Whenever I pray thoroughly before the Lord, I experience the Lord operating freely within me. At those times my greatest hope is that the meeting time would come quickly; I have a strong appetite for the meeting. When my relationship with the Lord is not right within, the Lord cannot make home in my heart. Naturally, I will not have that strong a desire for the meeting.
After Paul prayed, there were five results. First, we have Christ making His home in us. Second, we are rooted and grounded in love. Third, we can apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth. Fourth, we can know the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ. And fifth, we are filled unto all the fullness of God. As long as we let Christ make His home in our hearts, we will certainly desire the meetings. We will definitely attend every meeting, be it big or small. We will long to share with all the brothers and sisters the Lord whom we enjoy.
Second Corinthians 3:16-17 says, “But whenever their heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. And the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” When the Israelites read the Old Testament, there was a veil covering them, because their hearts were turned away from the Lord. But when their hearts turned to the Lord, the veil was taken away. Today the Lord is the Spirit, and this Spirit is within us. When we have the Spirit of the Lord within us, there is freedom. We will be liberated, and all bondage will be gone.
Verse 18 says, “But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.” When we all behold the Lord with unveiled face, that is, when we behold Him face to face, we reflect the Lord and are transformed into His glorious image, from glory to glory. Then we will definitely have a desire to come to the meetings. And when we come to the meetings, we will sing hymns of rejoicing all the way.
If we allow the Lord to make His home in our hearts, and are willing to have our veils taken away, we will have an unveiled face to behold Him and will be transformed into His image. In this way we will go to the meetings with joy. I hope that you would all learn a few more hymns. The more hymns there are within you, the easier it is for the Holy Spirit to lead you to sing. For example, let us sing hymn 717:
O let us rejoice in the Lord evermore,
Tho’ all things around us be trying,
Tho’ floods of affliction like sea billows roar,
It’s better to sing than be sighing.
Then rejoice evermore, rejoice evermore,
It is better to sing than be sighing:
It is better to live than be dying;
So let us rejoice evermore.
Hymns, #717
As we enjoy this hymn, it is as refreshing as eating ice cream, especially for the older brothers and sisters when they come to verse 3:
O let us rejoice in the Lord evermore,
When sickness upon us is stealing,
No cordial like gladness our strength can restore,
For joy is the fountain of healing.
As you fellowship with the Lord this way, you may say to the Lord, “No cordial like gladness my strength can restore, for joy is the fountain of healing.” Then you will surely have a desire—“I will go to the meeting.”