How to Enjoy God and How to Practice the Enjoyment of God, Ch. 2, Sec. 5 of 5

Sections:

THE SECRET OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 
BEING TO ENJOY GOD

God does not intend for us to do anything for Him. As God’s children, we need to change our concept and see that God’s only desire is to give Himself to us to be our enjoyment. The secret of the Christian life is not how much we work for Him, but how much we enjoy Him. It is not what we do for Him, but how we enjoy Him. We must learn this secret. There is no need for us to worry about doing this or that. We need to learn to simply turn our inner being to enjoy God. When we pray, there is no need for us to be concerned about our difficulties and burdens, such as a seriously ill child. We need to learn to come to God to enjoy and absorb Him, and forget about everything, even a child’s illness. If we forget, the Lord will not forget, but if we remember, the Lord often seems to ignore the situation. Even when we say, “My brother Lazarus is sick,” the Lord does not move faster for our sake. The more we want Him to come and take care of a matter, the more He does not come. He knows our “Lazarus” is sick, but He does not answer our prayer. Only when we stop does He come. The more we insist, the more He waits until “Lazarus” finally dies, is buried, and begins to stink. This is the Lord. He has no intention for us to do anything for Him. His only intention is that we learn to absorb and enjoy Him.

Martha was always busy for the Lord. She did not know how to stop and absorb the Lord. We must learn to stop ourselves. In particular, when we pray, we must learn to stop our involvement in so many affairs. We should not be busy with so many matters when we pray. Whether our prayer is for half an hour or only ten minutes, we should absorb and enjoy the Lord. We should feed on Him until we are full. Let the children be sick. Let the difficulties remain. Let the burdens take care of themselves. The Lord knows all about these things. We should enjoy Him and be fed by Him. We should simply enjoy and absorb the Lord again and again. If we do this, we will be filled with God, and our face will shine. We will be full of the Lord’s presence. What a glory this will be!

Sadly, the opposite is true today. Many brothers and sisters are like the two disciples on the way to Emmaus. They are filled with sorrow. They preach the gospel with wrinkles on their foreheads. They visit people with sullen faces. They go with their sorrows, not with the Lord. As a result, the ones whom they visit have more sorrow. Some elders are sorrowful elders. When they consider hall twenty-eight, they shake their heads. When they look at hall two, they bemoan the situation. When praying in the morning, they say, “Lord, remember hall twenty-eight, and do not forget hall two.” This is not praying to the Lord; this is praying about halls. The elders should forget about the halls. When they come to the Lord in the morning, they should behold His beauty, absorb Him, receive Him, and enjoy Him. As they are fed by Him and are filled with Him, their faces will shine. Then when they visit hall twenty-eight in the evening, all the brothers and sisters will say that “Moses” has come. They will marvel at the shining face and say, “The countenance of this elder has changed. His face is no longer sad but shining. When he stands up to speak, the Lord is expressed.” This is the secret. This is what it means to be a Christian.

There is no need for us to pray for so many matters. We simply need to touch the Lord, to contact Him. Our relationship with the Lord is not based on matters. He has no intention for us to do anything for Him, nor does He have any intention of doing anything for us. Our relationship with the Lord is not based on doing things but on enjoying Him. He said, “Take, eat” (Matt. 26:26). This means that He wants us to remember Him, to take and drink Him. He has given Himself to us for our enjoyment. He has no desire to do anything for us. He simply desires to be our enjoyment. He does not want us to do anything for Him. He desires us to enjoy Him. That is all He desires, and this is all that matters. He has become our enjoyment. We simply need to enjoy Him, and His glory will be expressed through us. This is the Christian life. This is the meaning of being a Christian. Brothers and sisters, only in this way will we find light, power, victory, and holiness. This is how we will find the Lord of glory Himself.

© Living Stream Ministry, 2021, used by permission