Soaking Moments

"Ho! Everyone who thirsts come to the waters; 
And you who have no money, come, buy and eat. 
Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, 
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.                       
Incline your ear, and come to Me...
Seek the Lord while He may be found, 
Call upon Him while He is near." 
Isaiah 55:1-6.
 

HOLY SPIRIT I WANT TO KNOW YOU!

Holy Spirit, I want to know You.

Holy Spirit, I want to know YOU.

Holy Spirit, I want to KNOW YOU.

You said that You would grant me according to Your riches in Glory.

Holy Spirit I know You are Rich.

Your mercy is abundant.

Your grace flows like mighty rushing waters.

Your Seven-fold Spirit burns at the very throne of God.

You are rich and Your hand is upon me.

Yes, Holy Spirit, Your hand is upon me now.

I feel the wind of Your presence.

Holy Spirit You said You would strengthen me with might,

through Your Spirit that lives deep within me.

Oh Holy Spirit, strengthen me, strengthen me now!

Your flame burns before the throne

 and your Spirit of counsel and might burns.

 It never goes out!

Strengthen me with Your Spirit of counsel and might.

Teach me how to know You.

I want to know You as a friend knows a friend.

I want to know Your thoughts.

I want to know Who You are.

I want to know  Your words.

I want to know Your works.

I want to know Your power.

I want to know everything about You!

Give me counsel, Holy Spirit.

Teach me how to KNOW You in a deeper, more intimate way.

Oh Holy Spirit, show me Your Spirit of wisdom and the holy fear of knowing You.

Make me wise in the knowledge of You.

Show me Your very being.

You said that Christ dwells in my heart through faith.

Holy Spirit, You do dwell in my heart .

You fill my very being with Your Presence.

You've rooted and grounded me in Your love.

Oh, Your love is like honey that drips from the honeycomb.

Drench me, Holy Spirit, in You!

Let the oil of Your anointing flow upon me and through me.

I want to know You.

Holy Spirit reveal Yourself to me.

You said You want me to comprehend the width, length, depth and height of You.

I want to know You. Help me comprehend all that You are.

O Holy Spirit, I want to know the deep deep love of Christ .

You said Your love even passes knowledge.

Holy Spirit fill me!

 Fill me now with Your very Spirit of knowledge and understanding!

Let it pass from knowledge and understanding of Your Spirit to know Your love!

You promised to fill me with all the fullness of God.

Fill me now!

Let me drink from the rivers of water.

Plant me deep and let me drink of you.

Let my roots go down deep as a tree that is planted by the rivers of water.

Plant me by the river that flows from Your very throne, oh God!

Let me Know Your fullness.

Fill me now!

Holy Spirit, I want to know You.

You promised, Holy Spirit, that You would do exceedingly above all that I could ask or even think.

Holy Spirit enlarge my tent.

 Holy Spirit, You said that Your power lives within me.

You, Holy Spirit live within me, and Your power lives within me.

Holy Spirit I want to know You and Your power.

Show me Your power and let me be a reflection of You.

Oh, Holy Spirit, not by my might nor by my power

but by

YOUR might and YOUR power that lives within me!

Holy Spirit, I want to live and move and have my very being in You.

Oh Holy Spirit, I feel you ministering to me now.

I drink You in.

I drink and I drink.

Reveal Yourself to me Holy Spirit, more!  There's more!

Pour Your fullness into me.

Holy Spirit I thank You now!

I thank You Holy Spirit!

I praise You right now and I glorify You !

I glorify You!

I glorify You! And I sing Your praises to the Nations!

All generations will know that You are worthy of all Glory and Praise!

You are everything to me, Holy Spirit.

I love You.  I worship you.

Oh You are.

You are!

You are everything!

I glorify You.

Holy Spirit, thank You for Your Sevenfold Spirit that burns within me.

Your hand is upon me, burning within me! 

Oh, Holy Spirit I glorify You for placing within me Your Spirit of counsel and might.

Yes Lord, You have shown me Your counsel and might.

Burning flames of wisdom and fear of You burn within me making me more like You.

Oh to know You more, is my deepest desire.

Thank You for your friendship, my dearest and closest friend.

Oh Holy Spirit,

Knowledge and understanding are on my lips and in my heart.

Thank you Holy Spirit.

  I worship and adore You.

You have poured upon me more than I could ever have dreamed.

Holy!  Holy!  Holy!  Lord God Almighty!

You alone are worthy of my praise.

