This is who I am

I set my heart again today to live for eternity

I am a stranger here, a pilgrim here, and I’m living for another age

May You find faith and love in my heart

This is righteous and what pleases the Father

Believing God through His Son, Jesus

The blind see, the deaf hear

The lame walk, the mute talk

Father of Glory, Bridegroom who is all beautiful

I dance before You

All fear is gone as I get lost in Your Presence

Spinning, leaping, flying

Faith rises in who You are

There is nowhere else I want to be

This is who I am

Lover King, Sacrificial lamb

You died even for me

While You hung on the tree

You kept choosing to stay

Roman whips and a jeer-filled crowd

Nails in Your Hands, splinters in Your back

You chose to stay

You were the expression of love

Did ever such love and sorrow meet?

You were the example of what love is

You were the first One, always the first

Thinking on You, drawing near

I think my heart has exploded inside me

Jesus, I love You

Every time they hit You

Every time they beat the nails in deeper

Every time You breathed on the Cross

You died, but You chose to stay

And then You rose from the grave

Forever enthroned in Heaven

Awesome One, You are exalted, the King is exalted

Forever Your truth shall reign

And I give my life to You

You are my Lord, You are the Lord

Throughout the endless ages

Even exalted in every nation of the earth

You will be magnified

I turn my heart to You now

This is who I am

For You are the Lord

You smooth my soul

In this place, with no fear, no trepidation

I believe all things are possible

You have been enthroned upon High

Jesus the Name above all Names

The secret place, the prayer room, lost in this sea of worship

This is who I am

I don’t fit in other places as I fit in this place

This is who I am and this is what I do

I turn my heart again upwards to You

My face as well and my arms outstretched

Are my feet touching the ground?

I never want to leave

This is who I am

Enraptured, impassioned, caught up

Worship in harmony

Strengthened with might by Your Spirit

Fire burns me now, is this life?

To know the depth and height of the love of Jesus

May Your power break in

That this great love would be made known

There is no end to this love

This is the love I want to know

Oh divine, oh immortal, Jesus

I love You

Pour out Your Spirit oh God

Make known Your Son, Jesus

That we might know and comprehend the love of God

The height, the width, the depth of Your zeal for who we are

King of Kings, Lord of Lords

This is who I love

That I would stand for righteousness, for holiness

That I would live worthy before You

That I would speak Your Word

That my spirit would be given over to God

Divine might – deep within

This is who I am

Given over in Love

Dear Heavenly Father,
Asking for vision and for revelation
Asking for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the Knowledge of You
Asking for great purpose and great moment

Asking that You would set my feet like the feet of the deer and set me up on the heights
You are the great One who can overcome
You go before me
You are my rear guard
You know the plans You have for me – plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans to give me a hope and future.
So release destiny now God

Where else can I go?
You have the Words of Life
I return again and again to who You are

Asking to know love as deep as is possible for a man on this earth
Come reign in my heart and my affections
I don’t want to miss that which You have for me
Let nothing keep Your Will in purpose and love from finding my life
Crash us together like waves upon the rock
Collide us like a shooting star that cannot be stopped

I lay it down before You again.
I call out Your Name and say,
Oh God, bring the dreams and the plans of your heart for Your servant.
I call out to You day and night.

I am desperate to know You and Your will for my life
I am desperate like a starving man searching for food and water
Oh God, where are You?
Where is my God and where is my Beloved?
You said, “Seek Me and you will find me when you seek Me with all of your heart.”
I look high and low
Early and late
Near and far
My heart searches for the Most High
You said, “When you seek Me, you will find me, I promise”
Father, I hold to Your Word and I believe it is even for this day and hour

Where is my God and where is my King?
Is this what a faint heart feels like?
A sense of desperation with the knowledge that if I do not find You, I will surely die
How can I seek You better?
I will go to that place
I am at the point of utter no-return
I fully believe that if I do not find You oh King, I will pass away like grass
Surely man is nothing before You, and yet you esteem the heart that is contrite

Have my heart then God
Have the deep places in it
Have the shallow too
I search my heart, and I look inside, I look for places that are not fully Yours
Where are they?
Purge them from me even if it takes fire

I desire You above all else, Jesus
I have looked at life and tried and seen there is nothing that compares to You
My heart is only content in the Secret Place
And yet it wants more, craving to give into this Divine dependence

I am compelled, I am obsessed, I am infatuated with who this God is
How can the angels cry “Holy” over and over and never tire?
What is it about You that compels them that they could do nothing else?
Will You take me to that place?

