are my God, I found this hunger inside of me, this passion to know You. I love Your Presence. You are my God and early will I seek You. I’m saying I will seek You even though I’m in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water, God I will seek You.”
Do you know what it means to be in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water? The Holy Spirit is the water. He wrote the Bible. The water, the river, speaks of the Presence of the Holy Spirit. David says, “I’m in this place, and I’m hungry for You. And I’m going to seek You. And I’m going to bless You and I’m going to praise You, and I’m going to lift my hands up in Your Name. Even though I’m in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water, where there is no manifestation of God. It feels like God is a million miles away from me, it feels like God is deaf to me right now. There’s no revival, there is no renewal, there’s no refreshing, there’s no water, it’s just dry land.”
Do you know where David was when he wrote this Psalm? David was in the wilderness. Do you know what he was doing in the wilderness? He was running for his life. The very King that he served faithfully was now trying to kill and destroy his life. David had to run like a dog and hide in the strongholds and he was out in the wilderness. And he said there, “God, though they’re trying to kill me, though I’m in trial, though I’m in tribulation, though I’m in persecution, though it’s a dry and thirsty land, and there is no water, You are my God. I’m so hungry for you, I don’t care how dry it is. I’ll seek You, I’ll bless You, I’ll praise You, and I’ll lift my hands up in Your Name.”
Then he made a prophetic decree, because David knew the key to finding God. He said this, Verse 5 of Psalm 63: “My soul shall be satisfied. I’ll be filled with fat and abundance and my lips will praise You, with joyfulness I’ll praise You.” Do you know what he was saying? “I’m in a dry and thirsty land, hardship, persecution. He (Saul) is trying to take my life. There’s no water, there’s no renewal there’s no refreshing, God, you’re a million miles away, I feel like Your ear is deaf to me. I’m in the valley time, but I’m going to seek You. I’m going to bless You, I’m going to praise You, I’m going to lift my hands up in Your Name anyway, because I know that’s the key. “That’s the key to breakthrough. That’s the key to finding You. That’s the key to going deeper. And I will be filled. I will be satisfied. I can say I’ll be satisfied because I know that if I can seek You even when it’s dry, You’ll fill me.”
It’s easy to seek Him when it’s wet, but will you seek Him when it’s dry? I want to share something with you now, because many of you live in the wilderness. Many of you have forgotten the manifest Presence of God. You’re either in the place of feasting or you’re in the place of famine. The Bible is either famine or feast. I want to help you get to the feast when you’re in the famine. I want you to be soaking in God’s Presence. I want to give you a key, because David was in the wilderness, David was in the valley.
IN THE DESERT
Do you know what the desert is? The desert is a place of prayer. The desert is the quiet place. The desert speaks of the Secret Place. The desert is the place that you meet God. And if you have the perception of what the desert, wilderness, valley speaks of in the scripture, the next time you fall into a valley, rather than murmuring, grumbling and complaining, and giving up on prayer, giving up on reading the Word, you’re going to have a joy. If I can help you understand what happens in the desert, you’ll love the desert. I love the valley. I love it. I love the dry and thirsty land where there is no water. Because, do you know what happens when you come up out of the wilderness? Do you know the first place that you go?
Where was the first place Jesus went after He came out of the wilderness? John 2; The wedding. He came straight up out of the wilderness, straight up out of the dry land and He went to a wedding. Do you know what was at the wedding? Lots of wine. The best wine. The wedding was a party. The wedding was a feast. And the wedding was a celebration. So, the first place that God brings you after you’ve gone through your desert, after you’ve gone through your dry land, is to the wedding. He brings you to the place where at the wedding, was His glory. At the wedding was His wine. At the wedding was His party. At the wedding was His celebration. At the wedding, there was a feast.
And Jesus went to the wedding in the power of the Spirit. Do you know why God puts you in the desert? Because, He says, “I just want to bring you to another party. I wanted to put you in the desert so that when you come out of the desert there can be an increase of My Spirit in your life. Jesus came out of the desert, “in the power”. And, God says, “I’m bringing an increase of the power, so I’m putting you in the wilderness.”
And you know that if you’re in the wilderness, you should be able to have joy because you should say, “I know a wedding is coming, hallelujah! And I’m going to do what I can to quicken up my desert time.” And you know how you can quicken up your desert time? You say, “God, yes it’s a dry and thirsty land and there is no water, but I’m saying I will seek You. Yes, God, though I don’t feel like it, I’ll seek You. Yes, God, and I’ll bless You. Yes, God, and I’ll praise you. Yes, God, and I will lift up my hands in Your Name.”
But you know what most of us do in the wilderness? We murmur, we grumble and we complain. And we become the children of Israel. We wander around and end up being in that dry place longer than God wants us to be there because we go, “Oh God, the Word is not fresh. There’s no revelation. My desire for the Word is gone, I’m just not going to read it. You’re not hearing me, God. Look at this trial and tribulation I’m in. Look at my financial mess.” We become bitter and we stop praying. Then we get into depression, and we murmur and we grumble. Then we end up staying in that wilderness longer.
But I realized that when I’m in the wilderness, the minute I feel that I’m moving into the wilderness, I go, “Oh, God, You don’t know what You’re doing because, I’m going to seek You. And I’m going to search for You with all of my heart. And, I’m going to find You. And I’m going to dig You up and I’m going to climb up into Heaven and get a hold of You. I’m going to bless you, I’m going to praise you, I’m going to read Your Word, I’m going to worship You, even though I feel nothing. I don’t care if it’s a dry and thirsty land. I don’t care if there is no water. You are God and You are My God, and I love You, and I’ll seek You, I’ll follow, You I’ll worship You. And, I’ll bless You.
