Soaking in the Spirit: How to Attract the Glory
I am deeply impacted and moved by Carol Arnott’s book, The Spirit and the Bride Say, “Come!”
Carol has been a dear personal friend and close partner in soaking prayer for almost twenty-five years. I have seen the Holy Spirit move in a glorious way through her life and ministry, impacting millions of people around the world. Because of the great outpouring of the Spirit in Toronto, we felt empowered to feed the hungry, comfort the afflicted, and reach people with the message and love of Jesus in some of the darkest situations on earth. Both Rolland and I were greatly transformed through the movement that Carol and John Arnott led. Carol’s book draws us to a deeper intimacy with God, inviting us to lay our lives down in total surrender to our Lord and Bridegroom King. As we seek to go deeper in the river of God’s presence, He enables us to endure all the trials that hit us along the way. As I’ve said from the pulpit many times before, there was a time when I could easily imagine myself burned out, leaving Mozambique, and going back home to work at a Kmart! But I thank God over and over again for refreshing us through the beautiful move of the Spirit that the Arnotts were given to steward.
Carol is one of the most intimate lovers of God I’ve ever met. What she shares in her book is a convicting message of holiness, and it certainly should be. But what I love most about her call to a life of purity is the reason for it, and the way we have to seek it: in ever deeper intimacy with God. More important than any outward discipline or method is the goal of our faith: Jesus Himself—knowing Him, reflecting Him, offering ourselves in joy, full of pure oil, to be His hands and feet in the world.
Where I live, we face many pressures. So many people are in severe need that it could easily overwhelm me on any given day. I’m just one little person, and yet I’m aware that real fruitfulness always comes from intimacy with God. As you lay your life down for the Lord and offer Him whatever’s in your hands, He will accept it and multiply it. This is something Carol and I share at the deepest level. Because of this, to this day we soak and pray together over the phone nearly every week. We have enjoyed countless hours quietly seeking God’s presence because we believe that simply being able to attend to the Father and soak in His Spirit is an incredibly precious gift. In fact, we feel compelled to spend this time. It is made possible by grace, and draws us by grace. In these times of intimate prayer that go beyond words, God moves us closer to His Son. We know that without daily grace from heaven, nothing we can do ever works out the way we would like or bears the kind of fruit we hope for. We want to live a pure life, but His presence is what purifies. We talk about being “undone” in prayer because in these times He will remove the things that stand between us and Him. In this way He loves to create a new heart in His children, soft and alive.
This is not simply some new and special discovery of the charismatic church, or of a recent revival, or something that belongs to this or that denomination. I believe that the what Carol calls soaking—the quiet prayer of the heart—has belonged to the church from the beginning. It is for every believer who wants it. It was cherished by ancient Christian monks in the desert, by priests and laymen, in monasteries and mission fields and private homes by believers throughout the centuries. It has been practiced by Orthodox and Catholics and Protestants and saints in every part of the world. Psalm 46:10 tells us, “Be still and know that I am God.” Jesus Himself spent long periods of time praying secretly in the wilderness. When you know why He did this, you will not want to live without it. Soaking prayer, the prayer of the heart, brings food from heaven. Justice is there, and purity, and comfort from the Father, and everything else we need.
Jesus said, “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9-11). Sometimes we may ask for things that are bad for us, or that we are not ready for, and in His mercy, we do not get them. When you ask God for what is good, He is always pleased, and His presence is the greatest thing we could ever ask for. It’s always right to ask for this. It’s always a good time to seek it. It’s His presence that teaches us what else is good and healthy to ask for, or where we should go, or what we should do or take or leave behind.
The Spirit and the Bride indeed say “Come.” I pray that Carol’s humble and powerful words will inspire you, as they have so often inspired me, to lay down your life. Not just for duty, but for intimacy with the only one who is worthy.
