Rest On Us
"Rest on Us" by Maverick City Music
This song puts such a picture in my head from the very first line;
“As the Spirit was moving over the waters,
Spirit, come move over us, come rest on us”.
I just love the invitation of this song. I believe the Lord longs to fill us, he looks for opportunities to reveal himself to us. This has especially challenged me lately in my Spiritual growth. We get going in a routine with our lives – even a routine with God – and we forget that He is passionate about filling us up to live each day in the power of His Holy Spirit. In my regular prayer life, I pray for God’s grace to help me through the day, help me with my kids and I bring a list of other needs to him. But lately I have felt prompted to pray and minister to myself. I’ve been asking that He would fill me up, I try to take time to surrender my heart before him in the mornings and recognize the state of my Spirit before Him. What I’m getting at is, when was the last time you asked for more of the Holy Spirit? When was the last time you invited His presence to overtake you? This song speaks to me in that area;
“Holy Spirit, come rest on us,
You’re all we want,
You’re all we want.”
I heard it said once that we have become a church of preference. We try to make accessing church as easy as possible – we pass the Offering or Communion through every aisle – these acts of worship are literally served to us on a platter. Does anyone else get anxious on those rare occasions when we actually have to walk up to the front of the church to take the Communion? Or is that just me? Not that there's anything wrong here, but I think we often fall into that place of waiting for God to come to you instead of passionately pursuing Him. We don’t realize that we have this posture towards the Holy Spirit – that he will speak to you if He has something particular to say to you – that He will meet with you if He wants to. Spoiler alert: HE ALWAYS WANTS TO MEET WITH YOU. He is always speaking – it may not be in audible words, but He is always communicating His heart to you in one way or another. As the lyric goes:
“You’re here and I know you’re moving;
I’m here and I know You’ll fill me”.
So the question is not if God speaks to you, but rather, have you slowed down enough to notice the impression He is making in your spirit? You can’t just come into the building and go through the motions, you need to bring your heart and your life before the Lord and ask, implore Him to come again.
“Fire and wind, come and do it again,
Open up the gates, let Heaven on in,
come rest on us”.
The best part about this whole concept, is that when we ask, I believe that God is just waiting for opportunities to say YES to us. Isn’t that the nature of a Father? To want to share the most amazing gifts with his children? I love when I’m able to say yes to my kids. The problem is, they are usually asking for something at the wrong time (ie. candy for breakfast), or they are asking for things that they aren’t ready for yet (like driving the car…). And maybe we’ve fallen a bit into that rut with the Lord, asking for things that are not in alignment with His timing, or asking for things that He knows we aren’t ready for. And then we’ve gotten discouraged and either quit asking with expectancy, or quit asking altogether.
But when my kids ask me for some candy after they’ve had a healthy lunch, I just love when I can say yes to them, and I believe God is just waiting for opportunities to say yes to us. So like our children often do, we need to keep asking. I like how the New Living Translation puts this well-known verse “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7: 7). But the onus is on us to ask. We need to keep inviting – because although the Father is the same yesterday, today and forever, there is always newness in Him, there is always a different side of Him that we haven’t yet seen – a fold He is wanting to bring us into; a greater depth and breadth of His presence. How can there not be more?
When Pentecost came, the believers were in the upper room, praying and praising, and God surprised them in the most unimaginable way that the world had yet to see. And yet somehow with all that knowledge as the foundation for our faith, we have lost some of the passion for the Spirit. Let’s invite Him back, let’s hunger and thirst for the deeper things of God; let’s earnestly seek the greater gifts! Jesus didn’t come solely for our salvation; He came so that He could send us the Counselor (John 16: 7); that the Holy Spirit would mark us for this lifetime. But if we continue to walk through each day unaware of the Spirit’s desire to overflow in us, it won’t just happen on its own. So let us not waste a second; come fill us up, Holy Spirit. Come fill us up. You’re all we want.
"Rest on Us" - Maverick City Music
