Listener: The Holy Spirit has given me a message for you today which is difficult for me to record. Yesterday afternoon I went to the church to spend an hour in prayer in the sanctuary. For the last few years, several of us have met there one afternoon every week, each one praying silently in intercession as the Holy Spirit leads. Yesterday I was the only one there. On previous occasions when this has been a time of solitary prayer, it has given me great freedom to meet with the Lord…to walk among the pews to pray for the individuals who usually sit there; to stand in the pulpit and pray for those who stand there to bring God’s messages each week; to turn to the platform from which the musicians lead the congregation to lift voices and hearts to God in praise and worship and to pray for each one of them, to kneel in my accustomed place and speak aloud the prayers which are usually silent. Once, as I knelt there, deep in prayer, I had a vision of a very tall angel standing behind me with his wings encircling me protectively. These times alone in prayer in the sanctuary have always been a time of great blessing, but yesterday was not a time of great blessing. I knelt and uttered prayers, waited in silence for a word from the Lord, which did not come, and prayed additional prayers. For some reason, at the time I was not deeply distressed by this. I did not even open my Bible and read as I usually would when seeking guidance and direction in prayer. It was not until I left the church and was walking to my car that I began to experience a feeling of great emptiness. I sat in the parking lot convicted by the realization that I had spent an hour in the sanctuary and never entered into the Presence of God. I knelt before Him, uttered some nice prayers, spent the appointed hour there….and walked out empty. I had gone through the motions of religious ritual, which at one time might have satisfied me, but now the resulting emptiness was almost unbearable. Sitting there in my car in the parking lot, I finally had a real encounter with the Holy Spirit, asked for forgiveness and that He would help me not to “go through the motions” of religious ritual again. He told me that Satan uses religious complacency to give Believers a false sense of serving God, of being “good Christians.” After what I had just experienced, I realized that even prayer could become a religious ritual, Then Holy Spirit gave me words of comfort, and told me to share them with you. Holy Spirit speaks: Your experience today is not unusual. Those who read this message will know that they are not alone when it happens to them and will be warned that even the most dedicated Believer can drift into religious complacency. You must all cherish your relationship with God; never take that relationship for granted. You are accepted in the Beloved…which means that you are loved by the Father as Jesus is loved. … And for you Listener, I know that it was difficult for you to admit to those who come for Daily Bread that you failed to listen in the sanctuary yesterday, but sharing this provided you with a nice dose of humility, which is always beneficial. Shalom.
