A Series of “Waits” – Part 2
To Wait Longingly

The third word is to “wait longingly”. This word describes when we love Him so much that we will wait, because we are longing for Him. You know He is coming. When Moses had made the tent of meeting, the cloud of God’s Glory would come there and that was Moses’ way of knowing that God wanted to talk to him. All the people would watch, so fascinated by this cloud of Glory. Joshua would go into the tent with Moses, probably because Moses was mentoring him to be a leader some day. Afterward, Moses would leave, but Joshua would stay there. He wasn’t the one being spoken to by God, as far as we know, but he wanted to hang out in the Presence a little longer. The Bible never tells us anything that God said to Joshua in that tent. God’s point in recording this account is to show us that Joshua had become obsessed with a hunger for Him that became insatiable. He no longer waited patiently or with trust. He waited longingly for the Lord. 

They say that David was a man after God’s heart. He built a tabernacle or tent next to the palace in Jerusalem to hold the Ark of the Covenant. He broke all the rules when he did that. He wasn’t supposed to put the ark in a tent and go in there. Only the high priests were supposed to do that once a year. However, because he knew God’s heart, God allowed him to be able to “live on the other side of the cross,” so to speak. 

David built a table to put the ark on. He built it high enough and wide enough that he could crawl under it. It is said that David would lay there for hours under the ark in God’s Presence. This is the guy that said, “Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere.” It wasn’t just a psalm. He meant that. He was saying, “I would rather live in the Lord’s Presence for one day than in a palace.” David longed for the Lord and for His Presence.

It is sad that there are some spiritual leaders that don’t spend as much as 15 minutes a day in the Presence of the Lord and in worship. They don’t enjoy soaking, listening. They are too busy with the ministry. 

“O God, you are my God; early will I seek you: my soul thirsts for you, my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.” (Psalm 63:1; NKJV)

Give Him 15 minutes in prayer:

• Set aside some time today to sit before Him. Here is some instrumental worship music to help you get into His holy Presence.
• Position yourself to wait for Him. You may desire to sit, stand, walk around, kneel or lay down.
• Once He shows up, let Him speak to you. Don’t be the first to speak.
• Don’t leave until He does.
• If you struggle with this, ask Him to help you.
• Intercede for pastors and other Believers who have a hard time spending intimate, quality time with the Lord. Can you imagine how difference the nation would be if we did!

A prayer you can pray:

Lord, I long for You. Everything in me desires to be with You. As I put time aside today to seek You, would You come and meet me there. Even if You don’t, yet I will seek You. I will keep going, day by day, until finally that time of precious Presence will alight. Come, Holy Spirit. Come to me. Come and meet me in the secret place. Cause my heart to long for You more and more every day. May I be changed and make others hungry and thirsty for You, even as Moses’ relationship with You made Joshua hungry for You. Sometimes, I can’t get enough of Your Presence. Then, other times I act like I don’t need You. I will never understand this about our human nature. Fix this in me, Jesus. Cause my pastor and my family and friends to long for You like we never have before. Make this our reality. Our children will see it and long for You, too. Our grandchildren will watch us and want You, too. Change us and change our nation. Give us instructions for reaching the harvest around us. Show us how to expand Your Kingdom. Let it begin in the courts of the Lord. Amen.

Today’s decree:

May this nation long for Jesus as Joshua and David did!