I have heard now of the Divine Wound
And I want it
Even in the night, I cry out to the Most High to strike His servant with such a grace
A revelation of the beauty of Jesus…
A vision of the Cross…
A marking of eternity…
A ruining to this world…
Wound Your servant now Oh God with who You are

Never before have I felt more like an alien and a pilgrim in this world
Like one passing through, with thoughts set on He who is above
I fill my mind on God
I am driven by eternity

I look at things that sparkle and shine
I also see the advertisements
They do not breed discontentment in my soul
My heart is set firmly like a wall
I am consumed with the Word
It burns inside me as I read – even as I meditate – a searing inside
Burn oh Word of God
I set my hope on the Return of this Great and Mighty King
How long?
I rest in You, oh God

Wait on God
Be Still and Know that I Am
Do not worry and do not be anxious of your future
The greater your vision of Him becomes, the greater your life vision
The greater your vision of Him becomes, the less your problems are
With God, all things are possible
All things are possible for he who believes – set your belief and hope on the Most High
He does not disappoint
He does not let down
He is always more.
He is the I am who is always greater than.
Here is God

You who are asking for vision… look to the Most High
He is the light, the way, the truth
No greater vision exists on the earth
Draw near – believe you can come closer than you have ever come before
Believe that He is good.
Believe that this great God that we serve - loves with a love that redefines our knowledge of the word…this story is bigger than we know

You have not yet experienced consuming fire-love
You do not yet know love that burns like a jealous flame
You have yet to be enraptured and caught up in the Love of God – like a Holy Passion

Do you want to understand more?
The answer is found in the Cross
The Cross was the greatest expression of love the world has or will ever know
The Passion of the Christ was more than even man can comprehend
It remains the definition of love

You pray to know and experience love as great as possible for a man
Very well, do not be surprised if the answer looks different than you would imagine
Loving God is the greatest experience of Love a human being can ever know
Perfect love, fullness of joy, a heart exhilarated, peace like battering waves, even true rest

Love is a Divine idea
Love is more than a sentiment; it is more than a warming of the heart
Love is the deepest emotion any creature can experience
Love is the most powerful force in the world
Love is truly unstoppable

This is why God is Love
This is why Love can conquer all
This is why Love is the greatest
Nothing can stand against Love, nothing

You seek Love, good.
You will find what you seek
You will reap what you sow
You will receive what you ask for.
There are some laws that always are in effect.
You will know love

This is Divine
You do not yet know how the Heart of God feels for His ones
Here is true Love
For God so loved the world, that He sent His One and only Son, so that whosoever should believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that through Him, they would be saved

We have just a little time here and now, while it is still called today, to seek the Most High
He is so much more concerned with the heart, than we have any idea
He wants our hearts
He wants our affections
He wants us to give over in Love to Him
Here is the great I Am
His Name is Jesus

Heart Offering

Overtake me once more
Overwhelm me with love
Holy Father
Oh God You said that You love us
I wanna get lost in that love
I don’t want to be anywhere else
I don’t want to do anything else
Hold my heart now

Draw me ever nearer to who You are
I want to be lost in You
I don’t want to come up for air
I don’t want to do all those other things
Awaken and batter my heart again

I want to know Love
I want to see Your eyes and hear Your voice
I want to draw near
Would You draw this one?

Can I be closer today?
Will You have all?
For You know my name
Creator-King, Incarnate-Love, You are
I lay it down again, just to be with You

Worthy is the lamb
Will You have all of my passions and affection?
Will You seal them in an alabaster jar that I might pour it out before You?
Even though my love is small, I give You every corner of my heart
Holy One, have my heart offering

I have no regrets before You
You are worthy, You are good
When You look at me, when I feel Your gaze, love fills me again
Here is life – love over and again
Here I am before You
Believing You call me beloved
Rend this heart to You as a life offering

Here is life, it’s all about love.

Isaiah 41:10
“Fear not, for I Am with you.
Be not dismayed, for I Am your God.
I will strengthen you; yes I will help you.
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

This is truth and this is reality. You have no reason to fear or walk in the spirit of timidity, for God is with you. He strengthens you, even renewing your strength, strengthening you out of Zion. He helps you. He will uphold you with His righteous right hand. He is God. He is your portion. He is your exceedingly great reward. Praise the Lord, save! Oh King, answer us when we call on You, when we call on You in truth.

Here is hope. Here is future. Here is stability. Here is life.

Now the harvest is white. As the country, yea the world, teeters on hopelessness and searches for answers. As savings disappear, and lives break under the weight of lost dreams and work that came to nothing, we look for answers.

Jesus – He is the only answer to the human spirit. He brings light where the path is dark. He brings hope where dreams are lost. He brings joy where all joy has been overtaken by despair. Here is the King. Here is the hope of the world. Here is the faithful One. Are you looking for a savior? Are you looking for answers to these questions of what to do in uncertain times?

Pray the prayer of faith – “Jesus, help me now. I need You in my life. If you are real, if you really are love and hope and joy and the way to go, come now into my life. Forgive me of any sin I have. I give my heart to You.”

