Group 6 – Section 6

…want to believe but won’t make joyous declarations that help them repent by changing their thinking patterns, nurture their faith, and rest into the place of drawing near to God by trusting Him to draw near to them here.

…protect themselves by trying to limit my faith and hope.

…protect themselves by making me feel like I shouldn’t go outside their religious boundaries.

…lack childlike and idealistic faith, who can’t see what God is doing, won’t listen, and don’t want to change.

…reject or ignore what the scriptures say about drawing near to God and receiving His presence and kingdom here.

…avoid or try to suppress the truth about sin and idolatry in their heart.

…glorify their spirituality and make the presence of God a thing others should try to earn and achieve.

…make me ashamed to draw near by reminding me of sin that God has forgiven and washed clean.

…make me feel I should try to be impressive ‘like they are.’ My God is the God of all glory and beauty. And, my God is the commander of all the angels of Heaven.

…protect themselves by making it seem wrong for me to praise and worship God freely and with childlike joy.

…are not helping people to drink from the fountain, but want to feed the people with themselves…

…are insensitive, inconsiderate, or unkind.

…I delight that I don’t have to agree with the disbelief of religious people. The Lord is God—they are not. I denounce and reject all pressure to join their disbelief. I refuse to hold back from standing before God. (pause to let yourself feel confident and reassured by the significance of God’s presence with you here!)

…Heart, their “…unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God…” (Rom. 3:3). When I draw near to God by trusting Him to draw near to me, the Holy Spirit comes and washes my heart and body clean (James 4:8); “…washed…in the Spirit of our God.” (1 Cor. 6:11).

…Lord, I rest into believing and doing what the Bible says: “…let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16); Lord, “You are my King and my God…” (Psa. 44:4 NIV). (pause to hear, believe, and love the truth!)

…I am directing my heart toward God by declaring to my heart and to God that He is “…my hiding place and my shield…” (Psa. 119:114); “For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me…” (Psa. 27:5).

…I keep myself abiding in the presence of God by declarations that turn the affections of my heart away from the world and toward God, “I love You, O Lord, my strength.” (Psa. 18:1); “…Lord, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude…You are our God; let not man prevail against You” (2 Chron. 14:11).

…(Your name), my confidence to draw near and delight in God is not prevented by religious people who…

…try to find faults and look for ways to trap me in doing something wrong.

…try to protect me with their disbelief about God’s love and His desire to draw near, without our having to earn it. (pause to hear, believe, and love it as the truth!)

…make it seem wrong somehow for me to pray.

…accuse me wrongly.

… won’t forgive and seem to hate me.

…ignore an honest look at the scriptures and make it seem wrong for me to stand before God and glory in His presence.

…are impatient with me about how I hold tightly to the truth.

…make me feel I should be more worthy before God will come to me freely.

…try to protect me by demanding that I back off from joyful faith about the truth of the scriptures.

…try to limit my confidence to glory in Your presence now.

… won’t join me in my struggle to nurture faith, hope, and love.

…avoid, or try to suppress the truth about sin of the heart.

…hurt weak people by trying to use guilt as a tool to make them improve.

…tie on plastic grapes and call it spiritual fruit.

…Heart, it is the Lord who is God, not them (Psa. 46:10). I repent of holding back from God because of religious people. Their “…unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God…” (Rom. 3:3).

…Heart, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him.” (Psa. 28:7). I turn my heart to treasure and love nearness to God by declaring to my heart that it is safe and best for me to say to God, “You are my King and my God…” (Psa. 44:4 NIV).

…Heart, “Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord” (Psa. 31:24).

…I rest into believing that I can “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…” (James 4:8).

…Heart, “…let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16); “For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. / Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest…” (Heb. 4:10-11).

…Even though, “…I have heard the slander of many…they took counsel together against me…But as for me, I trust in ‘You, O Lord, I say, ‘You are my God” (Psa. 31:13,14).

…(Your name), my confidence to enter by receiving the kingdom (Mark 10:15; Heb. 12:22-24, 28; Rom. 12:1) is not prevented by religious people who…

…try to make me feel that they are more special to God than me.

…make the presence of God seem like something too high to achieve.

… don’t believe they can confidently draw near and receive freely from the fountain of God.

…want to believe but won’t take steps to repent in ways that change their patterns of dependence and nurture their faith in God.

…lack childlike and idealistic faith, can’t see what God is doing, won’t listen, and don’t want to change.

…feed themselves with the sheep (Ezek.. 34).

…try to “love” the sheep by clinging to them rather than God.

…try to find their own security by controlling my faith.

…try to keep the sheep in their fold by controlling them with intimidation and fear.

…seem to fear the presence of the Holy Spirit.

…compete to be in control, or to call attention to themselves.

…Heart, it is the Lord who is God, not them (Psa. 46:10). I repent of holding back from receiving the kingdom of Heaven with gratitude. I repent of shrinking back from standing before the Lord because of religious people who haven’t yet turned away from pursuing the glory of earthly things and the opinions of people.

…Heart, “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.” (Psa. 118:8). It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to take refuge in the acceptance and approval of people.

…I repent of trying to put my hope in Christian people who hold back. Heart, hear this! I “…have boldness and confident access through faith in Him” (Eph. 3:12); “…through Him we…have our access in one Spirit to the Father” (Eph. 2:18); “…have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus…draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Heb. 10:19, 22).

…I refuse to align myself with the disbelief of religious people! I can drink because of drawing near to the radiance around You, Lord, “…They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; and You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain…” (Psa. 36:7-9); I is right to let my faith be strong about drinking from God because “…there was a radiance around Him. As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance…” (Ezek. 1:1, 26, 27).

Heart, I don’t have to agree with those who try to shut me down spiritually because “…we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus…” (Heb. 10:19, 22).

…Heart, even when “Many are saying of my soul, there is no deliverance for him in God…You, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the one who lifts my head.” (Psa. 3:2,3); “I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and will glorify Your name forever.” (Psa. 86:12); “You are my God…I exalt you.” (Psa. 118:28 NIV); “…My lips will praise You.” (Psa. 63:3). (let yourself feel confident about the closeness and greatness of God’s power and glory!)