Do you know what else the wilderness is, friend? Do you know why God puts you in the valley? If you get an understanding of this, you will be able to have joy in the wilderness. Do you know where the rivers are? Rivers are in the desert. You can’t go to the wedding, you can’t walk in power without the desert. But most of us just murmur and grumble when we are in the desert. But David said, “No, I’m going to bless You. I’m going to praise You. I’m going to seek You. I’m going to lift my hands up in Your Name and I know that that is the key to coming out of my wilderness. And then my soul will be satisfied. Heaven is going to open and You’re going to fill me. Though I’m out here, I know, because I’m blessed when I’m seeking Your Face and lifting my hands up in the air, my soul will be satisfied by God. You feed a hungry heart. Blessed are they which hunger and thirst, for they will be filled.
You know why God puts you in the wilderness? Because you aren’t hungry enough. God puts you in the wilderness to see how hungry and thirsty you are; to see how desperate you are. To see how much you really want Him. How much you really want to seek His face. How much you really want to bless and praise Him. It’s easy to bless and praise Him at the table and the wine at the wedding. But, if you want to go deeper, if you want to go to the next level, it’s in the wilderness.
Look what God says, Psalm 107:35, “He turns the wilderness into pools of water, dry land into water springs.” Turns what? Wilderness into pools of water. Turns what? Dry land into water springs. Refreshing! Renewal! And what does He do? There He makes the hungry dwell so that they may establish a city for a dwelling place, and sow fields, plant vineyards that they may yield a fruitful harvest. He blesses them and they multiply greatly.” Where do the hungry dwell? The hungry dwell in the wilderness. Why do the hungry get to dwell in the wilderness? Because God knows they’re hungry enough that though they’re in the wilderness, though they’re in the dry and thirsty land, that they’re going to know how to cause rivers to come forth in the desert and they’re going to know how to turn their wilderness into pools. They are going to hunger and thirst and hunger and thirst, and keep on hungering and thirsting and they’re going to keep on saying, “God, you are my God. I’m going to seek you, I’m going to find You. I’m running after You, I’m going to search for you, I’m going to seek after you with all my heart and I’m not going to give up until this wilderness becomes a pool.”
So, He puts the hungry there. He knows the hungry won’t murmur and grumble. He knows that they will say, “God, I’m going to the wedding. I’m moving into another level of power.” Most of our perspectives of the wilderness and the valley is, “Oh, no! Not another valley again, God.” You’re depressed. You give up. You get apathy. You get complacency. But God says, “Nah, that’s where the river is. I turn wilderness into pools of water and make hungry ones dwell there.” Because, the hungry are desperate enough to hunger and thirst.
That’s what God wants to do with you. That’s what God wants to do with me. The desert speaks of prayer. The Bible says that Jesus often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. Do you know why He often withdrew into the wilderness? Because He said “I know that the wilderness represents the place of desperation. It represents the place of hunger. It represents the place of seeking God.” That’s what the dry land is. He said, “I’m going to put myself willfully into a place where I’m going to go out of My way to seek God and be desperate and hungry because I know that’s the key to another level.”
So He often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. He often put Himself into the dry land. He often withdrew to a place that He knew was a place you met with God. The desert is the place you meet with God. Where did Moses meet with God? The desert. Where did John the Baptist come up preaching? He came up out of the wilderness. Where did Paul the Apostle go right after he got saved? Three years into the Arabian Desert. Where was Jesus forty days and forty nights? In the desert. Where was David? Out in the desert. Out in the dry and thirsty land.
Why is the Bible so filled of men of God, men of great measure of the Presence and anointing of God, but every time before they do, every time before the wedding, every time before the power, every time before the revelation, where were they? The desert! The wilderness! If you can understand that then you would say, “Hallelujah, I’m in the desert. Yes! I’m going to another level! I’m going to the wedding! Another revelation! I’m getting myself ready. I’m walking in power and going to come up out of the wilderness in power. I’m coming out with a new revelation.
Revelation came to Paul the Apostle when he was where? In the Arabian Desert for three years! He received the message and he said, “Hey, Galatians, when I got saved on the road to Damascus, I didn’t confer with flesh and blood. In fact, the revelation I got didn’t come by the will of man, it came by the will of God. I got it in the desert.” The desert is the place you meet God. The desert is the place your flesh dies. The desert is the place of prayer.
THE QUIET PLACE
You know what else the desert is? Do you want to find the Secret Place of the Most High? Who’s hungry for the Secret Place of the Most High? Do you know where the Secret Place is? It’s quiet. did you know that? The desert speaks of the Secret Place. Usually you’re out in the desert and there’s nobody else out there but you. There’s no TV, there’s no hockey game, there’s no entertainment, and there are no friends. There’s just you. There’s no music, there’s no distraction, and it’s quiet. All you can do is seek God’s face. All you can do is meet with God. All you can do is be desperate, fast and pray, and seek the Lord.
And, Jesus often withdrew into that place. He often put Himself there. He was hungry. He was hungry for more.
Some of you have been in the wilderness way to long. I’ve learned to dig up my wells quick. (You need to get the message before this one called The Wells of God). I’ve learned how to dig up my well fast. I will lock myself in my room for 24 hours and not eat or drink, and seek God’s face until Heaven falls on me. Because, I want Jesus. Just Jesus. That’s it!
So that’s what the desert is. It’s a quiet place. It’s prayer. Do you know what God is doing right now, in fact? God is calling the church back to prayer. God is calling the church back to a different kind of prayer. He’s calling it back to what I call the desert. He’s calling it back to the quiet place.
Now, what do you think Jesus did in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights? Do you think He walked around praying in tongues for an hour? “Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah”, worshipped for an hour? Read the scripture for an hour? Prayed in intercession with prayer and supplication for an hour? Cast all His cares and needs on God for an hour? Prayed in tongues for another hour? Went to bed and got up the next day and start over again? Are you catching the picture of this? Jesus, doing all the talking. Jesus, doing all the doing. Jesus doing all the business and going to bed.
