March 26th, 2007
Many people ask about this - it's ok if you don't know. None of us knows everything and it's OK TO ASK!
Soaking involves intimacy with Jesus. It is immersing yourself in His presence so much so that He permeates you...
Three dictionary definitions might help:
SOAKING: To be immersed until thoroughly saturated.
IMMERSED: to involve deeply; absorb; to baptize by immersion
SATURATED: to cause to unite with the greatest possible amount of another substance; to charge to the utmost; to soak, impregnate, or imbue thoroughly or completely; soaked, impregnated, or imbued thoroughly; charged thoroughly or completely; brought to a state of saturation ; to soak, fill, or load to capacity.
The following is from a website (so when they say "me" and "I" it is the author of the site) - this is what the Lord showed me to share with you (from a website)(you will see that which the Lord asks me to interject in parenthesis):
During previous revivals people referred to it as "waiting on the Lord" or "tarrying" as they lingered expecting God's revival blessings. Although "soaking" includes waiting on the Lord, in this present move of the Spirit it means much more than that. To "soak" in God's presence is to rest in His love rather than to "strive" in prayer. As the person receiving a touch from God begins to connect with the reality of the Holy Spirit's presence, he often responds by gently sinking to the floor or lying there. As he rests expectantly in God's presence, often the Holy Spirit hovers over the person to reveal more of God's love and to renew and repair areas of a person's life. As the believer soaks in God's presence, the Lord takes control and begins to draw his attention to God's word either in the scriptures or Him speaking through your spirit, or images via the seer realm.
Soaking can be compared to making pickles. There is a classical Greek word study on the Greek words bapto, meaning to dip, and baptidzo, meaning to immerse. Making pickles is a good way to illustrate soaking prayer. The recipe called for the raw fruit to be dipped in boiling water to blanch or sterilize the cucumber, using the word bapto which means "to dip in and out quickly." Then it called for the cucumber to be immersed, using the word baptidzo, and soaked in the brine and the pickling solution for several weeks. What happens during this soaking time is that the marinade or the pickling solution soaks deep into the flesh of the cucumber until it takes on the flavor of the pickling solution so that it no longer tastes like a raw cucumber. This is what we mean by soaking. May you be so marinated in the presence of the Holy Spirit, soaking in the River of God, that you no longer "taste" like your old, raw nature any longer, but you have taken on the flavor of the Holy Spirit. "Pickle us, Lord, in the marinade of the Holy Spirit. Soak us in your wonderful presence until we become more and more like You."
This is what the Bible has to say (NKJV):
Psalm 23:1-3 - "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul ..."
Psalm 131:2 - "Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me."
Psalm 4:4 - "Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still."
Psalm 37:7 - "Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him."
Matthew 11:28-30 - "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Hebrews 4:9-11 - "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest."
Isaiah 40:29-31 - "He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."
Psalm 27:14 - "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord!"
Proverbs 1:33 - "But whoever listens to Me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil."
Luke 10:39 - "And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word."
Hosea 2:14 - "Therefore, behold, I will allure her. I will bring her into the wilderness and speak comfort to her."
There is a deep need in every one of us to be close to God. Experiencing God is something to be sought after and not avoided. While we base our "theology" on God's Word, our experiences with God make it all come alive.
+++(NOTE FROM HIS MESSENGER: It is oh so much more than this...for we are to die to self so that He can rule and reign through us; we can only become like that which we see; it is RELATIONSHIP; we are to KNOW HIM...not only as bondservants and handmaidens, but also as friend, co-laborer, disciples, children of God - sons and daughters...to KNOW HIM INTIMATELY)
The Bible is a book of experiences of men and women of God throughout history, whose lives were changed through divine encounters. Your life will be changed as well, as you encounter Him.
In the Toronto Airport Church, they conclude every meeting with a time of soaking prayer. People stand for prayer on their prayer lines and their ministry team will come and minister to them, praying such things as "Lord, come and give them more of your presence; more of Your love." They may stand there or often rest in the Spirit as they sink into the arms of God's presence. Because of the many people who experience this phenomenon in these meetings, they assign every prayer team member a "catcher" to assist the person receiving prayer by standing behind them as the prayer team member prays for him. This allows the person receiving prayer to relax and be less anxious about what might happen if he is overcome and falls.