He will come and meet you in your need, right where you are at. He is gracious and kind and slow to anger, He is abounding in love. He is not mostly mad or mostly sad or mostly disappointed in you. He is a loving King who longs to have a relationship with man. He has extended His hand, He has made a way to come to Him – His Name is Jesus. It’s all about love. It really is.

Here is where the great battle in the Heavenlies is being played out… for the human heart, and for the affections and allegiance of the hearts of men. Whom will you serve? To what will give your life? We will all of us pour out our lives and strength towards some end. The question is what will that be for you?

Eternity really is set before you. The immortality of the soul is the reality of our lives. We’re only on this earth for 70 or 80 years, and then we step into life – forevermore, with God or without. Choose this day whom you will serve. Will you choose Jesus? He who is life? Choose life. He will bring life, love, peace and purpose into your life. He is the only way, He is the only truth, He is the only life. It’s all about love, all of it.

For God so loved the world that He gave His Son Jesus into the world to make a way for men to be saved – to make a way for us to come to God. It is a very easy thing. Just believe. Just trust. We are saved then not by any works we may do, but by faith – just believing in our hearts that Jesus is the Son of God and confessing with our mouths, “Jesus, I believe.”

This is life. This is love. This is hope. This is peace. Are you searching for answers? Are you looking and looking for the way you should go? Believe in Jesus and He will be as a light to your feet and as a lamp to your path – showing you the way you should go.

It’s all about love. It’s not about anything else. It’s about just letting go and letting God love you as He would. You see, at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for us – the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, but for a good man, someone might possibly dare to die. But Jesus demonstrated His love for us in this, while we were still sinners, He died for us, to pay for our sin, and to make a way for us to be with Him.

He does love you now, but He will only manifest that love with life, joy, peace, hope, even fun, when we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that Jesus, is the Christ, and Lord of our lives.

Try me in this. Test even now, my words and see if they are true. Do you have anything to lose? You have everything to gain, if only I am telling the truth. Do you want to know what it’s like to come home and to be completely at peace? Do you want to know what life is like when your heart is sure and you have hope and joy? Have you ever longed to know, just for a second, what it is like, to be fully loved with no shame and no condition? Have you ever been overwhelmed by love?

Here is life.

This is what it is like to face each morning of each day with purpose, with vision, with the feeling of God’s hand on your life. It’s all about love.

Jesus is waiting, standing at the door of your heart, knocking and saying, “If you will only let me in, and give your life to Me, I will do such a work in your life you would not have believed if someone tried to tell you.” It will be better than you think, greater than you know, this overtaking love.

He is the creator of the world and also the maker of you. Do you know the way He loves you? Do you know the way He longs to come into your life and bring order and life and joy and hope and peace?

He can bring stability where there is chaos.
He can bring peace where there is only storm.
He can bring love even to the most dejected and jaded.

He is love.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up our wounds.
He can tell your shattered heart to beat again, beat once more oh broken heart!
He can bring love to a marriage that has given way to necessity instead of intimacy.
He can do all things, even that which we think is impossible.

Will you let Him love you?
Will you just take that chance?

You have the world to gain; you have only love to find.
He can make your heart alive once more.
Just let Him love you.

Here is life, it’s all about love.

Overwhelmed… overtaken by love

Could a man be more overwhelmed by love?
Could a heart be more wooed?
I searched for security, stability, validity in the realms of organization
I looked so many places for value and for reassurance
But You, Jesus, my Lord
In Your mercy, You kept calling me back
You have kept drawing near to me, and in Your Grace, loved me

I tried to imagine where I would be without You, my God
I wonder what my heart would look like
You have brought light and hope
How can Your Love really be this good?
How can a heart overflow again and again?
How can it keep getting better?
What is this Divine Love?

You overwhelm me
You overtake me
You surround me on every side
You bring me through as the Israelites walked on dry ground through the Red Sea
What is this Divine love You have for us?

I thought I knew You
I thought I had some concept of Your love for people
But You…
You are always more
You are always greater
There is always enough, even now, there is more than enough!

I asked to know Love as much as is possible for a man to know
I prayed and brought my supplication before the Lord
I said, “Oh God, I want to give and receive as much Love as is possible for a man in this life, and to that end I will give my heart and strength.”
And then You…
You brought me into the school of love
Tenderizing the deep places of my soul
All my walls fall down
I do not reel back from You
My trust is in Your Word, and I give myself again to know it

Your law is perfect, converting my soul
Your testimony is sure, making me wise
Your statutes are right, rejoicing my heart
Your commandment is pure, enlightening my eyes

I am overwhelmed again by Divine Love

A thanksgiving to the Lord for His great works of deliverance – Psalm 107

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
Then I cried to the Lord in my trouble, and He saved me out of my distresses.
I cried out to the Lord in my trouble, and He delivered me out of my trials.
I was at my wits’ end, and He led me forth by the right way
That I might go to a city for a dwelling place.

