Dear Praying Friend,
Each year when the Lord impresses upon my heart the theme for that particular year I never fully know what to expect. Since 2008, we have walked through The Year of the Lord's Favor, The Year of the Harvest, The Year of the Tithe, The Year of Jubilee, and The Year of Retribution together. In those years the Lord has faithfully led us through many devotional journeys together beginning with our first 40-day fast - EAT at the Table of the King. This was soon followed by four additional 40-day fasts and countless shorter but significant times of prayer and fasting when we feasted on the Word of God through the Journey to the Holy Land, Feast of Tabernacles, Epiphany, and Love Song journeys; just to name a few.
I cannot begin to express my gratitude to the Lord for the places He has taken me personally in His Word, and for the depths of His love, grace, mercy, goodness, and faithfulness He has poured into my life through the intimate times I have had the privilege of soaking in His presence these past seven years; without which I could not have endured seasons of terrible tragedy, heartache, and anguish; nor come to appreciate the fullness of His extravagant benevolence in my life. I am as deeply overwhelmed by the encouragement and inspiration He has given me through you - the faithful feasters who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love, and who have a deep desire to know Him more fully. Your willingness to walk these journeys with me - allowing me to share God's heart in words I know cannot even begin to do Him the honor that it due His name - has inspired my walk. I am grateful for your kindness in persevering through lengthy emails and devotionals that suffered little editing in an urgent desire to share what the Lord has revealed to me after soaking hours in His presence and pouring through His Word. I cannot apologize that, in my excitement in wanting to share everything I heard from the Lord, I could not bear to leave much out, and therefore most of the devotional emails have been like books in themselves. For those of you who have endured, I want to express my gratitude. Thank you for supporting this ministry with your faithful fellowship in His Word and in prayer. I am so grateful for your email testimonies you have shared over the years and your willingness to share these devotionals with so many others. The Lord has used you to bless my life in ways you will never know.
When the Lord had given the words, "Holy to the Lord" for 2013, I was anticipating another year of sharing with you all that the Lord would reveal as I spent intimate time with Him in the Word of God and in prayer, but the Lord had something else in mind. How grateful I am that His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). You heard very little from me this past year, because the Lord kept me silent. As I soaked in the presence of His holiness this past year I found myself humbled to the point of silence. What words are even appropriate in the presence of such majesty? Confronted with His holiness there is only awe. What right do we have to even utter a sound in the presence of the Most Holy? The very thought of His holiness - let alone the sight of Him - should cause all of us to respond as Abram did when he fell on his face in reticent awe (Genesis 17:3); or when Moses hid his face in humble fear (Exodus 3:6), and when Isaiah uttered words of incredible woe (Isaiah 6:5). I was left to ponder this question in my heart: Where is this reverential fear and awe of God in the church today which caused these saints of old to fall on their faces in pure worship and adoration of the Most High God? A.W. Tozer said it best, "The honor of God has been lost to men." My heart was stirred as Jeremiah's was, with an urgent beating that won't be silent until we restore His honor once again! (Jeremiah 4:19).
Believer, we do not honor God as we should. We are to be a royal priesthood representing His holiness and majesty to the world. But we are presenting a view of the Most High that is utterly beneath His dignity. Rather than lifting His high and holy standard as a beacon of hope and healing to the world, we stand on the sidelines watching (or sleeping) as those, who know nothing of the glory of God, recklessly scatter seeds of immorality and corruption on holy ground that should be under our watchful care. We have suffered tremendous internal losses in our own selfish pursuit of worldly gain. It is time to purify our hearts and reform our way of thinking about God until it is worthy of Him. It is time to learn to be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10). We need to do what Tozer has suggested we do: "We need to cultivate the silence in which God can be heard".
What I have found in my own personal times of consecration these past seven years is that prayer has become more about learning to be still rather than lobbying for God with our requests. It is the silence that God can best be heard. He knows our hearts - but we have yet to discover His! We need only to be still. The pursuit of God's heart should be our utmost desire. When we know God's heart we can pray as we should. For those of you who have suffered tremendous heartache and anguish in the past, you have been given a precious gift and secret key into the depths of God's heart - I pray that where you have experienced an emptiness or ache in your own heart, that you would instead discover the tenderness, warmth and love of God's own heart filling that void. He will use whatever circumstances necessary to bring us to that place where there is nothing left for us but Himself. He is all that we need and He wants us to discover the pure pleasure of that ultimate satisfaction. The Lord wants to pour more of Himself into us, but we need to be willing to receive Him; and, even more so, we need to be emptied of the things that are preventing us from fellowshipping with Him intimately - we have so much to repent of! Oh, that we would throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles...and fix our eyes on Jesus alone (Hebrews 12:1-2)!
Believer, may 2014 be the year we allow God to have His way with us! May we resolve to give Him all of us, and avail ourselves as willing vessels, holy and consecrated to the Lord - that all that might flow out of us is the adoration and devotion our Beloved so rightly deserves, and an overflow of irrepressible life that will quench the thirst of the lost, weary, and sin-burdened souls of the world. This is the Year of Consecration. Tozer has said, "Before there can be true inward understanding of divine truth there must be a moral preparation." May this be the year we allow the Lord to consecrate our hearts more fully to His. May we allow Him access to the deep recesses of our hearts so He can fully cleanse and purify our lives so we can be filled with the fullness of His power, presence, peace, and provision so we can prepare the way of our King with all the glory and honor that is due His mighty and majestic name! I am humbled at the thought, but look forward with joy, of sharing with you in the weeks and months ahead the beauty of His majesty - if it is even possible to put into words - as we walk the wondrous path of inward devotion of His Presence. I pray you will continue to join me in my journey as we continue to become "broken bread and poured out wine" - digging deeper into the depths of the Word of God and experiencing His power in prevailing prayer - I am grateful for the pleasure of your company in this most holy pursuit!
The Lord bless you and keep you; and make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you in the new year (Numbers 6:24-26)!
Heavenly Father,
My prayer for the New Year dear Lord,
is simply that of Your servant Spurgeon, who said it well:
"O that we could set Thee on a glorious high throne
in all men's hearts! We would ring out Thy praises
over land and sea till men should as universally adore Thee as they once did unanimously reject."
Thank you for taking captive my heart
and replacing it with the beauty of Your own.
May I be found a worthy steward of so precious a gift
the world has ever known.
"Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let Your glory be over all the earth!" (Psalm 57:5)
In the glorious name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14)
Blessings,
Traci Alexander
Trumpet and Torch Ministries
www.trumpetandtorch.org
Psalm 27:4
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