Finding Hope for a Bright Future
“So it is impossible for God to lie for we know that his promise and his vow will never change! And now we have run into his heart to hide ourselves in his faithfulness. This is where we find his strength and comfort, for he empowers us to seize what has already been established ahead of time – an unshakeable hope! We have this certain hope like a strong, unbreakable anchor holding our souls to God himself. Our anchor of hope is fastened to the mercy seat which sits in the heavenly realm beyond the sacred threshold, and where Jesus, our forerunner, has gone in before us. He is now and forever our royal Priest like Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:18-20 TPT).
I don’t pray the way I did before. This doesn’t mean that I’ve given up on prayer. In fact, I pray way more. It’s just different, more contemplative, meditative, imaginative. You might say it’s a form of “being” that puts me in a state of almost immediate peace and rest—while at the same time creating a feeling that I would describe as being “alive.” The experience also establishes a deep “knowing” that I could never produce apart from this meditative time I spend alone with God every day.
Part of what I now “know”—after having established this mode as my “go to” with God for about ten years—is that it has worked to effectively change my mind, my thinking, and my outlook. It has changed me. It has created hope, in and through a whole new realm of possibilities!
The practice has also created what I now believe to be a more effective way for me to pray for others.
So, at the first suggestion of the breaking day, I head to my back porch. My husband is still sleeping. It’s quiet. I nestle on the sofa. I take a few sips of coffee.
This is absolutely my favorite time. It’s what gets me up in the morning—the stirring of thoughts about just “being” with Him, enjoying His presence, receiving His love, getting back into alignment, and preparing for what lies ahead, the work He has for me to do.
“Lord, take me to where you are.”
With that said, I ascend into the Secret Place of His heart, a safe place, where I am free to curl up in His lap and trust Him. He is a good, good Father. I am a little girl again, and I don’t “need” to “prove” a thing.
Taking the Time to Be Loved
I am no different from other people. To remain hopeful, what I “need” first every day is this: being reminded that I am deeply loved, irrespective of my circumstances. So my time with God always, always, always starts with receiving His love. “Being” loved (and knowing it) sets the stage for everything else.
I receive God’s love by “meditating” on His love for me. I have learned that this is how HIs love becomes real to me, a part of who I am becoming.
“Lord, You love me.”
“You love me.”
“Yes, Lord, You love me.”
“Thank you, Lord, You love me.”
This might be the only thing I say out loud to Him for the first few minutes. I do tend to repeat myself over and over, which might seem silly to someone possibly eavesdropping! But I need reinforcement! And God has assured me that He doesn’t mind hearing it, no matter how many times I feel the need to say it!
At this point I might also take about three deep, deep breaths, holding each one for about five-ten seconds.
Before the inhale, I say: “I breathe in Your love!”
“I breathe in Your forgiveness!”
“I breathe in Your peace!”
His loving presence is so lavish, so complete.
“Lord, I’m sorry I have forgotten to live in Your Presence completely. I’m sorry for the times I made it all about me.”
“But, Lord, I know You have forgiven me.”
“And I thank You for that.”
“You have set my wounded soul free!”
“Now, I can utterly depend on Your love to pull me through and give me everything I need!”
Perfect Alignment Produces Joy, Gratitude, Peace
Joy is something I “need.”
And the more times I affirm to myself and to God the things I know to be true from His Word—and the more deeply I concentrate on those truths—the more enjoyment I get! True joy and gratitude begin bubbling up!
“Lord, You’re good.”
“Yes, Father, You are so good.”
“Thank You for being so good!”
Now my body and soul are waking up—into complete rest and calm. This happens when my body, soul, and spirit shift back into proper alignment, each part taking its rightful position. This shift feels right.
The Bible teaches that God blew His Spirit into us at the point of creation. This means that our spirits are supposed to be the most dominant part of us! I can attest to this fact: when my spirit is in the dominant position, I do have a strong “sense,” or awareness, that it is “connected” to the Holy Spirit. I also sense that my mindset is being renewed and refreshed.
To boot, any confusion about who I am or who God is, vanishes. I begin to “feel” His fiery passion for me!
“Lord, You are faithful. And true.”
“And I trust You. Yes, I do.”
“I trust You—with everything.”
“Because You never leave me.”
“You are my hope, the anchor of my soul!”
“My spirit is always joined to Your Spirit.”
“That’s right, I am a spirit, first and foremost!”
“And today, I will remember that. I’m a spirit first, in a body, with a soul.”
“How brilliant is that! You’re in me. And I’m in YOU. We’re all tangled up in each other!”
“I have Your mind!”
“WOW!”
Basking in the Light, Life, and Love of God
There are lots of pauses in between all the affirmations I say out loud. You get the idea. I take my time. But once I’m feeling loved, and I’m all lined up and aware of my connection to Him, I am ready to go into the place where Jesus is, the throne room. That’s where I sit at His feet and bask in His Light, Life, and Love—the highest, most powerful frequencies in the universe.
“I receive LIGHT!” I proclaim.