For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness
He brought me out of darkness and the shadow of death.
And broke my chains in many pieces
He broke the gates of bronze that held me
And cut the bars of iron in two
He sent His word and healed me
And delivered me from my destructions
I will sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving
And declare His works with rejoicing!
He calms my storms, and all my waves are still

Then I am glad because He has quieted my soul
He has guided me to my desired haven.
I will exalt Him also in the assembly of the people
And praise Him in the company of the elders.

He turns my wilderness into pools of water
And dry land into water springs
There He makes the hungry dwell
That they may establish a city for a dwelling place
And sow fields and plant vineyards
That they may yield a fruitful harvest

He also blesses me, and I greatly multiply, and He has not let me decrease
May I be wise and observe these things, and understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.
Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

The Glory of the Saints

This is what we come here for

This is what you made us for

To partner with you

Here we are, here we are!

Here I am, Oh my God!

Would you come?

I want nothing else

Give me Yourself!

Put me wherever You are

I don’t want to go after all those other things

I don’t want to be lost trying and striving

I want You! Let Your Word run with Power!

Even now

This is my glory

Inflict Yourself upon my heart

Win over my heart; do not let it go its own way

Brand with fire, brand with passion, brand with love

Could I go higher?

Could I go deeper?

Further up and farther in.

I don’t want anything else.

This is why I’m here

Come God! Come Father!

This is why You made me, here I am!

Overwhelm and overtake me

Am I not burning for You?

Does not my heart awaken in the night and long for You?

Do You not wake me early in the morning and call me to pray and intercede?

Am I not compelled to do so?

My history is in You, my future is wrapped up in hope in You.

I have given myself no other options

So come burn! Come brand! Come sear my heart with fire!

From the inside out

I feel it even now…

My muscles quiver and my jaw shakes

My eyes look to the horizon and long for You

I wait for You as in a dry and dusty land

Father of Glory and of Power

Creator of light and author of intercession

Give the Spirit of Revelation in the knowledge of who You are

Quicken my spirit even now

Pour out the Spirit of Glory

Pour out who You are

Let the nations shake, let the wind of Your Word go forth, suddenly.

Bring to completion wholeness, fullness, all that You are

Light! Power! Strength! The Kingdom of God! Send Your Spirit!

Let it come. Let there be light!

Like a mighty rushing wind, like flaming tongues of fire.

Release the Spirit of Revelation on Your Church

Release Your Word in our hearts and on our lips

Here we are a kingdom of priests

Partakers of this Heavenly calling

Grafted into something greater than we are

Break in with who You are

A cry for the power of God!

Release Revival

Release the Majesty of God

Release the revelation of intercession

Light from Heaven

Light break in on our souls and on our minds,

Awaken us to the things of God

Do what’s in Your Heart!

I want nothing else

Even Now

Would You come?
Come like you promised?
Pour out Your Spirit on all flesh!

Father of Glory, come even now.
Come and fill.
Come and restore.
Come and redeem.
Come and bring to completion the good works You have begun.
Oh God!
We need You now more than ever.
Where else can we go?
To who else can we call?
There is no other.
It is You and You alone.

Let it rain now God.
Would You really open the floodgates of Heaven?
Would You really pour out all that You are on us?
How much can we have?
How far can we go?
Where are You Oh God?
Would You come now like a rushing river?
Would You pour out Your Spirit on all flesh?
Let us see You for who You really are.
You are savior, You healer, You are deliverer, You are God.

What a friend we have in Jesus.
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.
I know You are with me
What joy is mine to speak with You in the secret place?
Who am I to be granted such grace as this?

Will You have my heart fully?
Will you render all to Yourself?
How can I give of myself more?
I would do some great achievement for You
I would go on some grand quest to prove my love and gratitude for what You have done
But You… You only require that I give You my heart.
Here is the great battle.
To believe God through His Son, Jesus
Here is righteousness, here is justice… here is life!

Have my affections.
Have my hopes and dreams.
Have my time and talent.
Have my love.

Fresh Hope

It is a new day and there is fresh expectation in the atmosphere.
The hand of the Lord outstretched for us even now.
His protection and hedge all around
He gives us fresh hope – by giving a right understanding and revelation of “The Wilderness”
It is a consecrated and Holy time

This is a season Holy unto the Lord
Because this is where, this is how; this is the path of drawing
This is the place of crushing – but it is sweet
This is the place of answered prayers – a Yes from the Lord

The longer, the harder, the deeper, the more intense – so will be the outcome
Sowing into the Wilderness only reaps Heavenly rewards
This is the time when we stay
We accept, we embrace, we rejoice because the Lord is worth it
We fall on the rock. And the rock is love, the rock is Holy, the rock is Good

This is how we come into the deep places of the Heart of God
Jesus set the example
Life was never going to be lived without pain
Our example is the Cross, have we forgotten?

So here, now, in the Wilderness – it is good
Can you feel the heartbeat of the Father?
Can you sense Him all around you?
Can you see Him working?
Trust. Let go. Let go. Let go of it all.

