It's Supernatural

SID: Now David, I’m excited because you’re a young man and you are so filled with the Spirit of God. And you came to this revelation. That’s fine. That was, how did you develop this relationship, this intimacy with the Holy Spirit?

DAVID: Well this is one of my favorite parts. I like the how-to because I would often hear sermons and I would go, that’s awesome, but tell me how I can do that, too.

SID: All right. There are even books on having a relationship with the Holy Spirit, but they don’t tell you how to.

DAVID: I mean, I’m the type of person, like you have to give me something I can apply right now, immediately, I can shut off this program, put this book down, go into my room and start acting it out.

SID: Right.

DAVID: So I want to talk about two things: silence and stillness. You see, the flesh, our carnal side, it can do many things and it will not put up a fight. You can sit in a worship service, it won’t put up a fight. You can watch a Christian broadcast, it won’t put up a fight. You can read the Word, atheists read the Word, cult leaders read the Word, but they don’t see transformation. But the moment you begin to seek the Lord, the flesh starts to put up a fight. Why? Because it’s in the seeking that the flesh dies. It’s in the seeking of the Spirit that the flesh dies. This is why, one of the reasons why the Holy Spirit wants to be sought. And so I had to learn this somewhat the hard way and I’ll just give you the short version, because I had pressed in to seek the Holy Spirit. There was a time in my life where there was swift movement to my spirituality and then I felt like I hit this wall, and I said I can’t go any further.

SID: By the way, you know David, a lot of people relate to what you’re saying. They’ve hit a wall, but they’ve never gone further. They just stayed there. It’s sort of they’re stuck as a ten-year-old.

DAVID: I’m going to say some things that are a little harsh, but some people need to hear it. The true proof that you believe in prayer is that you actually pray, and the only reason we don’t pray is because we don’t believe that it will work. And so, I mean, God made us promise. He said, “Seek me with all your heart and your body.” That’s a guarantee and if you’ll believe that you’ll seek him. If you don’t believe that, you won’t seek him. But the reward is him. He’s my great reward? Of course. So I found myself in that place. I hit that wall and I’m getting frustrated, but I moved beyond the frustration with the help of the Holy Spirit. I tried everything. I tried emotion. I tried to make up for in volume what I lacked in connection and I tried to connect with God with my emotion. He wouldn’t have it. I tried to use my intellect. I tried to use my passion. I tried to guilt God into a response, Lord, don’t you hear me, can’t you see me. But you see, intellect failed, emotion failed, willpower failed. “It’s not by power nor by might, but by my spirit,” says the Lord. So Matthew 6:6, Jesus says, “When you pray, go away, privately.” Private prayer is revealed in public power. If there is no public power it’s because there’s no private prayer. And so I began to seek the Lord privately.

SID: You know, that’s so good. You slipped right by there. I hope you heard what he said.

DAVID: And so then I had to learn the harder thing, which was stillness, and this is difficult. Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God.” Be still and know. Stillness precedes revelation, which means—

SID: I don’t see too many things in the movies and TV where people don’t say anything. We’re taught to fill empty space.

DAVID: Right and we’re uncomfortable with silence because the moment we’re silent we start to notice all the chaos within. And we say things like, well I didn’t feel this way until I began to pray. It’s not that it came up and we said, well the enemy attacked me when I started to pray. That’s not the case. That inner chaos was always there. You just were never quiet enough to recognize it. No wonder you’re walking around with depression and anxiety, and frustration, and confusion. That inner chaos is constantly going. But when you go to pray, it’s not, it doesn’t show up, it’s revealed. And so that’s why it used to take me four hours to get into the presence of the Lord to where I sensed his presence, not always physical manifestation and tangible power, but always the sense. We’re always to sense his presence, 24/7 awareness. I can tell you with all honesty, and I would not say this if it wasn’t true, I think you know that about me, there is hardly five minutes that go by where I’m not aware of the Holy Spirit, hardly five minutes where he doesn’t cross my mind in some way, where I don’t sense some communication. You might call it retreating within myself and fellowshipping with him.

SID: You know what, I need you to explain a little bit about this silence.