But the Bible says that Jesus only did the things He heard the Father speaking. And Jesus only did the things He saw the Father doing. Well, when do you think He saw the Father doing things? When do you think He heard the Father speaking the things He was to say? It was all those nights on the mountain. It was often withdrawing Himself into the wilderness. It was in the Secret Place. It was in the desert. What’s the desert? It’s quiet!
It was a quiet place of prayer. It was this place…listening prayer. It wasn’t all busy like most of your prayer life and mine was. My devotion, my tongues, my worship, my reading the Word…all that fits in, but you know what? When I sought God and I was in the room for an hour, I probably talked 55 minutes. Now, if you did that in the flesh, I’d think you are pretty into yourself and I wouldn’t want to have a conversation with you. I’d just take off.
A lot of us are in the prayer room, praying in tongues, and “Hey God! God!” and we pray in tongues some more and, “Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord!” “ I seek you Lord, You said if I draw near unto You, You’d draw near unto me.” And more tongues… But we just forget the quiet place.
GOD'S CALLING THE CHURCH BACK TO INTIMACY
(Sitting at His Feet)
There’s a different kind of prayer that God is bringing the church back into and its called intimacy. I think there were times where Jesus just sat at the feet of the Father and watched. And, sat at the feet of the Father and listened. Do you want a key to a revelation? Do you want to know Jesus like you’ve never known Jesus before?
I want to talk about how three months of soaking anywhere from four to twelve hours a day launched me into a fulltime itinerate ministry, a miracle, healing and prophetic ministry. The manifestations of God’s Presence on my life where God became more real to me than you, I want to talk about that.
The Bible says this, “Be still”. And what happens when you “be still”? “Know that I Am God”. Do you know where the knowing comes? It comes from the stillness. In fact the very word, “know”, in that verse in Psalm, where it says, “Be still and know…” in that very verse, know, actually means perceive. If you will be still, you will actually be able to perceive. If you’ll be still, it also means understand. It means come to know by revelation, like, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you, but My Father Who is in Heaven.”
That’s what that word “know” is. That is the Hebrew meaning of the word, knowing. All you’re doing is being still. You’re just being with Jesus. Just sitting in His Presence. Just not saying anything. And all of a sudden, you understand, and you perceive, and you’re coming to know God by revelation and you’re not even doing anything. You’re just sitting with Him. There is something about sitting at the Lord’s feet. Then, you get to know the Lord.
Sometimes I sit with my wife on the couch. We don’t have to say anything, I just want to look into her eyes and fall in love with her all over again. I just want to look at every line in her face. I just want to look into her eyes, because she’s got beautiful French eyes. I could crawl into my wife’s eyes and get lost forever. Sometimes when we just sit there and just hold hands looking at one another, I feel more love and I feel closer to my wife than when we are having conversations and talking.
Unfortunately, most of us do not know the still place of prayer. This is going to get deeper. I’m going to talk to you about how to get “pickled”. How you can become pickled. You go in a cucumber and come out a dill pickle. You’re going to get marinated. I’m going to talk about marinating in the Presence of the Lord.
I don’t know if you’re hungry for this, yet. But, I want to marinate. I want to bake. I want to get fried, I want to get soaked. I want to get saturated inside and out with God’s glory. But it comes in the desert. It comes in the quiet place, it comes with soaking. Be still.
“Shhh! Shhh!” God’s saying that to some of you. I’ve heard the Holy Spirit do that. I heard the Lord Shhh! me. “ Shhh! Shhh! Shhh! Can’t you sit still for ten minutes?” “God, it’s driving me nuts! It’s too quiet!”
But the Bible says in Isaiah 30:15, “…In quietness and confidence shall be your strength” Isaiah talks about being in that place of quietness. There is a confidence and strength that you can only get in being in quietness. Being in stillness. God strengthens you.
The Bible says that Mary sat at the feet of Jesus. Do you know what it says Mary was doing, sitting at the feet of Jesus? Here it is, “hearing His saying” Why was she hearing Jesus’ sayings? Why was she hearing the Voice of God? Mary was positioned in a place of receiving and surrender. Looking on the Lord’s face. “Oh, You’re glory. I receive Your glory. You’re awesome” She just sat there, looking on His face…listening.
Soaking is all about “How are you positioned in prayer?” I want to reposition you in prayer in this message. Most of you do not know the position of Mary. You do not know the position of quietness. You do not know the position of yielded, therefore you are not touching the intimacy that you could touch with Jesus.
Sometimes there is an intimate place I can hit with my wife, and sometimes I’d rather be there where we don’t talk. “I just want to enjoy your presence, Honey.” Sometimes my wife is like that. “Todd, can’t you just be with me? Be with me, just sit in the room; just be in the room. You’re presence is good enough.”
That’s what I tell the Lord, “Your Presence is good enough. I just want to be with You. I don’t want to talk to You about my cares, don’t want to talk to You about my needs. You know the things I have need of anyway.” Do you know what? If you can grasp this truth, your needs will begin to get met more than when you ask God to meet your needs. Do you know why? Because the Bible says “The Father knows.”
“All right yes, Todd, but what about “ask and receive”? Yes, there’s a place. But do you know what it says in Isaiah 64:4? It says “God is a God who acts for the ones who wait for Him.” And there were times when I’d decide to just wait for the Lord’s Presence and just be with Him. Just have Him be with me in the room, didn’t have to do any talking, just be at His feet and behold His glory. It was good enough for me. “I just want to sit in Your glory. For four hours, Lord, I just want to sit in Your glory, just be with You. My mind can focus on you, that’s it.” Oh yes, four hours. That’s it, that’s all I’d do. The whole time I’d be thinking about, “What a King!” And every once in a while I’d say, “You’re a King! I love Your glory. I just love Your Presence, I just love being with You. Oh, thank You, Lord. Ummmm. Ummmm. Drinking and receiving. For four hours, I’m in His Presence .