Holy encounters
As fire falls down from Heaven
Letting go of everything the world says we should pursue
Letting go of everyone I have ever tried to please
Letting go of my own self and of directing my own life
Father,
Here it is. What do You want?
What is it that You desire?
Find here, in me a willing servant, find in me a willing heart, find in me one who will give it up and who will choose You
Father here, have my heart. Father, here, have my spirit and my soul and my will.
I feel the weight of the Holy Spirit.
Direct my path. Guide my steps. I awaken to You now. You’re beautiful.
Colors of the dawn, openness of the sky, depths of the sea and distances of the wide expanses of the earth
Am I not amazed when I consider Your works?
Am I not perplexed when I try to comprehend who You are?
Take me deeper. Take me higher. More, always more…
You went to the Cross, could I hold back my life?
What is the appropriate response –
Is it not love?
Is it not a life that is lived with the knowledge of love?
Is it not letting You love us as You would?
Is it not letting Your delight in us and Your words for us come and overwhelm?
You’re beautiful.

Waiting

This is the only time we get to choose God
In the waiting
This is the only time we get to demonstrate our love for Him
In the waiting

Do we know the way it moves Him?
When we’re weary from the journey
When we still keep coming after Him
Day after day after day

When we come before Him
When we have no elegant words to say
When all we can do is pray
It is Ok to come to Him in weakness

God, could it be that in this place
This is right where You want us to be
Do You wait for all of our strength to go away?
Do You wait till it falls completely away?

You wait until we come to this place
You wait and You say
“Now I have you right where I want you - in utter dependence on Me”
Now life begins
Now life begins because then we are with You and You alone

I will press on
I shall yet Praise You
This is the place where I want to be.
This is where I am no longer looking to my own strength
This is not the place of failure, that I had done something wrong
I shall yet press on
I shall yet praise You

Blessed are the poor in spirit
Blessed are those who mourn
Happy are those who hide in the Secret Place

If we want to find Your Kingdom – this is the way
Waiting here, hidden in You
Just as the deer pants for the water
So pants my soul for You oh God
This is the path You have chosen
I will keep pressing on

“To walk in the cool of the day with You
To gaze on the beauty of all You do
To meditate on Your Glorious Splendour
I was made for You”

A Devotion to the King

It doesn’t have to be long, and it doesn’t even have to be eloquent
You are more interested in the heart, than in the words

I love You oh my King
As best as I know how and as fully as I now can – I love You
I willingly give You my heart, my life, my soul, my mind, my strength
All that I am able to give.
Let Your love rain down on me
Let my love and devotion rise to You as a fragrant offering.
Let my days be lived in such a way that draws out Your Heart in desire
Let me live and move and have my being so that
You are moved to joy from my desire for You

Draw me even more
Have me even more
Oh God, even more
Teach me to love

Father, I long for You
I have tasted You and I have been with You
Now I can be satisfied with nothing else and nothing less.
The world tries so hard to imitate You
To imitate the Love that You so freely give
But there is no love, there is no rest...
There is no peace with the love the world promises
Father! Here I am!
Have me! Will You take me! Will You use me!
Come and rapture my heart.
Captivate and ransom my affections
Lay siege to the places in my heart that are not fully Yours
Raise the battlements and let loose the catapults
Let no time be lost on negotiating
Let no energy be spent on waiting for another resolution
Break in and break forth now
Write Your Name upon my heart and upon my soul and claim what it Yours
You make all things NEW!
So come and do a new work and a new affection
A new place in my heart for You
I am a willing vessel. I am a surrendered servant. I am a longing lover.
I give myself over to who You are.
Even More! Exceedingly and Abundantly!
Great and Mighty! More than Enough!

Father! Here is Your son and here is Your servant calling out for You
Would You answer love?
Would You answer Your son’s cry for depths of love with You?
Would You give me all of Yourself?
Just come.
I would do some great work for You. I would go on some great quest to prove my love. I would climb a foreign mountain and pick a rare flower if that is what You required. But You, You do not desire some great feat of strength and courage. You are God.

You say “Come Away with Me”
You say “Come and listen to My Heartbeat”
You say “Come and let Me hold you”
You say “Come and let Me show You love”
You say “My ways are not the ways of men”
You say “My paths and My thoughts are not the thoughts of mankind”
I desire mercy and not sacrifice.
I desire devotion more than great feats.
I desire you to just sit before Me and gaze at My beauty and let me love you.
Nothing more is required.
So come away with Me. Come away from that which glitters on this earth, come away from that which the earth says “this is love”. Come away with Me.
Come to the desert and let me speak kindly to you.
Come to the secret place and let me ravage your heart.
I would give all of Myself – but only to those who come away.
I would give everything that you desire – but it is reserved for those who love and choose Me above the things of this world.
Do not be swept away with money, do not be swept away with position or title, do not be swept away by status or things. Do not be swept away with that which is over quickly.
Answer a greater and a deeper call.
You say “I love You” – have you given yourself to the reading of My Word?
You say “I want to love you” – have you done what I said to do in My Scriptures?
Have you, would you – minister to the lonely, the broken, the orphan, and the widow?
Would you help the poor?
Would you go to the imprisoned?
Would you be my words of encouragement and comfort to those who are ready to give up?Would you preach My Word – here is life.

