What’s Happening

I am sure there are moments when we are all completely captivated and enthralled with aspects of God’s creation; gazing upon a breathtaking view of majestic snow covered mountains, a beautiful flower, a pair of eagles soaring high above, the velvety night sky on a starry night, the ocean in its ever changing state; the stillness of a mirror -like lake which reflects the sky and surrounding scenery in its surface, and countless other vistas.

I find that I could gaze endlessly (if I had the time) upon such beautiful scenes, while marvelling at God’s amazing handiwork.

If we can fix our gaze on the created things of God, not wanting to take our eyes off such beauty, how much more beautiful and marvellous is our Creator God, to behold, to fix our gaze upon?

David, in Psalm 27: 4 (Amp) declares: “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek, inquire for, and [insistently] require: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, to behold and gaze upon the beauty of the [sweet attractiveness and the delightful loveliness] of the Lord….”

While there are other types of prayer and meditation that we are instructed by the Lord to pray, such as praise, thanksgiving, petitioning the Lord, inquiring of the Lord and meditating on His Word; all vital aspects of our relationship with the Lord, we are also called to temporarily put on pause all these other types of prayer in order to simply be still and ‘sit at the feet of Jesus ’ as did Mary; to look with full attention on the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ; to rest in God’s presence and enjoy His companionship.

David Wilkerson refers to this type of contemplative prayer as ‘The Ministry of Beholding His Face’ – a ministry, that according to the apostle Paul, every born again believer has been called to:

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. Therefore, since we have received this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.” 2 Cor 3: 17, 18 and 2 Cor 4: 1 (NKJ)

The word ‘behold’ is not just ‘taking a look’ or a ‘passing glance’ but in the Greek it is ‘fixing the gaze.’

David Wilkerson states that out of this ministry of beholding the face of Jesus, all godly endeavours are birthed.

Being still and simply beholding the Lord is often not an easy thing to do. We find it hard to be still, to temporarily put aside all our cares, petitions, needs and even vocal praise and thanksgiving, to simply gaze upon Him. Often it is hard to ‘see’ Him, but we make the decision to be still before the Lord, to behold Him, as an act of faith and as an act of dedicated, quiet worship; in doing so ( as members of a royal priesthood) we are ministering to the Lord.

The scripture in 2 Corinthians also says “that those who spend time beholding Him with hearts and mind opened up to Him, are transfigured. We are being changed every time we behold the face of Jesus. We may not feel it or see it straight away but there is a metamorphosis taking place to change.” (David Wilkerson “The Ministry of Beholding His Face” U tube sermon)

At our half day retreats we attempt to provide a quiet space in a rural setting in order to help each other to practise this type of contemplative prayer, seated or reclining together in the Lord’s presence, as well as each of us being given the opportunity to being alone in God’s presence in a quiet ‘corner’ at our property ( indoors or outside depending on the weather).