But some of you are like this, “But if I stop talking, God’s going to forget that I’m there and go away.” I know that you know that you’re like that, because I was like that. I thought that the minute I stopped talking in tongues, or stopped praising, or stopped worshipping, or stopped reading the Word, the Presence of the Lord was going to wane in less.
God is a God who acts for the one who waits for Him. I walked in such intimacy with Jesus when I first got saved. One time I was walking from my kitchen to my bedroom, and I thought, “Oh, I’ve got to have a peanut butter sandwich” (I like peanut butter.) Anyway, I went to open the cubbard and there was no peanut butter. So, I thought to myself, “Oh, man, I want peanut butter”, and I went to bed. That’s it. That’s it. And I was waiting in extended times of prayer sitting at the Lord’s feet. My wife got up the next morning, opened the garage door, and there was one jar of peanut butter sitting on the steps. Now, I never told my wife or God that I wanted peanut butter.
I don’t know how many times in this season, just over a year ago, where I was sitting in the Lord’s glory, sometimes up to ten to twelve hours a day. Not that I didn’t talk, worship, or pray in tongues, or read the Word at all in that time, but there were times, literally, of hours of just sitting at His feet. Basking. That’s it. And the revelations, almost everything I have on my tape table, came out of those times, came out of the wilderness. God dropped stuff on me so fast, at times I’m writing four sermons at the same time. I had nothing to do with it. It was just in me, burning.
But the key to revelation, the key to having a manifestation of the prophetic is here. It says Mary said, “I sit at Your feet and I hear Your sayings. I’m positioning myself in quietness and stillness at Your feet. Therefore, I’m positioned to hear.” Many of you don’t hear the Voice of God because you don’t know position. You don’t know quietness, you don’t know stillness, you don’t know the feet of Jesus. You don’t know basking, you don’t know soaking, you don’t know bathing, oh, oh, oh, in the Lord’s glory.
Oh! That’s where God wants to bring us. Do you know what the Bible says in Micah? This is where God is calling the church back now, do you hear me? God is calling the church back to this. Micah Chapter 7 : One thing, oh man does God require of you, that you walk humbly with your God. Oh, how the Father longs for your fellowship. Oh, the Father longs for your presence more than you long for His.
Once I was lying on the floor and I said, “God, how I want You. You don’t know how much I want You. You don’t know how much I want Your Presence.” And He said, “I want yours more.” He spoke to me as clear as I’m talking to you. “I want yours more.” I said, “Lord, You want me more than I want You? Do you know how many times I don’t give myself to you?” Oh how the Father loved to come down and walk in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve. How the Father went on a quest, saying “Where are you, Adam? Where’s our fellowship? Where’s our intimacy? Where’s our communion? Where’s our just being together in the garden and talking? Where is it? I miss it. I want it, I’m looking for you. I want your presence more than you want Mine.”
Adam and Eve weren’t doing any ministry in the garden. They weren’t talking about their needs and cares. They were just walking with God, enjoying the Presence of the Lord as He breathed on them. As the breeze of the Holy Spirit blew through that garden, they were in that breeze, talking and walking with God. “There is one thing that God requires of you, that you walk humbly with your God.”
Somebody had a vision one time and they shared this vision with me. They said, “Todd, the Holy Spirit put me out into a big open plain. And in this plain, there were all these rolled up mantles, all over the ground. I saw the mantle of Smith Wigglesworth. I saw the mantle of Kathryn Kuhlman, I saw the mantle of Elisha, I saw the mantle of Elijah, I saw the mantle of Amy Semple McPherson, and I saw the mantle of all the greats that have gone on before us. All the greats of the Bible, all their mantles were there.”
Now a mantle is the anointing, the authority and the power and ministry that was on someone else’s life. Then all of a sudden the Holy Spirit spoke to this man and said, “take any mantle you want. What do you want, pick it up, take it, any one of them.” “Oh, I want Elijah! Oh! oh! I want to be like Smith Wigglesworth. Oh! Oh! The mantle of John G Lake! Oh! My! The mantle of Elisha, think of that anointing!” Then all of a sudden this big glow came up off of the ground, and he looked down and he saw another mantle in the middle of all these mantles, and he saw the name on the mantle and it said “Enoch walked with God so intimately, he was not.”
And that man said, “before all the power mantles, I’d rather have the Presence of the Lord.” He picked up Enoch. I’d rather have the Presence. I want the Presence. I want the Glory. I want Jesus, not the power, not the ministry, not the miracles, not the signs, not the wonders. I’m saying yes, to the walk of intimacy and communion with Jesus, of basking and sitting at His feet and knowing the times of quietness and stillness with the Lord. Holy Spirit, come. Come and soak us right now.
POSITIONED IN QUIETNESS
There was a time, over a year ago, that the Holy Spirit fell on me with holiness and desperation. And all of a sudden, I felt like I didn’t know God. And I felt like God was a million miles away from me. And I knew that I knew the Holy Spirit.
I knew that there were people around me who said, “Todd, if I could only have half of what you’ve got, I’d be satisfied. Who are you to hunger for more, Todd, I mean, don’t be so greedy. I don’t even have half of what you want to have. I mean, man, I don’t even feel God when I pray. What’s this about visitations and manifestations of the Holy Ghost, and being gone under the power for hours? I don’t have any of that, getting drunk in my prayer closet. I do this in my bedroom with me and God. People think I’m nuts. I’m laughing, I’m filled with the wine, I’m groaning, travailing, weeping, lying in His glory. Having moves of God’s power and presence even more intense than any revival meetings I given.
