Today’s Bread ~ My Communion Vision

Psalm 100:2 –Acknowledge that the LORD is God!  He made us, and we are His.  We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

I have a prayer list a mile long: A three-year-old with tumors growing on her optical nerve; a 13-year-old with so many food allergies that her mother can scarcely feed her; a friend at the center of painful family strife; another family barely making ends meet; a ministry to get off the ground; famine in Africa, and that’s not even half of it.  I carry my mental list with me wherever I go, offering up both praise and petitions as I think of them.

Last Sunday, something curious happened.

My church offers communion to the 8am service every week; the other two services share the sacraments the first Sunday of each month.  Since I usually have a role in all three services, I faithfully line up to take the bread and wine (juice) each week.  After accepting communion, I kneel at the altar to pray.

I approached the altar as I always do; giving thanks to God for all of His many, many blessings.  I asked forgiveness for my sins, and for help in repenting.  I asked Him to give me a heart like His and to make me into the person He desires me to be.  Then, as I got ready to flip through my rolodex of concerns, my mind went blank.

Luke 12:30 – These things dominate the thoughts of most people, but your Father already knows your needs.

As I tried to pray, a picture filled my mind: Me, tired and weary, approaching the throne of God.  And as I knelt, light washed over me.  The light grew brighter and brighter until it filled me, and I was simply enveloped by its warmth.  In the vision, I stayed a long while, and when I stood up, I carried that soft, warm, but brilliant light with me.

Psalm 46:10 – Be still, and know that I am God.  I will be exalted among the heathen; I will be exalted in the earth.

The New American Standard Bible (considered by some scholars to be the most accurate word-for-word translation) phrases the Psalm this way: “Cease striving, and know that I am God.”  The word in the original Hebrew for “cease” is רָפָה (raphah), pronounced raw-faw. Along with to cease or be still, it means to sink, relax, let go.  It is also found in the Scriptures translated as fall limp, collapse, and become helpless.

Sometimes, we are called to act.  Sometimes we are called to pray.  And sometimes, we are called to collapse at His feet, sink into His Presence, and let go of that which burdens us.

As I knelt at the altar, imagining myself bathed in His light, I felt Him whisper to my soul.  Be still.  Be filled. I know the deepest needs of your heart.  Cease striving, and know that I am God.

The word in the Hebrew for “know” is יָדַע (yada), pronounced yaw-dah.  Yada is most often translated as “know,” but it also appears in the Bible as acknowledge, aware, bring forth, know with certainty, and investigate.

God doesn’t want us to just cognitively know He is God.  He wants us to bring that knowledge forth into our awareness.  I know I have a kitchen table.  But when I am placing food on it and pulling out a chair to sit at it, I’m aware of it.  I know my husband loves me.  But when he looks at me, holds me in arms and tells me he loves me, I’m aware of it.

There is a difference in knowing something and knowing something with certainty.  When you know something with certainty, your behavior reflects it.  Someone can say that they know God loves and forgives them.  Yet they walk around with the burden of guilt and shame.  They know they are children of God, and can claim the promises of peace, joy, and victory, but they live with worry, anxiety, and stress.

To know God with certainty we must continuously get to know Him.  God wants us to investigate Him.  He wants to be the last thing we think about before we drift off to sleep and the first thing we think about when our eyes pop open in the morning.  He wants to carry our burdens and ease our concerns.  He wants to guide our every step and enrich every moment of every day.  He longs to pour His love out over you and bathe you in His grace.

Be still.  Cease striving.  Know that I AM God, maker of Heaven and earth.   I will be exalted among the heathen; I will be exalted in the earth.  Before I made the world, I thought of you.  I carefully stitched you together in your mother’s womb.  I waited with you in the silence.  I numbered the stars in the sky and the hairs on your head.  I already know your needs, and it gives me great pleasure to give you the Kingdom.  Be still.  Cease striving.  And KNOW.

Dear Heavenly Father, we love You so much.  Help us to come before You today and truly cease striving.  Help us to be still.  We live in such a noisy, busy world.  Help us to put our concerns and cares aside, knowing that You already know our needs and the needs of our loved ones.  Help us to empty ourselves of “self” so that You can fill us with Your love and Your light.  Help us to take a moment, right now, to rest in Your healing, holy Presence. Help us to breathe in Spirit, and breathe out self.  Bathe us in Your light until we become a part of it. God, we know You love us, but we want to know with certainty.  We know You hear our prayers and petitions, help us to know with certainty.  We know You promise to meet our every need, help us to live out that promise.  Convict us to be more diligent in our investigation of You so that You become a greater reality than anything else in our world.  As we go forward today, help us to carry Your light with us, shining brightly in a world that so desperately needs You.  We thank You for Your Word and Your Son, Jesus Christ.  It is in His precious, beautiful name that we pray.  Amen.