I say “Here I am, oh God.” Here I am, send me.
Let me love You and let me love Your people.

This is what it is to be a father – one, who protects, one who lifts up the brokenhearted, one who helps the needy, one who goes to those who cannot speak or fight for themselves.

Here is a ready heart. Here is a willing hand.
Here is one who would say “Oh God, have it all.”
I burn for You. Have me. Use me. Draw me. Take me.
Work in me. Speak through me. Help me.
I asked for intimacy and You answered by giving me trials that I would draw closer to You.
Still, I must have You! Even now, I must be with You!
You are all that I want and all that I desire!
Father, Oh King, Oh God – rapture my heart

Have all of me
You are no respecter of persons
I’m so in love with You, Jesus
Enflame my heart in Love
Arouse passion and desire in me to the heights of human capability
Let me close my eyes and be with You in the Throne Room
Let me live my life – never leaving the secret place
Make much of Yourself in me
Make much of Yourself in my life
Make much of Yourself through me
I want to waste my life to be with You
I want to pour out everything that I have and everything that I am
I want to have fixed gaze
I want to have single purpose
I want to be where You are
I want to do what You are doing

King and Master of my life
Commander of my soul
Lover who called me before the earth’s foundations were set
Wonderful One who is altogether lovely
Beautiful counselor
All I want is You. I want all of You
Will You give me all of You?
Take all of me. I hold nothing back for myself
Have my love, have my energy, have my resources, have my strength, have my time, have my sleep, have my heart, have my mind, have my thoughts, have my soul, have me.
Come, oh God.

You are Relentless
Your Love and Desire do not relent
There is no giving up and there is no giving in.
Come King and rend my heart
I give all that I am to You.
There is so much that I wish for and so much that I hope for
Oh King! I surrender. I hope in You.
I desire You. I do not even know what is the best path to take
I do not even know and cannot even see all that You have
I look and there is so much that I cannot see.

Living flame of Love come baptize me
All consuming fire – come now and consume even me
All consuming love – come now and burn
All consuming beauty – come and overtake me
There is no one better and there is nothing that I want more
Father, have mercy and grace on Your servant
Beauty, Arise!

Hope

Could I write on hope? It has been a theme of my life since I was a child. Always hoping, always looking forward, and always praying for things to come true. We don’t always get what we hope for, but sometimes we do. It is because of those sometimes that I keep on hoping and trying and wishing and praying.

I hope for great things and I hope for small things. Even now I can feel my heart beating, wanting and hoping. It wants so much to come to pass it feels as though it could beat right out of me and keep on beating for a minute straight on it’s own as it lay on the floor.

Romans 5 says “…we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.

This is where we have to stand and this is where we must believe: hope does not disappoint, because God has poured out His love into our hearts… hope does not disappoint.

What do you hope for? What does it mean to hope, anyway? In the very least, when we hope, we can know that we are not alone. Ruth hoped for a new future back in Israel, multiple occasions throughout history the Israelites hoped to return to Jerusalem, Esther hoped for salvation for her people and Job hoped for deliverance from the Hand of the Lord.

To hope is to have the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. To hope is to look forward with desire or reasonable confidence. To hope is to believe, it is to desire, it is to trust. Sometimes, we can even hope against hope… this is to continue to hope, even when the odds are against our favor.

Hope is a powerful emotion. Hope has kept people alive in prison camps, and hope has kept starving people from giving up who were lost at sea. Hope has reunited old friendships and Hope has rekindled flames of love that had been relegated to faint flickers.

We must continue to hope. Hope is the opposite of passivity. Hope is the antithesis of apathy. Hope is how we keep on going. Hope is strength when there only weakness, hope is love when there are only lonely nights, hope is fighting when the mobs have already surrounded, and hope is the next step when we’re lost in the wilderness. Hope is how to really live.

Hope is how you say to life, “I will not give up, and I will not give in.” Hope is the reason you get back up when you have been knocked down. Hope is the reservoir to draw from when the ship has already taken on water. Hope is where we look to when the alarm clock sounds in the morning and a new day calls, beckoning us to get up. We can either charge the day or flee from it. We must hope! Even when all we can do is hope against hope…

Hope! Keep hoping! Look to hope as a mighty warrior, look to hope as a trusted companion, and look to hope as a faithful friend. Remember, hope does not disappoint. Hope, when coupled with prayer and faith can bring even greater things to pass. This is when we bring our hopes before the King of Kings and lay them before His feet.