But all of a sudden one day, I said, “Holy Spirit, I don’t know You. I really don’t know You, Holy Spirit. In comparison to the more that I know that there is, I don’t know You. With the comparison of the depth I know I can go, I’m not even deep. And this revelation fell on me. This passion and this holy desperation fell on me. And I said, “God, I’m not even scraping the surface. I don’t know You. Lord, I’m not deep,” but yet, I was deep. You’ve got to understand something. I was deep. I was walking in things others had not even walked in yet. I was deep. And I said, “I’m not deep.” And I came into this valley of death, wilderness. But yet I was still manifesting and still feeling God’s glory on me. I was still feeling the manifestation of God’s Presence. But all of a sudden I was saying, “No, Lord, there’s more. And I literally became for a season of a few days that I was in prayer from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed. And all I was doing was seeking. Drawing near unto God, saying, “Lord, more. God, increase, Lord, more. Oh, deeper, oh deeper.” Praying in tongues, locking myself in the bedroom, reading the Word, worshipping for four hours with a worship tape, day in and day out.
I was on a quest. I was on a pilgrimage. I wasn’t satisfied with where I was or where I had been. I was looking for the next glory. Glory to glory. And I was going down fast. And whatever was going to get in my way was going to get out of the way because I didn’t have a shovel in my hand, I had a bulldozer. I was going to drill ten wells. I was hungry for God. I was starving. I was so hungry I literally felt like I was about to die if God didn’t touch me. Either God touch me, or I was going to Heaven. That’s it!
It was an unquenchable thirst. I was on the floor, I was getting drunk, I was in revival meetings getting hammered but there was still this, “more”. “Deep, deep, deep called for me. The fountains of the deep, got to go deeper. There’s a well I haven’t touched. There’s more. And I was seeking God’s face, I was running after God, I was stirring myself up to take hold of God, all that stuff. I said “God, I’m seeking you, I’m searching for you with all of my heart, You said I’d find you. You said if I’d draw near unto you, You’d draw near unto me. Draw near unto me. Fall onto me.” I started doing all of that.
And one day in the middle of all that business, because I was hungry, The Holy Ghost, in the middle of a prayer, took the words right out of my mouth and I went mute. Mute! I was like, “Hey, Jesus”--- nothing. Just like that, mute. And I was forced, and I was just in my chair…no words. Then it was like literally, liquid honey, which was the Glory of the Lord. And it was warm hovering in the living room. I was in the Glory of the Lord. And the weight of glory was falling on me, the Presence of the Lord grew to such intensity that I was bent over and fell off of my chair onto my face. And I lied there in God’s glory for I don’t know how long, not being able to talk or move.
Later, I went to bed and woke up the next day and I felt the lingering Presence of the previous day’s meeting with God. It was like dew resting on me, and I thought, “Wow! I’m feeling the leftovers here. I can still feel it on me.” Then I went into the bedroom for another session with God. And I closed the door. As soon as the door closed, literally it was as if Jesus in his full self, stepped into the bedroom. And the Presence of the Lord was intense and radiating. And I was once again forced, in the intense level of God’s Glory, just to behold His Glory. It was so thick. Thick. Thick.
Then, I was starting to pray again one day, and I was able to pray again. And I was praying in tongues again, and saying, “Oh, God, I seek You. Draw near unto me. You told us, the Bible says this, and the Bible says that, quoting all the stuff that God knows already. Then all of a sudden, The Holy Ghost fell on me. And I was out onto the floor for three hours in my prayer closet. Then suddenly I had this desperate hunger in me like I’ve never been hungry before. Do you know how this happened? The Presence of the Lord began to wane. And I felt the Presence of the Lord lifting. At other times, I would have thought, “Oh, the Lord’s leaving, fellowship is over. I don’t feel it any more, it’s lifting.”
We’ve all been there, right? Anybody that’s really been close to Jesus and felt the manna of His Presence, you know the time where it wanes. It’s just not the same. You know like when you feel prayer comes to an end.
But this time I was so hungry and so desperate, get this! I felt the Lord lifting and I said, “What! No!” And I jumped off my floor and I said, “God, I’m going to take hold of You.” And I chased after God, and I stirred myself up and I said, “Draw near unto me, Fall on me again. Who are You to make me hungry and not feed me? Who are You to make me thirsty and not give me to drink? You fall in me with this Glory, and then You just take Yourself out of the bedroom? Forget it, God. I’m going to seek You until you fall on me again.”
Then, I’d pray in tongues, and seek the Lord for another hour. Wham! Sandwiched to the floor another four hours. The Presence of the Lord would lift again and I was like an animal. I’m telling you, I felt like a wild animal after my prey. That’s how I was in seeking God’s face. The Presence of the Lord lifted again, and I jumped up on the floor and I said, “Lord, No” and I’d chase God down again. And, wham! On the floor. I had times of that for up to twelve hours. Three and four hour sessions, out. Then I’d get up and seek God for an hour. Wham! Out three or four hours. It was like “God, what’s going on?”
And the Holy Spirit said, “Todd, I’m trying to teach you something. I’m trying to teach you how to receive. I’m trying to teach you that you don’t have to strive. I know you’re hungry and I want to reveal Myself to you more than you want Me to reveal Myself to you. But, you’ve got to quiet yourself. You’ve got to become still. That’s why I took the words out of your mouth, that’s why I’m pouring out such glory on you. It’s to get you positioned in quietness and at My feet and in the place of stillness so I can speak to you.
Now, you know that if you and I were having a conversation and we were both talking at the same time, I wouldn’t hear you. And you wouldn’t hear me. It would be kind of hard.
