Toward the end of my first long-term fast in 1995, one Saturday night I just could not go to sleep. Already past midnight, I finally surrendered to the Lord, got out of bed, went and laid before God on the floor of our den, asking what He wanted to say to me. Finally, God pierced my heart deeply.
What I Felt God Said to Me
I believe that early morning, God revealed to me: “Ronnie, the biggest problem in your church is you. You are filled with pride. When you walk onto any platform with pride, I walk off.” At that moment, everything changed in my life. After more than thirty days of fasting and praying, the breakthrough happened. It came not with my church, but with me. That was the very place it needed to begin.
Personal Pride Obstructs Intimacy With God
The privilege of living in the presence of God is open to every believer. Yet many of us settle for remaining outside that Holy of Holies, filled with personal pride. This causes us to be satisfied to grow weary and irrelevant in the outer courts of the tabernacle. What prevents us from entering this gateway where power and breakthroughs occur? It’s not the character, nature, or actions of God, but the darkened veil of our own self-worship, our personal pride, or a life that has not been carried to the foot of the cross.
Yes pastor, scholar, Christian leader, and layperson: When pride walks on the platform, God walks off.
When you pray and fast, your life becomes positioned to encounter Holy God. When you encounter Him, the veils are lifted and the liberty begins. Breakthroughs occur because of God’s power moving in your life. That is holiness in action and when that happens in your life, you will enjoy intimacy with God.
When we begin to experience the holy presence of God that comes through fasting and prayer, we discover an intimacy with God like nothing we have ever seen or felt before. Intimacy with God is a lifestyle. If it is to do its work, it must change us from within and cause us to review and alter our behavior in the heat and torment of our days. Intimacy with God changed Moses on Mount Sinai when he prepared to give God’s Commandments to His people. Intimacy with the Creator means baring our hearts to the Father, allowing Him to see if there is any wickedness in us (And how quickly the verdict will be read!). But it will be read in love, with encouragement, and a prodding for us to return to our families, our work, our schools, and our churches as different people because we’ve been in the presence of God.
Intimacy With Others, Intimacy With Christ
Earthly intimacy will have a direct correlation to our intimacy with God, a closeness based on trust, faith, and love in Him. In our own strength, vulnerability and openness to others will remain a formidable challenge but when built on an intimacy with God, we will be given the strength to take the necessary risks to make intimacy with those we love a growing part of our lives.
Do you see it? Prayer and fasting move us into moments of self-examination spiritually, resulting in encountering our holy God personally. When we begin to see lifestyle change occur, we move to the kind of spiritual breakthroughs where intimacy with God occurs. Please know, standing in awe of the holiness of God will lead to an intimacy with God so special that your passion becomes living in obedience to God.
As pastors and Christian leaders, we must refuse personal pride that will pollute the pulpits and platforms of our churches and conventions. If we want the powerful anointing of God upon our preaching, praying, and leadership, we must rid ourselves of pride, abandon ourselves completely, and run toward the person of Jesus and the presence of God.
Ministry is not about singing nicely, preaching great, writing well, or leading strongly. Those are just things compared to a person that operates in their giftedness who is anointed by the supernatural power of God.
