Chapter 2: A POSTURE OF REVERENCE - Part 1 12

hear you, and heal your broken fellowship with Me. Such sacrifice is acceptable unto Me.”

God is rebuking the arrogance of many in the Body of Christ. He is grieved by the nonchalance with which we treat His Voice as He beckons us into fellowship. Did you take note of His Words? He said that many of us serve the god of comfort, prioritizing comfort—even rest—above God Almighty.

Yet, is not our God wise? Is He not understanding? Did not our Lord experience all the infirmities of the flesh that we now face? He understands what it means to be tired, overworked, and burdened by life. Comfort and rest are not the enemy—it is our servitude to them above God that grieves Him.

How can you know if you have chosen comfort over God? It is simple: If, when God calls you out of your comfort to seek Him, you deny Him, then it is clear—you have made comfort and your own will your god.

Seeking God requires sacrifice. When you lose something valuable, you don’t relax to find it. You move sofas, search drawers, and make phone calls, inconveniencing yourself because the search matters to you. Likewise, God calls to us when we are weak. He beckons us when we are overloaded with work. He draws us when life feels overwhelming. He calls us to fellowship with Him. As Paul reminds us:

2 Corinthians 12:9

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

If we obey God’s call, we will find that His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. Often, He calls us to fellowship to lift the burdens we’ve grown accustomed to carrying. If we seek His face in obedience, we will find Him. That’s all He asks of us—obedience. When we obey, the power of Christ rests upon us, strengthening us in our weaknesses. The God of gods be praised!

And again, I heard the Word of the Lord:

“Where is the fear of My Name? Is there no one who cries out? No one who calls upon the Name of the Lord in desperation? Have My people grown so aged in the faith that they no longer feel the need to seek My Face?

I will rebuke this generation with the hand of My Judgment unless they return to My Face and My Feet and seek Me. I will touch what is precious to them, and both they and the gods they have placed in My Stead will face My Wrath.

They will fall, as Dagon fell, and bow in worship before Me, for there is no other God but I.”

Lord, have mercy on us—for we will return to Your Face. Forgive us for our sins and our apathy. You are the only true and living God, and we serve You alone. Search our hearts as we turn from our wicked ways, and look favorably upon us with the tenderness of Your Mercy.

You are our prized possession, our treasure, our reason, and nothing else can satisfy us. Be praised and honored by our reverence, our King and Father.

With love, Your children

15 REFERENCE SCRIPTURES

God’s Deity and Reverence for His Name Exodus 3:14 – And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

Leviticus 24:16 – And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death.

“Some Dared Not Speak My Name Because It Is Holy”

Exodus 20:7 – Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Psalm 111:9 – He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name. “Some Were Consumed by the Earth for Acting Presumptuously” Numbers 16:30-33 – But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD. And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.

“He That Touched the Ark of the Covenant Died Without Mercy”

2 Samuel 6:6-7 – And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.

Dagon, the Philistine god, fell before the Ark of the Covenant:

1 Samuel 5:2-4 - When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.

Do you find that frustration creeps in when you pray? Many give up on seeking God when they do not receive what they were expecting. Their posture and perception of God resemble that of a “cosmic Santa Claus”—a mystical being who grants their every request simply because they ask.

But God is not Santa—He is God, and He ought to be feared. Though He is a fearful God, He has graciously invited us to seek Him. He is both a terror and good! Yet, do not mistake His goodness for weakness. Remember who He is.

A Posture of REVERENCE

Think of how parents play and laugh with their children, yet when a child crosses the boundary of respect, they are disciplined. God is no different. Be mindful of how you approach Him. Come before Him with the understanding that He owes you nothing, yet in His goodness, He is willing to hear and answer your requests—if they align with His will.

A key indicator of whether or not you have lost reverence for God is your emotional response during prayer—especially when He doesn’t answer the way you had hoped.

I remember a time when I fervently sought the Lord for the gift of discernment. I prayed long and hard, not realizing that He had already given me the gift. I had a sharp ability to recognize what was of God and what wasn’t, applying that wisdom in ministry and counsel. But in my ignorance, I didn’t recognize His answer.

I felt ignored and fell into despair. My heart cried out, “Look, I have diligently sought You, but You haven’t answered!” I felt as if God was unfair, and I began to distrust His Word. As a result, I stopped praying the way I once did and fasted less frequently. Hope deferred had made my heart sick (Proverbs 13:12), and my zeal for seeking God diminished.

Looking back, that response revealed my irreverence. I had forgotten my place as a son of God. What if it was not His will to give me discernment, was that the response He was worthy of? Instead of seeking His will, I sought to impose mine. My prayers weren’t requests—instead, I demanded that God do exactly what I wanted. I never stopped to ask for His perspective or to let Him guide my desires. I was so fixated on what I wanted, that when I didn’t get my way, I blamed Him.

But God is not mocked! He is God. If I had approached Him in reverence, I would have recognized that His will is final and perfect. When we pray, we must remember that our prayers are requests, not demands.

Throughout history, God has been a mystery. His thoughts were beyond comprehension, and none could fully understand Him. But in these times, He has given us His Spirit so that we might freely know the things of God. He no longer wants to be a mystery— He invites us to seek Him and discover all we can possibly know about Him.

However, we must seek Him on His terms, remembering that His name is hallowed. Any goodness we receive is because He is good. Let us not approach God as spoiled children, making demands, and throwing tantrums when we don’t get our way. Instead, let us approach Him with obedience and humility. Let us be wise enough to allow Him to lead us in our seeking, pliable enough to accept His rebuke, and humble enough to receive His “No.” We can rejoice, knowing that even the “Noes” of God are working together for our good.

Job 33:14

For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. One night, during the writing of this book, I lay down on my bed, preparing to pray in my heart. Before I could utter a word, I heard the Lord clearly say to me, “When you call upon My Name, what do you see?”

Jeremiah 1:11-12

11 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.

12 Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

His Sheep Hear HIS VOICE

When the Lord asked me what I saw, He was training me, just as He did Jeremiah. However, unlike Jeremiah, He wasn’t showing me a specific vision at that moment. Instead, He was making me aware that I should always remain sensitive to the fact that He speaks and reveals through visions as we pray. He was calling me to a heightened awareness of His presence and voice—even in prayer—because without this sensitivity, my seeking would be unfruitful.

He led me to several Scriptures, which I now share with you for reflection.

Isaiah 11:3

And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears.

Isaiah 11:2-3 lists the spiritual senses—the seven spirits of God— that abide in the Holy Ghost. These spiritual senses were first manifested in Jesus and later imparted to the sons of God. Verse 3 emphasizes that those who walk by the Spirit will not rely on natural sight or hearing to judge. Instead, they will discern truth through spiritual vision and hearing, as the Lord reveals it to them. However, this reality is uncomfortable for many. There is often fear when one feels they must rely on spiritual senses. People tend to trust what they can see, hear, or process with natural senses or logical thinking. But this is not the way of the sons of God. The sons of God are not natural beings—they are divine. They are spiritual beings, born of a spiritual Kingdom. Their senses are not limited to the natural; they also see and hear through the Spirit.