So, all of a sudden, I caught the picture. So, then I went into the prayer room, and this went on for three months, this whole season then it ended. Three months. I walked into the bedroom, and I said, “Alright, Lord. You know I’m here. I don’t have to tell You I’m here, You’re not dumb.” So I said, “Alright. Let’s try this”. I closed the door. Then I said, “That’s it! I’m just going to get on the floor.” Wham! God’s Glory. Four hours later, I get up. Then, I’d go back into prayer that evening. Here’s my prayer, “Come Lord. I just want to lie in Your Glory, lie in Your river”. Wham! God’s Glory. Four hours later... Seriously!
Now this came to such a place that literally people started to understand the visitations I was having and they’d ask if they could just come over and lie on my rug with me in one of my soaking sessions. We called them soaking parties. People would literally come—I’d have eight people in my house, put on this tape, we’d all lie in the floor, Wham! We’d all lie there for hours and we’d get up. People would have visions, revelations.
Do you know what started happening to me during those times? Angels started coming into the bedroom. I started taking trips into the Spirit. The heavens started opening up and I started having visions. The Presence of the Lord would be on me and I’d feel electricity running through my body and my body would go numb. And I call it the “Honey Presence of Jesus” because the Presence of the Lord was so thick I literally felt like I was eating honey. Ummmm, ummm, ummm, it was so thick. Jesus was so near me. I was in such a place of being able to be aware of God’s Presence.
You know what? God never leaves. You leave. You know how you leave the Presence of the Lord? When your mind starts wandering. When you start thinking about something else, when your mind gets into worry and concern. You can live in God’s Glory. I encourage you to read Brother Lawrence’s book, “Practicing the Presence of God”. God never leaves, you do. How do you leave? In your thoughts, in your attention, in your mind, business. Do you know why you never get into God’s Presence even when your mind is on God? Because, you’re too busy trying to find God when He’s right there. And the key is, “Still’. “Quiet”
“God, I’m running after You, I’m looking for You.” “I’m right here. I live inside of you, all my Glory, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is inside of you.” Quiet yourself and think about entering into that Glory that’s in you. You are an ark.
So, one day after this season of all this soaking, I walk into this youth ministry that I was involved in and I saw the Youth Leaders that I was working with and all of a sudden the Spirit of Prophecy fell on me. Literally, a mantle. Whap! And I prophesied over them all, twice. I got so intense, I’m not kidding, after I prophesied over them I opened up the door and ran into the hallway into the church and said, “is there anyone out here I can prophesy over? It’s flowing.” It was like Paul never prophesied, but when the Spirit of Prophesy fell on him he prophesied from morning to night non-stop. And this thing came on me like that.
Then all of a sudden I walked into my church and prophesied over everybody. My pastor didn’t know what to do and he sat me down after five or six because he was feeling threatened. It was just going on and people were going out under the Power and they were weeping and they were getting witness to the Word.
Then I go into the Youth Ministry that I was involved in. Lined up 30 young people, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. Prophetic words. Then they’d get filled with the Holy Ghost, speaking in tongues; they started getting healed, their legs started growing out, Miracles, creative miracles, shoulders, bones straightening out, spines straightening out, necks, backs. Every kind of healing you could imagine.
Then all of a sudden I’m getting called to Prophetic Conferences. This thing just snowballs. Out of nowhere. All I did was remember to rely on God’s Glory. And now I’m a lean green bull preaching machine prophesying over anything that moves, seeing manifestations and miracles, and the falling of God’s Glory on whole congregations, sections go out under the Power and everybody can’t move. And I thought, “Lord, I was just in Your Presence. That’s it! In Your Presence, In Your face.
And it was in the midst of that soaking season that I was released in the full time itinerary ministry. I can’t even get into how that happened. It’s a whole story in itself. But, that was the fruit of this season. This is where what I’m in right now came out of. And I will stay in that place. And that’s the key to going deeper.
I often withdraw into the wilderness to pray. I often put myself in the Secret Place. I put myself in quiet place prayer. I put myself in the desert, I put myself in a place of hunger and desperation and I refuse to be satisfied. That’s often withdrawing into the wilderness.
SAMUEL AND ELI
Let me give you a perfect picture of soaking. I Samuel, Chapter 3. This is good. Here’s soaking right from the Bible. I Samuel 3— “Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli.” What was happening? “The Word of the Lord was rare in those days. There was no widespread revelation. And it came to pass at that time when Eli was lying down” Now catch this or you’re going to miss it. Where? “in his place. His eyes begin to grow so dim he could not see. And the lamp of the Lord went out in the tabernacle of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep.” Where was Samuel lying down? Samuel was lying down where the ark of God was. Where was Eli? In his place. What was happening with Eli? His eyes were so dim he couldn’t see. Do you think that might have something to do spiritually as well because it so happens that the lamp of God is going out in the tabernacle. Eli is in his place. The Word of the Lord is rare. There’s no revelation, his eyes are growing dim, he’s burned out.
Now all of a sudden Samuel was lying down somewhere. But he was lying down where the ark of God was. Do you know what he was doing? He was positioned in the place of rest. Like I was on the floor in the Presence of the Lord. He didn’t know what he was doing. The Bible says he didn’t even know the Lord at that time. Just like when I was soaking, I had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea that all of a sudden, the Word of the Lord in revelation was going to come in abundance. I had no idea that my eyes were going to be so opened that I was going to behold things that I never thought I was going to see. I had no idea that all of a sudden the lamp of God was going to get so hot in me, I can say that I was like a burning, shining, lamp. I had no idea that that was going to happen.