Janis Smith

SOAKING, DRINKING, MARINATING,
       PICKLING AND BASKING

   Janis Smith

It is our desire that you enter into a deeper walk with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  Soaking, drinking, marinating, pickling and basking are all one in the same term that will help you come up higher and go deeper in your relationship with God.  Your Holy hunger will be rewarded by an awareness of God's very presence and by an experience of Him that will result in your every day practicing the presence of God.  Psalm 34:8 instructs us this way, "Taste and see that the Lord is good."  Our walk with God is an experience and a reality that we actively participate in.

In my own life I had run after God, seeking Him, knocking at the door and watching Him time after time open doors for me.  What I came to realize was that He's uncontainable and infinite.  There's always more.  He became everything to me and my desperation grew and grew for His presence.  Even though Holy Spirit was accelerating me, I cried out to Him for more.  Sandra and I were at this same place together.  One day some friends of Sandra's and mine introduced us to Todd Bentley's "Marinating" cd.  (We strongly urge you to purchase this Holy Spirit anointed cd @ www.FreshFire.ca.  Since that time many soaking cd's have been recorded by many artists.  You will find many of them available for purchase @ www.elijahlist.com .

While listening and entering into the word of God in the cd's we were able to experience God's Presence.  We went straight into the throne room of God experiencing and marinating in His Presence.  Now after soaking and marinating, this process has become our own.  We are marinated in God and He in us. It is simply a tool to help assist you in your journey.  It has been a wonderful time soaking, drinking, marinating, pickling and basking in the presence of Holy Spirit.  It is our desire that you enter into a deeper walk with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  Soaking, drinking, marinating, pickling and basking are all one in the same term that will help you come up higher and go deeper in your relationship with God.  Your Holy hunger will be rewarded by an awareness of God's very presence and by an experience of Him that will result in your everyday practicing the presence of God. 

In John 15:4-9 Jesus says this, "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.  If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered;  and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.  If you abide in Me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.  By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be my disciples.  As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love."  Now, that's soaking!  Jesus said that He is the vine and you are the branch.  All you have to do is stay connected and wait.  His sap will flow through you and you will bear fruit!  When you become one with Him your desires will be His desires and He will give you the desires of your heart.  He will be glorified, and you will bear much fruit.  He says again, abide in His love!!!  Oh how I love to abide, soak, marinate, drink, pickle and bask in His love!  He draws me closer to Himself, pours into me rivers of living water, and together we experience life, real life.

Are you thirsty for more of Him?  Let's take a deeper look together into soaking.  We as Christians are the bride of Christ, and as a bride we have a great desire to prepare ourselves for the King.  Esther began her quest to prepare for the king by soaking for twelve months (Esther 2:12).  She began her first six months of preparation by marinating in the pool of oil and myrrh.  Oil and myrrh symbolized cleansing and purification in her life.  As she soaked herself physically, she soaked herself mentally and spiritually.  The oil and myrrh actually became a part of her being as she soaked daily.  Then as she was saturated with the oil and myrrh, she began another six months of soaking in perfumes and preparations for beautifying women.  These perfumes and preparations were frankincense, cassia (otherwise known as cinnamon) and other spices.  Cinnamon is a symbol of the baptism of the Holy Spirit with fire.  It was a time of consecration.  Esther marinated and soaked herself in these perfumes so long that they went deep into her body and became part of who she was.  She could no longer be separated from the spices she had soaked in, and she became a changed woman of God.  Do you see a correlation between Queen Esther and yourself?  Marinating yourself in the presence of the Holy Spirit makes you one, inseparable and powerfully anointed in Him. This is what we are doing when we soak in His presence. We are cleansing, purifying and consecrating ourselves to God.  We come into His presence totally focused on Him and we soak. 
 
In Psalm 45, David cries out to God. "Your throne, O God is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions.  All your garments are scented with myrrh, aloes and cassia. Out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made you glad."

Take some time today and read the whole chapter of Psalm 45.  There you will find such wonderful declarations for your life. In verse 6 we see that loving righteousness and cleansing ourselves on an ongoing basis brings gladness and joy.  As Esther prepared herself for the king, she actually became engulfed in joy.  Isn't that awesome!  She benefited from something she was doing for someone else.  

Marinating, soaking, basking and pickling in His presence is much deeper than a surface prayer time, devotional time or time of regimented Bible study.  It becomes a relationship with Holy Spirit so that as Acts 17:28, "For in Him we live and move and have our being.”

