First
Priority
By Pastor Jack Hayford
I
felt a tender touch of the Holy Spirit this week.
Call it a tap on the shoulder.
A whisper.
He
seemed to speak quietly to me, nudging me to avert a recurring danger.
It's
the danger of becoming so caught up in prayer warfare and faith's
pursuits that I neglect simply being “with Jesus.”
“If
you abide in Me...,” He has said.
It's
so simple. So clear.
First
and foremost, Jesus wants us to experience, sustain, and
enjoy a personal, intimate walk with Him.
It
isn't that He's disinterested in the demands of our daily duty or
the pressures of our private world. Far from it. He just knows that
the fountainhead of life is with Him. He is the Source. Of
everything.
Strength
for your day. Wisdom for your task. Comfort for your soul. Grace
for your battle. Provision for each need. Understanding for each
failure. Assistance for every encounter.
Everything.
So
today I invite you to come before Him. Much and often. Come before
Him with open heart and childlike simplicity. Come with plain talk.
With laughter or tears. Come. On your knees, alone, without fanfare,
with all candor.
I
write these things because I became so concerned in my prayers for
“the work of ministry” that I began to feel something of His divine
jealousy. He was saying to me, “I want you more than I want
your work.”
My
calendar was so full, the agenda so packed, the opportunities so
many, the need so great ... that I began to feel crushed in spirit.
The way pressure wilts a flower. “Things”—good, important, worthy
things—were dominating my thoughts and prayers. So the Holy Spirit
tapped me shoulder to slow my mind and redirect my gaze.
Today
I pray for you and with you.
There
ARE great ministry opportunities before us—each one of us. These
are days of opening doors. And yes, the needs have never been “needier.”
But
before we move together on all that, we are wise if we each one—alone
and apart from one another—move to another place.
Alone
with Jesus. In intimate fellowship.
He
wants that for us. And when you think about it, nothing of eternal
value occurs in your life without it.
Abide
in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide
in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me,
and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing
(John 15:4-5). |
Jack
Hayford Ministries
14800 Sherman Way, Van Nuys, CA 91405-2233