Now, here’s Eli in his place, he can’t see. The lamps going out in the Tabernacle, and he’s the priest. He’s neglecting the fresh oil into the lamp. It speaks of prayer, friend. Not putting the oil in the lamp, forgetting his priestly duties, he’s getting lazy and apathetic. He’s letting the lamp go out. He says, “Yeah, the eyes are dim and I’m in my place.The Word of the Lord is rare, there’s no revelation. There’s no prophetic flowing in my life”
But while Samuel was somewhere different, lying where the ark of God was, what happened to Samuel, friend? Verse 4: “The Lord called Samuel.” All of a sudden it’s the Voice of God. All of a sudden the Word of the Lord. All of a sudden, revelation. All of a sudden his eyes were opened. All of a sudden the lights came back on. A new anointing fell. How did the new anointing fall? Samuel became priest. Forget Eli. He got kicked out of the picture, and all of a sudden, now Samuel becomes Prophet.
What should you do? Find where the ark is! All in one minute the Voice of the Lord comes to him, he receives the commission. The new Prophet The Word of the Lord is not rare anymore because somebody’s finally heard the Voice of the Lord that has revelation. But how did he get it? “I don’t know, I was just lying in the Presence of the Lord.”
Maybe where Eli used to be, huh? There must have been a time where Eli used to lie in the Ark. Eli used to take care of the lamp and keep fresh oil in it. Eli wasn’t sowing in sin because he knew the sins of his sons. Eli was caring for the tabernacle. He was walking as priest at a time. But now you can just forget about all that. It’s dim now.
And the voice of the Lord comes and he runs off and he says this, “Hey, did you call me, Master Eli?” “I didn’t call you, go lie down again.” So he went and he lied down where? Where the ark was again. He got back into the Presence. Wow. When you’re lying down like that, you’re surrendered. God’s voice came again, three times and finally, It took Eli that long to figure it out. “Oh gee, boss, maybe it’s God”
That’s soaking. Do you know what happens to a lot of ministries? Pastors, leaders evangelists? They start out in soaking. They start out in passion. They start out like Mary, at the feet of Jesus. They start out being so in love with Jesus, so lovesick that from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to bed, it’s Jesus. And the Presence of the Lord is fresh on them. And they’ve got edge. They’re lying in the ark. They’re ministering to the Lord, like the boy Samuel. Then all of a sudden because of that, revelation falls on their lives. The Word of the Lord falls on their lives. Their eyes get opened. The lamp’s not going out. The lamp is burning. All of a sudden it’s revival. Then some other pastors and leaders and ministries take notice of their new flame, and they say, “You’ve got something fresh, come and preach in my church, preach in my church, preach in my church.” Then the phone starts ringing and you get so busy having to do books and all the practical things of ministry; in travel, in preparing words, in ministry. And you get into ministry mindedness, a mindset of give, give, give, minister, minister, minister. I’m the minister now, I can no longer receive at the altar under the ministry of somebody else, because I’m the one who should be ministering when their ministering, but right now I’m letting them do it. And all this stuff starts happening. Then all of a sudden, the most hard to receivers in renewal are pastors and leaders. Because, they say, “No, I can’t let the people see me receive because they’re always looking to me to give to them.” That kind of mentality slips in.
Then all of a sudden, a Mary comes along again and just sits at the feet of Jesus. And you see something that you once had. Then all of a sudden there’s a new fresh anointing and an edge on them, again. And all of a sudden there’s a fresh word and revelation on them. Then a young man or girl, or they could be older, but he’s young because he’s fresh, he’s in his prime, and he starts rising up. We look over and all of a sudden, it’s like, “Hey, Lord, I’ve been serving for fifteen years, Jesus. Now all of a sudden miracles are happening, yet I’m not having any miracles. How come that’s happening for him?”
And we start to feel threatened and envy and jealousy sets in. Then we start to feel the need to control and tamper it down because people are getting more excited about his preaching or her preaching or their preaching, than our preaching. And all of a sudden it’s “Oh, I’ve got to take the reins, I’ve got to slow this thing down. No! It can’t be happening in my church. But what if it runs me out of the church. I feel threatened, I’m not secure in my own call. I got so caught up in the Kitchen. I used to be at the feet, but now I’m caught up serving because of what I got at the feet, that I lost the feet place. And I’ve lost the passion.
And then somebody’s got what we once had and we know what that means and so we start feeling envious and jealous. We don’t understand. And then we start seeing pastors, when renewal breaks out in their church, burn out because all of a sudden they can’t control it. And they get so frustrated because it’s a flame that’s going out of control, and they don’t understand it, they’re against it, they’re not embracing it, and one guy almost had a complete emotional breakdown. And he said, “If you guys don’t stop this renewal stuff, I’m going to break down.” So it had to die down.
You’re going to burn out if you try to fight against the tidal wave of God. You’re going to get destroyed. Don’t you fight against the river. You get in or get out all of the way. Don’t you dare try to stop somebody else that’s trying to get in. If you don’t want to be in, you just go ahead and lie where you want to lie. But don’t you try to stop somebody else from getting in the river. I wouldn’t want to be into that thing. You may burn out.
See, I’ve got to guard my feet time. I’m preaching two-three times a day almost every day, having two-three days in between services for months. It’s been non-stop. I can’t remember the last time I went more than a couple of days without preaching. Then when I’m home, I’ve got so many books and tapes and orders to do, so many phone calls and bookings to do, that its nuts, and my WebPage is up and it’s like, wow! I have to hire somebody else. Just over a year and a half ago, I was nobody. Now my schedule is booked up almost a year in advance. I’ve got more phone calls than I can shake a stick at. Things are happening. And the Lord’s made me too big too fast and it’s like, “God, this is out of control. I’d better stay at Your feet.”
I’m being transparent, here. I’m being real. I’m sharing keys with you. I’m bringing you into my prayer closet. I’m bringing you into my life for a minute. Because, you know what? More than a sermon, if I could give you my life and passion, that’s it. If you could catch the flame of everything here, and run with it on your own. If I can be an example to you of what God can do with just a person, I mean, who is Todd Bentley? Really, I’ve only been saved about five years. When I got born again, I had nothing. Nothing, and that’s sad. No job, didn’t finish grade 8. I didn’t have one natural skill but speaking. Praise the Lord.
