Drawing Near…Be the Priestess

READ: 1 Samuel 1:1-28; Psalm 42:1-4; Mark 2:1-28

Praise the Lord to all my sisters.  The summer has been somewhat of a whirlwind but thank the Lord that He is restoring my schedule back to some level of normalcy.

I know that we are familiar with Hannah and the miraculous intervention from the Lord to take her from being barren to fruitful.  I know that many of us know how Hannah feels and I can say from personal experience “for this child I have prayed”.

But today my focus is not so much on Hannah, but on Eli figuratively representing “You”.   You being a woman, the woman whom the Lord desires to do great work through.  You being the woman who has an opportunity to speak into the lives of women like Hannah and Peninnah.

We’ve felt or been treated like the underdog…Overlooked instead of chosen, empty instead of full, lacking instead of abounding, ugly instead of pretty, fat instead of skinny, cursed instead of blessed; and the lists goes on and on.  Some of us sadly are miserable right now because we don’t understand what God is doing or trying to do with our lives.  We’ve become nearsighted unable to see things at a distance and we’ve lost sight of the big picture.

The Lord is calling us to “Be the Priestess”. That is women of fervent and agonizing prayer, Christ’s Intercessory Intelligence Agents (CIIA), prayer warriors, prayer partners and spiritual coverings not just for you and yours but for others as well.

Drawing Near is Uncommon

It’s becoming less common for “so-called Saints” to draw near to the Lord.  Praying in agony and with great intensity is not the norm these days .  We act like we are no longer used to people pouring their hearts out before Him thus we forgot what fervent prayer means. 

You have to wonder why Eli the Priest presumed Hannah was drunken? Could it be that there were others lurking around the temple of the Lord that were actually drunk or could it be that there were few people who really meant business when it came to prayer?

We can take note of a few things about Hannah.  First, she was serious in prayer.  Second, she focused on a specific prayer.  Third, she had the right motive in her prayer.  Fourth, she purposed in her heart to honor God if He would answer the petition.  Do you do that?  Do you really consider how you are going to honor the Lord if or when He answers your prayer?

Fault of Eli the Priest

Eli the Priest could’ve done better and shown forth a more excellent representation of the holy and precious office of the Priest.  He accused Hannah and then blessed her. It is easy to misjudge, misrepresent, and misinterpret things when you’re not walking in the spirit.  What you think your hearing and seeing is not the real reality.  Some of it is not orchestrated by God. 

We must stay before the Lord in prayer to be able to judge and discern correctly. As a Priest he should have been more discerning and walking in the Spirit of God.  For in doing so, he would have been able to hear the Lord reveal the actual concern of her heart rather than give a general blessing although it turned out favorable for Hannah.  

Thanks be unto God for His divine providence. We shouldn’t settle for being in the ballpark of things or in the vicinity of what seems to be right:  praying dragnet prayers without any specific aim or a target; prophesying, encouraging, and speaking a word of knowledge and yet giving no details or substance for anyone to hang onto.

I say to you my sister’s walk in the Spirit — do God’s will, be His holy mouthpiece. The world is dying AND people are lost, deranged and strange.  They need someone to go before them in prayer; someone to intercede for them, someone who has access and a connection with God.

Those who draw near are the ones who [according to scripture] will have what they ask.  Not the ones going around naming and claiming, grabbing, and thinking they can have it with no spiritual sweat-equity.  We want what we want, we do what we do, we name it and claim it, we try to speak it into existence but in the same breath we keep ignoring His divine will that He is expressing to us and no wonder why we are frustrated and disgusted within.

Jesus said in John 15:7 “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”  I believe that with my whole heart and I recognize that I am not abiding enough in Christ.  We’ve got to get close up to God to hear Him very clearly.  We can’t draw near while staying at a distance.

Virtues to Gain

Woe unto Eli the Priest and those who approach their relationship with the Lord like he did.

Learn from Hannah today.  Find virtue in her experience.  Study her prayer strategy.  Study her praise.  Ponder Eli’s demise and the manner in which he ignored the voice of the Lord.

Don’t allow a spirit of accusation to creep into your heart as those kinds of things along with unforgiveness, jealousy, envy and strife all block your prayers and hinders the progress you could be making in Christ.

Be the priestess and separate yourself from those who you know aren’t seeking God.  He didn’t call us to be assimilated and associated with the masses.

Be the priestess and get your own heart right with the Lord else you be marked as a hypocrite in the Lord’s sight.

Be the priestess and sanctify yourselves sufficiently before the Lord.  It would be a shame to know that the people you think you are interceding for are more holy than you and have more of a heart for God than you do. (Numbers 16:5-7)

Be the priestess and ask the Lord who you are to be an intercessor for.

Be the priestess and commit yourselves to drawing near to His divine presence so that He may speak to you.  (James 4:8)

Be the priestess and diligently seek to know, understand, pursue, pray for and fulfill His divine will. Don’t stop praying until you hear from heaven until there is real breakthrough until God answers. 

Be the Priestess you desire your own Pastor and others to be for you.