This is when we take the deep desires of our heats and the great wishes and prayers and hopes and dreams and say to Jesus; “Oh King of My heart and oh Lord of my life. Here are my hopes, here are my dreams, and here is what I want so deeply to come to pass. Would You have them? Would You take them? I don’t know what else to do. To my knowledge, these are noble hopes. As far as I can see, what I lay before You are good things. And even though I call them good and want them to be, I still bow my knee and say ‘Thy will be done’. Thank You Father, for I know that You are good and I now rest in Your love. Be pleased now Oh King. Come and have Your way.”

Keep hoping. Keep believing. Keep going.

An uprising

Oh God, You said that You never leave and You never forsake.
What is going on now?
I cry out. A heart, torn and rent. I know You are near, but my heart still breaks.
Day after day I wonder when You will draw back Your hand.
My strength has left me. I keep no more hope for myself.
Hour after hour I long and hope. I seek rest, but it escapes me.
Now I only find solace when I am not awake – a life on the edge of utter exhaustion.
My strength runs on the brink of despair. I fall to the ground. I can see no end.
I thought it was over. I thought it was done. Now, I see it was only a lull. It was only an ebb in the work You are doing. Now the full force of the flow of Your Hand goes forth.
I can not stand. I keep no strength, no hope, and no confidence in my own ability.
In the morning I am forced to trust in You.
There is only one remedy, and there is only one cure.
Not on my own, I command faith to arise. Deep calls out to deep.
Deep has now visited. Deep upon deep sets the table and takes counsel.
I see beauty all around me. I am hemmed in, before and behind.
There is a hedge around me. Its walls are thick and sure.
What do I believe? Oh God, I believe in Your love.
There is no other safe place.
Hope for a future… it hurts worse than I ever thought it could.
Opened up once more, the first time in years, and the hope was shut off.
Yet, even now, in brokenness, it was worth it… that another may know of the beauty they posses, that another may know love – like a breaking dawn – if for only that, all was worth it.
I look in the mirror and do not recognize my eyes any more. They carry a great weight that they have not yet carried. I listen to my own voice and it too carries a weight that I have not yet known.
I walk, more and less sure. I approach each day, with more and less confidence. My entire outlook has shifted. I keep utterly no confidence in my own ability. I only walk in the strength of my God. I no longer run to close ones when great pain comes. I run to the arms of One who is greater. I no longer worry about my own life. I have given it up. I see each day as a day that does not belong to me. I walk with great pain.
Each movement, each word, each hour… I can feel come and go. I used to rush in life, I have found I have to slow down. The only words that I now heed are the words of the One who died for me when He says “Come Away My Beloved”. I go to that place.
It is in the wilderness, it is at the olive press, it is at the breaking point, it is in the praetorians’ cell, it is in a cave in the Negev, it is in the house of mourning.
Why does God work so hard to answer our prayers for intimacy with Him…? I cried out for it. I pleaded for it. I prayed and fasted for it. I said “Oh God, I want You. Take all else away. Call me, draw me, bring me to Your inner chambers and Your inner courts! Have my life!”
And then He answered that prayer.
Who could have guessed that it would look like this? …to share in Christ’s sufferings… to be made more like Him… for Him to increase and for us to decrease… it comes at a cost.
We can’t have something for nothing. We can’t be brought into the inner chambers of the King and live our own life.
He has to work in the heart to build the integrity and character and dependence on Him to handle such treasure as intimacy with Him. Intimacy comes at a price.
It is connected and can not be separated from the dying to the flesh.
The more of the Spirit, the more of the world has to go.
Hope deferred… is not hope destroyed.
Defer by definition is to pass on to another time.
It will still come to pass.
So the only appropriate response is to press into the King.
The only thing left to do is to pray, is to fast, is to answer His call to come away as Beloved. Though my lip quivers, though my teeth shake, though my knees tremble, though my strength wanes… I call faith to arise. With nothing left… faith arise. With no hope, with no strength, with less than nothing left… faith, arise.
Faith, Arise!

God’s work on my heart: an outpouring

Something has changed in the atmosphere.
I can feel it.
There has been a breakthrough.
The time of testing is over.
The time of refreshing is at hand – it is here.

It is a season of coming into destiny.
It is a season of coming into joy.
It is propulsion to greater things.
They begin now – they start now – they go forth from this place.

I can hear the sound of a different drum beat.
I can see the marching formation of a new army.
It is a new day.

Destiny and dreams coming true.
The answer was sent from Heaven and now it has reached Earth.
It goes forth now, It is in the air, It has arrived.

Earlier, it was on the way and could not be stopped.
Earlier, things had been set in motion.

Now, it is here.
Now, it has come.
Now, is the time for living out dreams and destiny!