But in the natural if you were to know me after the flesh, I’d be looking like the last guy that God would use. Compared to some people who have been in the way for ten years. Got all the training and papers you could imagine; maybe the thing is they’ve been in the way. The thing is, they’ve never seen a miracle. They don’t even remember the last time they one a soul. I know leaders and pastors that, if they win a soul a year, that’s great. I couldn’t live like that. I hope you can’t. Sheep! I hope you can’t live like that. Hop out of the fold and go after one. Bring it home.
Oh, what God is doing right now in the river is so good. I’m going to swim in it. And all I have to do is swim in it with my mouth open. I can just be still and rest. I just want to go find the river of God sometimes and just lie there with my mouth open. Ahhhhhhhh! Ahhhh! Sometimes when I get into God’s river like that, it’s like getting into a hot tub after a hard day’s labor. Whoah! Whoah! Lord, it’s so good. Ahhh!.
I’ve learned to drink and to soak even when I’m preaching. And I take little drinks like that every once in a while.
WAITING ON THE LORD
Let me just end with this last story. Here it is folks. One day the disciples were told by Jesus, “the Holy Spirit is coming and when He comes, you’re going to be baptized. You’re going to be fully immersed. But you know what, I want you to wait. The power is going to come too. The miracles are going to come. The signs and wonders are going to come. The Presence of the Holy Spirit is going to come. The fire is going to come. You’re going to get immersed. You’re going to get sent into the river of God not many days from now, Acts 1:5. And He says, here’s the key, “I want you to wait, and I want you to tarry in Jerusalem until you’ve been endued with power from on high.”
And they weren’t in the upper room from the moment they woke up till the moment they went to bed, in constant prayer and busy doing. There were times when they were sitting in expectation, “Hey, Peter, do you think He might come today?” “What do you think the Holy Ghost is going to look like when He comes?” “How do you think He’s going to come?” “What’s it going to feel like?” “Maybe He’s going to come today, John?” “I hope so.” “Holy Spirit come like fire” and he’s still saying, “When’s the promise coming”. Do you know what was in their hearts? They were like children. They were waiting and they were expecting. They were like waiting for Daddy, “What’s going to happen, when’s He going to come?” is He going to come today? Is He coming today?
Every morning in the upper room, “Is He going to come today?” “Jesus told us all about Him. I remember what it was like”, “I can’t wait. Peter, It’s coming, The Power is coming! The Presence is coming.” There is an excitement! An expectation! They were like children, it was Christmas.
PICKLED
And do you know what happened because they were waiting? Because they learned how to wait? They learned how to tarry? The Bible says they were baptized. They were receiving the baptism when the Holy Ghost came and they were filled and they began to speak in tongues and the fire fell on them. That was the baptism in the Spirit. Do you know what the word baptismal means? I heard a minister say once and I gleaned this from him. Baptismal means for pickling pickles. It’s a Greek word. The first place you can find baptismal is in an old recipe for pickling pickles.
And you know what? The disciples were pickled. Do you know how I know? They went in as cucumber, friend, and they came out a dill. Transformed! Why? Well, just days before, like a month or two earlier, Peter says, “I’m never going to deny you, Jesus.” “And also said all the disciples.” Then they all forsook Him and fled. Peter, in fact, denied Jesus three times to a servant girl, he did it with cursing. Come on, now, St. Peter cursing, blaspheming? Yes! Denied Jesus three times to a servant girl. All the disciples forsook Jesus and fled. Then when Jesus rises from the dead, where did He find them? They’re all hiding in their little house for fear of the Jews.
Jesus appears through the wall and says, “Fear not! It is I.” That’s the disciples!. Then all of a sudden, they get pickled. They get baptized. They get filled. Do you know what the word filled means? Wholly saturated. Overflowing. Marinated. Filled to the abundance. Fed as if with fat. That’s what the word filled means. Study it out in the Greek. Study it out in the Hebrew. They were filled, abundantly satisfied, fed as if with fat. They were saturated. They were filled, they were overflowed, they were shaken, they were pressed, and it was stuffed inside of them, they were pickled. They became dill.
How do I know that? Because all of a sudden that same Peter rises up, preaches a message, and three thousand get saved. A message of repentance, becomes more bold to the very ones he denied Jesus to, now he says, “YOU crucified Him!” What did Peter do? Nothing! Just let the Holy Ghost fall on him and fill him. The Presence of the Lord.
Then he and all the disciples became pickled. They all became lean, mean, bold preaching machines, manifesting signs and wonders having souls added to the church daily and doing miracles, signs and wonders everywhere they went. What happened? Pentecost! Pickled! Baptized! Filled! Marinated! Saturated! Overflowed! Toasted! Pigged! Blasted! Taken over! They were just like, smoked! The Shekinah fell on them. They were transformed. The Lord’s Glory fell on them. Who knows how long they were in the upper room before they stumbled out into the streets full of the wine. I tell you, man, fire, wine, tongues, filled, all in the same moment? They were changed.
I’m going to help you get positioned. What we’re going to do is soak. I want you to put on a praise and worship tape. Then I want to encourage you if you can to find a place somewhere on the floor and get into a place of position. You can sit in your chair at the Lord’s feet if you want to, but I’ve done this all sorts of places and it helps when you get positioned. And you get into receiving mode, and you surrender. This is the best part. Don’t worry about your dignity. Get on the floor. You can lie on your face or get on your back. To soak, think about Jesus. Quiet yourself. Sit at the Lord’s feet. Let the Lord touch you. “come and pickle us, Jesus.” In your heart be crying out “Come, Lord Jesus,
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posted by KFF at 9:55 AM
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