CHAPTER NINE
THE BURDEN OF HIS HEART
Seeking His Face Instead of His Hand
“Psalms 105:4 AMP Seek and deeply long for the Lord and His strength [His power, His might]; Seek and deeply long for His face and His presence continually.”
“Psalms 63:1 AMP O God, You are my God; with deepest longing I will seek You; My soul [my life, my very self] thirsts for You, my flesh longs and sighs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
“2 Chronicles 7:14 AMP and My people, who are called by My Name, humble themselves, and pray and seek (crave, require as a necessity) My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear [them] from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land.”
“Jeremiah 29:13 AMP Then [with a deep longing] you will seek Me and require Me [as a vital necessity] and [you will] find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. [Deut 4:29, 30]”
THE GREATEST PURSUIT OF THE BELIEVER
As I have walked with the Lord over a few years, one truth has become increasingly clear to me.
The greatest calling of the believer is not ministry.
It is not miracles.
It is not influence.
It is not success.
The greatest calling of every believer is intimacy with God.
Everything else flows from that place.
One of the subtle dangers of spiritual growth is that we can become more interested in what God can do than in who He is.
We can become occupied with His blessings while neglecting His presence.
We may spend our prayer lives asking Him to move His hand, while He is inviting us to seek His face.
This is the difference between spiritual infancy and spiritual maturity.
Children naturally seek what the Father gives.
Mature sons desire the Father Himself.
God delights in blessing His children.
Throughout Scripture, we see Him providing, healing, delivering, restoring, and protecting His people.
Yet above all these blessings, He offers something infinitely greater.
He offers Himself.
HIS FACE BEFORE HIS HAND
One statement from my original message continues to resonate deeply within my spirit:
"If we seek His face and long to bear the burdens of His heart, He will also move His hand."
This is one of the great principles of the Kingdom.
Many believers reverse the order.
They seek God's hand first.
His provision.
His favour.
His promotion.
His answers.
His protection.
None of these desires are wrong.
Our heavenly Father knows our needs before we ask Him.
But His greatest desire has always been relationship.
When Moses stood before God, he could have asked for many things.
Instead, he desired God's presence.
David echoed the same longing throughout the Psalms.
Paul counted everything else as loss compared with knowing Christ.
The deeper we grow spiritually, the more our prayers begin to change.
Instead of asking,
"Lord, what can You give me?"
We begin asking,
"Lord, what is on Your heart?"
That question changes everything.
THE SECRET PLACE REVEALS THE FATHER'S HEART
There are conversations that only happen among close friends.
There are thoughts that people do not share publicly.
There are burdens that are entrusted only to those who have proven faithful.
The same is true with God.
The secret place is where the Father entrusts His heart to those who seek Him sincerely.
Many believers come into prayer carrying long lists of personal requests.
Again, there is nothing wrong with bringing our needs before the Lord.
He invites us to do so.
Yet mature fellowship goes beyond requests.
There comes a point where the Holy Spirit begins to shift the conversation.
Instead of speaking, we begin listening.
Instead of presenting our agenda, we begin asking for His.
Instead of asking Him to bless our plans, we ask Him to reveal His plans.
Prayer gradually becomes less about informing God and more about discovering what already burdens His heart.
This is where true intercession begins.
INTERCESSION IS SHARING THE HEART OF GOD
Many people think intercession simply means praying for others.
While that is certainly part of it, biblical intercession begins much deeper.
Intercession begins when God's burden becomes your burden.
His compassion becomes your compassion.
His grief becomes your grief.
His joy becomes your joy.
The prophet Jeremiah wept because he carried God's heart for His people.
Nehemiah mourned over Jerusalem before he ever rebuilt its walls.
Jesus Himself wept over Jerusalem.
Why?
Because they were not merely seeing broken circumstances.
They were feeling the Father's heart.
This is what happens in the secret place.
The Holy Spirit enlarges the believer's heart until it begins to carry what heaven carries.
Our prayers become less self-centred.
Our concerns become more eternal.
Our desires become increasingly aligned with God's Kingdom.
ENLARGING THE WOMB OF THE SPIRIT
One of the prayer points I shared in the original message was this:
"Ask the Holy Spirit to enlarge the womb of your spirit to absorb and be overwhelmed with His glory."
This picture has remained with me ever since.
A womb exists to receive life.
To nurture life.
To carry life until it is brought forth.
Spiritually, God desires to enlarge our inner capacity.
Many believers are asking God for greater revelation while remaining unwilling to allow Him to enlarge their capacity to receive it.
God never pours beyond what His vessel can carry.
The secret place stretches us.
It deepens us.
It enlarges our faith.
It expands our love.
It increases our compassion.
It strengthens our endurance.
Every season spent with God increases our capacity to carry His presence.
Without enlargement, greater revelation becomes impossible.
This is why waiting upon the Lord is never wasted time.
God is preparing the vessel before increasing the flow.
BECOMING FRIENDS OF GOD
One of the highest privileges in Scripture is to be called a friend of God.
Abraham received this honour.
Moses spoke with God face to face.
The disciples were no longer called servants but friends.
Friendship with God is built upon trust.
Trust grows through consistent fellowship.
The secret place transforms servants into friends.
A servant obeys instructions.
A friend understands the heart behind the instruction.
God desires more than our obedience.
He desires our fellowship.
He wants us to know His thoughts.
His ways.
His desires.
His purposes.
The deeper our friendship becomes, the more naturally obedience flows.
Love always produces obedience.
Not out of fear.
But out of delight.
CARRYING HEAVEN'S BURDEN
One of the remarkable characteristics of every great revival throughout history is that someone first carried the burden of God.
Revivals do not begin because someone discovered a new method.
They begin because someone encountered the Father's heart.
Every genuine move of God begins in hidden places.
Long before crowds gather...
Someone is praying.
Long before sermons are preached...
Someone is weeping.
Long before lives are transformed...
Someone has carried heaven's burden in the secret place.
God still works this way.
He searches for believers whose hearts are available.
People who are willing to carry His concerns before they seek their own comfort.
People whose greatest desire is that Christ would be glorified.
When God finds such hearts, He entrusts them with greater measures of His presence.
SEEKING HIS KINGDOM FIRST
Jesus gave us one of the greatest principles of spiritual life.
When God's Kingdom becomes our first pursuit, everything else finds its proper place.
The problem is not that believers have too many needs.
The problem is that we often seek those needs before seeking the King.
The Father's heart has never changed.
He still delights in caring for His children.
Yet He longs for sons and daughters whose greatest joy is simply being with Him.
The Christian life becomes beautifully simple when this order is restored.
We seek Him.
He guides us.
We pursue His face.
He provides what we need.
We carry His burden.
He strengthens us to fulfil it.
His presence becomes both our reward and our provision.
If We Seek His Face
As this chapter draws to a close, I return once again to the burden that first stirred within my spirit.
If we seek His face and long to bear the burdens of His heart, He will also move His hand.
This is not a formula.
It is the language of relationship.
God is not manipulated by methods.
He responds to surrendered hearts.
The believer who delights in God's presence eventually discovers something beautiful.
The Father's heart becomes his greatest treasure.
Prayer is no longer a duty.
It becomes communion.
Worship is no longer an activity.
It becomes love expressed.
Obedience is no longer burdensome.
It becomes joyful.
The secret place ceases to be a destination.
It becomes home.