Something happened inside me, something on the inside.
A work from Heaven, divine hands performing surgery.
It’s over. I feel like a great battle was raging, and now it is over.
God has called a ceasefire.
God has called an end.
God has said “it is done”

I don’t care about it any more – trying to make things happen.
I finally surrendered. I finally let go.
No longer, am I enamored by mankind.
No longer, do I place my hopes for a future with humanity.
No longer, do I look to flesh to bring about destiny.

I look forward.
I look upwards.
I look to the King.
Promotion, influence, provision, dreams, all things… come from Him and Him alone.

Can you see it? Can you hear it?
The sound of many rushing waters; it is the sound of God.
The Lion of the Tribe of Judah has arisen.
The Lion of the Tribe of Judah is on the move.

Power breaks forth now.
Rumblings and lightnings and terror and splendor.
Holiness manifested, Glory revealed.
Heaven has invaded Earth.
The supernatural invaded the natural.
God has come.

The power is when I am on my knees before the Lord.
The power is in the prayers.
The power is in my weakness.
The power is God on the move.

He said “My Grace is sufficient for you, My power is made perfect in weakness.”
I don’t know that I fully understand, but I embrace it.
It is the power of God that I hold, I keep none for myself.

I finally let go.
And instantaneously, God was there.
I bow my knees, I bow my head, I close my eyes, and I walk into my destiny.
He propels me.
It is done. I can’t get away from it. He will do it.
The God of all. Amen.

Mark Anthony

Take me up in the Spirit oh God

I want to be filled with the knowledge of God, with the knowledge of You,
with the knowledge of the Holy, Holy.
I want to know You.
Now oh Lord, enlarge a place in my heart for You.
Take my heart, my spirit, my life, my mind, my will, my love and expand it to be able to love You and be loved by You more.
Come now into Your garden.
Place me like a seal upon Your heart,
Place me like a seal upon Your arm.
Seal me in with Love.
Seal me in with compassion - with the Presence of the Lord.

Oh God, I never want to leave Your Presence.
I don’t want to go to do something just because it “could be good” oh God, help me to let go of things that I need to let go of.
Help me let go and let You.

I want it to be You and me alone.
I want to be led by the Spirit.
I want to be where You are.
Come into Your garden.
Make my life leap from victory to victory.

God, I want to be where You want me to be and not where men want me to be.
Come now oh God.
Come now oh God.
Come now oh God.
Come now and take up Your servant.
Take Your servant into Your courts. For that is where I want to be, I never want to leave Your Presence, no, never, never leave. What work do You have for me to do and what dreams do You have for me to live? May Your servant ever follow Your dreams and the dreams that You have given him.

Come now King.

May I hear from Heaven in a great and mighty way… in a great and mighty way… in a great and mighty way!
Here now is Your son.

Life for you is about to start.
Do not give up; you’re on the brink of a miracle.
Being led by the King is a joyous thing.
There is abounding grace and joy.
You will be led out with peace and joy.
I have spoken Peace and Joy over your life.
Peace and Joy.
It is a year of dreams coming true for you.
Dreams coming true, dreams coming true.
Pursue your peace, pursue your joy and pursue Me with all of your heart.
Stay ever close to Me and I will lead you where I want you to go.

You guide me with Your Eyes
Eyes like a flaming and flashing fire
Guide me with Your eyes
Guide me oh God
May I radiate who You are
May I be a reflection and a picture of Your Love
Guide me with Your Eyes
Guide me with the flame
Guide me with the light of Your Eyes

Finally, I surrender

Would I encounter You oh God?
Would You encounter me?
I am not worthy, I am not holy, but You said “This one will be Mine!”

May I live my life before You God
May I pour out all that I have and all that I am before You
God I want to be where You are. I don’t want to leave

So here it is and here I am
God have all of me
I lay it down
I lay down my life
I lay down before you my hopes and my dreams
I lay down before you all that I hope to come true in life

Just have my life, God
Just have my life, God
Just have my life

I don’t know how to give it up
And I don’t want to
You are so good and still, I try to hold onto my life
Help me oh my God

Help me to just submit to You
Help me to lay it down
I need You
I need You
I need You
So oh God, come!

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There are so many things
That I could put my focus on
There are so many things I could run to
But the essence of beauty
Is calling out for me to come
And I’ll arise

There’s a storm coming
And my heart needs an anchor
There’s a storm coming
And my heart needs God

There’s a storm on the horizon and it’s not going away
I think it’s God!

And so I come
I turn away from all else
Away from everything that would vie for my affections
Nothing can compare
Everything else pales in comparison to my God
He is the essence of beauty

This is it
And here it is
No more and never again
I turn away from everything else
God I want You!

I turn my eyes upwards
And I arise
God I will pour out my hours and my days
God I will waste my life sitting before you
What a beautiful waste

Have my heart
Have my life
Have my soul
Have my time
Have my money and resources and energy
Have my days and my months and my years
Have my future
I release my past
Here is my present
Have it all.