Soaking prayer is something that you can also do in your own home. You can be alone, or just with your spouse or children, or you can invite several friends over who can take turns praying for one another. Steve Long, one of the pastors at TACF, was one of the first on their staff to begin soaking at home by himself. He would put on a CD, lie down on the floor and let the intimate worship draw him into a beautiful refreshing time with the Lord.
Jeff Metzger, a pastor from Akron Ohio, was one of the first to have group "soaking prayer" going on in his home, and he's been doing it for over seven years. People are free to come and go as they please, yet they are encouraged to enter quietly, lie down on the floor and experience a restful revitalizing time with the Lord. Many changed lives have resulted from attending the soaking times at Jeff's home. Recently a man from Germany started inviting friends over to his house just to soak in the presence of God. He has been doing it for years, because he couldn't find a church near him that was flowing in the River.
Although you don't have to lie down, you may sit in a chair or lie on your bed, the main thing is to be in a safe place so you can be vulnerable. Set your affection on Jesus. I like to soak while listening to intimate worship music with meaningful words that quiet my soul and help me draw near to God. As you reflect on the cross and all that Jesus has lovingly purchased for you, begin confessing your sins to Him and longing to be close to Him. After a few moments, you will become aware of the Holy Spirit's unseen presence. People experience Him in many ways: a weight upon your body, an electric tingling upon your hands or face, or a warm sensation of love going through your heart which connects you to Him. This is how you grow to love anyone, by a series of several encounters that bond you together. It is not only a rational process; your heart must be engaged.
Experiencing God's presence is what will cause you to love the Lord with all your heart and soul. (Matthew 22:37) Humble yourself before Him. Give all your worries and cares to the Lord talking to Him about them. Pray a prayer like this. "Lord Jesus, I invite You to come and search my heart. Come close and let me know Your love." Let worship rise up inside you and give yourself to the Lord. If you become distracted, then re-focus on Jesus. Remind yourself why you are soaking and listen to the worship music.
Yes you can. Remember, everything we receive from God we receive by faith. Faith must be positive and focused on God. (Not negative and fearful, focused on the enemy.) Jesus said in Luke 11:11-13, "If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" The key is intimacy. It is not a program to be run and managed, but a relationship to be maintained.
It can take anywhere from fifteen to twenty minutes to quiet the business of life and enter into rest. But Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, and He wants you to enter into His rest. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy and peace, so we need to take quality time with Him. You cannot force or hurry this. The idea is not to "get" something but to "be" with someone. Take time just to be with Him; to love Him and let Him love you. If you fall asleep, that's OK. If you are interrupted, you can always come back for more. You will know when your time is finished. You will feel a satisfaction in your heart and a release to go and get on with life. It is not unusual for me to soak for one or two hours, but that's me.
+++(NOTE FROM HIS MESSENGER: ASK THE LORD HOW LONG YOU SHOULD SOAK - it's not up to us - not one second of our life is up to us - so we have no right to decide - just ask Him and you will know because He will tell you and release you when you and He are finished)
Occasionally one may experience a release of emotions during soaking prayer. God may want to touch deep places in the heart. There are often areas of past wounding where we are very reluctant to go. That is often the very place that the Lord wants you to revisit so that He can bring freedom and healing to areas of fear and pain. It is helpful to have friends and even experienced ministry people in the room so they can lovingly assist you through this and help reassure you to go ahead in faith in order to bring closure to these areas.
This is NOT New Age meditation (NOR SHOULD IT BE)...as a child of God you should not involve yourself in any New Age experiences nor should you get involved in yoga/eastern mysticism sorts of meditation - all of these are open doors for the demonic and should NOT be partaken of...
You are welcome to email to me your Godly soaking experiences and with your permission I can then share them as comments (not limited to but especially if you've never tried it before). As you yield to the Holy Spirit and allow yourself to draw closer to Jesus, God will bless you and satisfy your heart's longings for transformation and you will become more like Him.
May you continue to seek His face
May you continue to hunger to know all of Him
In His Unfailing Love,
His Messenger
March 26th, 2007
IN HIS UNFAILING LOVE MINISTRIES
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