Open the Dam!

We had a lovely time of prayer at Calvary Chapel Sydney last Saturday evening.  Many people gathered to seek the LORD and pray for one another, and it is always special when God's people unite in prayer.  Leading up the evening I felt I needed to "get out of the way" and allow the Holy Spirit to lead and move according to His will.  Instead of spending a great deal of time sharing requests with one another, I felt God directing us to "let our requests be made known unto God" as we gathered as one (Phil. 4:6).  As believers we must be cautious not to approach God with our own agendas, even though they often seem good and reasonable to us.  There is no formula to conjure a move of God's Spirit, though many things often accompany His move.  Jesus compared the movement to the Spirit as the wind blowing through the trees, and no amount of shaking trees will cause Him to blow.  We are to be like the trees with flexible boughs and leaves sensitive to the most subtle current of the Holy Spirit's presence so we might respond in obedience as He leads.

During our meeting, I was reminded of the Waikato river which collects above the Aratiatia rapids in Rotorua, New Zealand.  These rapids only flow a few times each day when the dam of the Waikato river is released to generate hydroelectric power.  As I was praying in silence in my mind I could see the water surging and building around the dam, creating great pressure.  Below the dam there stretched a valley which was dry.  The water swirled around violently, but it could not pass through the dam to water the valley.  I felt like the water was a picture of the Holy Spirit, and our group was the dry valley.  There was a strong dam in between.  How we needed His Living Water, His power, His refreshment!

"Break the dam," I prayed.  "Break it down."  The impression I had from the LORD was immediate:  "You do not break dams:  you open them."  Instantly I understood.  I wanted God to do something only we could do by His grace.  God's presence was among us as we worshiped and prayed, for He inhabits the praises of His people.  Where two or three gather in Christ's name, there He is in the midst.  Yet if we remained unwilling to pour out our hearts in worship, to open up to one another with honesty, and give space to the Holy Spirit to move in full surrender, we restricted the movement of the Holy Spirit.  We can deny ourselves the Living Water God has provided, having sent Him to comfort, teach, and guide into all truth.  I believe many experienced the presence and move of the Holy Spirit.  He spoke to other hearts as well as mine.  Yet I am convinced there is more for us when we all open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit without confining Him to our expectations or previous experiences - or perceived lack thereof.

The dam which creates the Aratiatia rapids is only opened a few times each day, and many spectators wait around for scheduled opening times.  How sad it would be for this to be a reflection of our relationship with God through the Holy Spirit!  It would be tragic for God to only have the freedom to move in and through the lives of His people on Sundays or during prayer meetings.  God forbid there would be spectators at prayer meetings!  We should continuously cultivate the presence of the Holy Spirit, for this Living Water is without limit.  The more we open the gates of what dams our praise, worship, and humbly pouring our complaints before God, the more this Living Water will flow.  And though we may position ourselves properly to catch the wind in our sails, God's grace does not depend on us.  This is a wonderful truth.  We are called to believe, seek, ask, obey, and present ourselves living sacrifices before God, yet no one can make Him move.  As C.S. Lewis famously repeated in his books concerning Aslan who is a picture of Christ, "He is not a tame lion."  We cannot make Him move, but when the Spirit moves let us be sensitive and obedient to His leading.