Do you have a friend, child or spouse that you know so intimately that you know what they are thinking before they speak?  You know what they like and dislike.  Can they be miles away and you have a knowing of their need, or you feel their presence? Holy Spirit wants this same intimacy with you.  Soaking is so important each day so that you know Him, His ways, His works, His desires and His power in a deeper more intimate way each time you meet with Him.

Soaking has many facets.  It is meditating on God and His promises in the scripture.  It is also a time of silence, contemplation and waiting.  Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”  The word 'still' in this scripture means, 'idle,' 'quiet' and 'alone.' In this passage we also see the word 'know.'  This word has 8 parts to its meaning, 'come to know by experience,' 'perceive,' 'find,' 'see,'' be made known,' 'become known,' 'be revealed' and 'cause to know.'  WOW!  Holy Spirit wants us to KNOW HIM, doesn't HE?  Notice that this passage was written by the psalmist David and he had a very distinct style of writing.  David begins with a revelation from God, and then he stops and thinks about what he just wrote.  He meditates on it and drinks it in so that it becomes a part of him.  We know he does this because he writes the word "Selah" at the end of a thought which means to stop and think about that.  We will find such closeness and knowing when we become still and focus on God.

In Acts 1:5 Jesus says, " ...you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."  Let's look more closely at that word 'baptized.'   The word 'baptize' in this passage is translated from the Greek word 'baptizo' which means "to dip."  The ideas here are "dipping repeatedly," "immersing," "submerging" (as in a sinking ship), "washing one's self" (bathing), and also “overwhelming” (see crosswalk.com for more information).  The Greeks used this term to signify the dyeing of a garment or the drawing of water by dipping a vessel into another.  Plutachus uses it as the drawing of wine by dipping the cup into the bowl and Plato, metaphorically, as being overwhelmed with questions.  When we look at the metaphor of dyeing a garment we get a beautiful picture of what it is to be a Christian. Colossians 1:27, "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of Glory."  Wow!  We can get really excited about that!  Dye permeates and becomes a part of the garment itself.  That is what Jesus does in our lives.  Revelation 3:20 tells us that He comes to live in us.

The clearest example that shows the meaning of 'bapto' and 'baptizo' is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 BC.  It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both words.  Nicander stated that in order to make a pickle, the cucumber should first be 'dipped' (bapto) in boiling water and  'baptized' (baptizo) in the vinegar solution.  Both of these are part of the process and include immersing, but the first is temporary.  The second is a soaking in vinegar which produces a permanent change.  It is the second step that actually causes the cucumber to become a pickle.  So my friend we can actually refer to being baptized as being "pickled"!

Marinating a steak is another example of the process of soaking.  The steak, once marinated and soaked in a desired sauce for a period of time, becomes tender and juicy.  Think about marinating yourself in the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Soaking in His presence without thought of yourself.  Simply resting in His Glory and letting  Him "marinate" you!!

Another picture Holy Spirit gives us is that of wine.  The grapes become fine wine after a long time of waiting, fermenting in the cellar.  The grapes take on a new form and are forever changed.  As we spend time waiting in the presence of God and marinating and drinking in His presence, we become like Him.  He saturates us with His very being, and we become more like Him.  Our thoughts will become His thoughts, and we become one, totally changed by His presence forever.

Isn't it awesome how Holy Spirit speaks to us with pictures so that we can better understand the parables He sets before us!  The word of God is really saying, "Come and be dunked in the river of My presence again and again!  I want to immerse you, submerge you and overwhelm you with My presence.  I invite you to stay with Me until you're so changed that no one recognizes you when you come out." You will look more like Jesus after you have marinated in His presence.

Go ahead, get pickled, marinated, soaked!  Bask in His presence and enjoy your precious time getting to know Him.  You will be eternally grateful, as we are that you've been pickled in His presence.  We want to be so saturated with the Holy Spirit and His power that we are forever changed.  

Father, we thank You for imparting into us a holy  hunger for You.  We pray that You will saturate us and marinate us in Your Presence today.  Give each woman a revelation of what soaking is and the understanding that it will change her life forever.  We ask to know the deep recesses of You.  Impart into us now a holy desperation to  have an intimate walk with You.  Make us thirsty and hungry for Your presence, and then quench our thirst as You have promised to do time and time again.  Fill our barrels with fresh wine, giving a fresh anointing of the gifts You have already revealed, and new wine opening new gifts within us.   

 In Jesus' Name we declare it done,

 Amen

Enjoy the Journey,

Sandra Bontemps and Janis Smith