“What is the ancient key, Lord?”
I had read a prophetic word Chuck Pierce posted, about God bringing us into victory through an ancient key. However, the text of his word had no explanation of what that ancient key was. I knew in my spirit that there was something Holy Spirit wanted to tell me through my brother Chuck. So I did what I always do when I can sense He is initiating communication with me. I inquired of His heart, and then I leaned in to listen.
I am voraciously hungry for the words that come from the mouth of God. Out of the overflow of His heart, His mouth speaks. I have come to habitually posture my spirit in an attentive, listening position. I don’t want to miss His whispers! Like the prophet Habakkuk, “I…stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I…look to see what he will say to me” (Hab. 2:1, NIV). Habakkuk intentionally arranged his whole being — body, soul, and spirit — in such a way that would best facilitate hearing his Creator’s voice. “Stand at my watch…station myself…look…see.” All of these verbs portray a man watching and listening with eager, rapt, focused attention. He had purposefully closed out the rest of the world to meet with the Lord.
Habakkuk understood that prayer was so much more than a monologue pointed vaguely towards the heavens. He needed to get God’s perspective about the matters pressing on his heart. He needed an ANSWER. He knew his Master well enough to know that He would indeed respond. He would show up! He always does. He would come to the meeting. He would eagerly and lovingly enter into the dialogue. He would satisfy Habakkuk’s longing to hear His words.
I love the Message’s rendering of this verse: “What’s God going to say to my questions?…I’ll climb to the lookout tower and scan the horizon. I’ll wait to see what God says, how he’ll answer…” Climbing the watchtower is a spiritual picture of true prayer: Habakkuk was moving up into the realm of the Spirit. To effectively connect with Heaven, we need to act on His invitation to “Come up here” (Rev. 4:1). Far too often, we stay on the earthly plane in our attempts to pray. This happens when our inner eyes are more focused on our circumstance than on the reality of God. One of the most important elements for growth in prayer is learning to climb the lookout tower in spirit. This happens as He teaches us to quiet our busy minds and move our focus onto Him. As we learn to gaze on Him, we naturally begin to move up into the realm of His Spirit. We transition into the place where we can stand on our watch to receive His personal rhema, or message to us.
Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow!
Feeding On Jesus 