His light is everywhere, shining all over me. I try to “see” this in my mind. There are no shadows! If there is a place in my body that needs a touch, I “see” the beam of His most intense Light shining there. At the same time, I imagine His Light touching my soul, my inward parts. All darkness, all wrongness, is exposed and driven out—all fears, anxieties, and disappointments.
With that done, there’s room for Jesus’ Life, His nature, His rightness, to come in. (See the Rightness/Wrongness Chart in the Downloads section of my website.)
“Breathe on me Lord. Restore me, empower me, manifest your life in me—that I might also share that Life with the people You want to touch through me.”
Then, I imagine Him blowing His fierce breath into me, just as He did with the disciples. At the same time, I try to capture a visual of His nature (His compassion, abundance, goodness, and love) going into me, replacing my darkness, my flesh.
Last, I imagine His Light on my head, giving me new thoughts, new revelations.
I declare, “Lord, your light gives me revelation about many things that I have not understood previously, mysteries that have been hidden or long forgotten. Your revelation-light is calling these things forth through my spirit!”
An Imagination Miracle in the Making
Now, my joy is full, and my cup is running over. I am eager to transfer this same Light, Life, and Love to all the people I love! This is rightness.
About two and a half years ago, I asked, “Lord, who needs a touch from you today? Who needs to be reminded of Your Love?”
Through my imagination, I “took” the people who come to mind “with” me to the throne room. We all stood there together, while Jesus’s Light, Life and Love surrounded us. Of course, I “imagined” that all my people were responding very favorably to this encounter with Jesus! They were all overjoyed to experience His unconditional love, His forgiveness, and the sense of freedom and restoration that was manifesting in them as a result.
Now I had been “enjoying” this “imaginative” meditation prayer for a few minutes, when, suddenly, the scene shifted and I got a “picture” in my head of a “bed.” This time, it was a literal picture I saw. The bed, a twin, was revolving around in a circle. It had a headboard and a pillow on it, and it kept going around and around. I finally said, “Lord, what is it?” He said, “A bed!” I was baffled as to what this meant.
Ten minutes later, I picked up my Book of Isaiah, The Passion Translation, which had just been published. I had been reading it every day and had gotten to Chapter 28. So, I started at the beginning of that chapter and read through to verse 20 which said, “Your bed is too short to stretch yourself out on, and your covering is too narrow to wrap yourself in” (Isaiah 28:20 TPT).
I was flabbergasted! Quickly, I went to the footnote, which explained, “The bed is a metaphor for their [the people trusting in something or someone other than God] confidence in lies—resting in illusions, not in the truth. Those who trust in lies will not be comfortable. The covering being too narrow means their nakedness (like hiding behind fig leaves) will still be exposed. They will be too cramped and too cold. Every resting place and shelter will fail them.”
Meditative Prayer Opens Up New Possibilities
The Holy Spirit had given me the “picture” of the bed to speak a word of encouragement to me. He was saying, “I see you! Keep lifting your people up to Me! When you do, the frequencies of My Light, Life, and Love really do affect them, especially their thinking. They are realizing that the things they have relied upon are not reliable —and that they are missing out on the abundant Light, Life, and Love that only I can give. Believe it!”
This is what God is continuing to teach me through meditative, imaginative prayer: When I think deeply about what He is saying, from the vantage point of the heavenly realm, and when I imagine the things He inspires me to see, as if they are already “are,” these very things I see and hear begin to manifest in the earthly realm.
In other words, I manifest peace, and knowing that I am loved. I manifest increased aware of my connection or union with my Creator, the Source of all things in the Universe, who is also my Heavenly Father, and my Savior-Redeemer, Jesus Christ. I manifest His thoughts, feelings, and purposes. I manifest His love to others.
Soon situations around me change. People change. Doors open. Opportunities are created.
Remember, the Life, Light, and Love of God found and practiced in His Presence, the Secret Place of His heart, do change things—for you, and for the people you love!
We really are connected to Him there! Knowing that—and that we are so loved and always forgiven —makes life complete. Perfect, no matter the circumstances. It’s supernatural!
“But the lovers of God walk on the highway of light, and their way shines brighter and brighter until they bring forth the perfect day!” (Proverbs 4:18 TPT).
My Prayer: Lord, thank You that I can turn and enter Your Presence at any time. Thank You that Your Light exposes my darkness and takes away its power to harm me. Your life changes my nature. Your love gives me calm and drives out all my fears. I am “alive” unto your righteousness! Amen!
To watch Emily’s video of this blog on YouTube, visit the Videos page or click here.
Related Verses:
“Our faith in Jesus transfers God’s righteousness to us and he now declares us flawless in his eyes. This means we can now enjoy true and lasting peace with God, all because of what our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, has done for us. Our faith guarantees us permanent access into this marvelous kindness that has given us a perfect relationship with God. What incredible joy bursts forth within us as we keep on celebrating our hope of experiencing God’s glory! But that’s not all! Even in times of trouble we have a joyful confidence, knowing that our pressures will develop in us patient endurance. And patient endurance will refine our character, and proven character leads us back to hope. And this hope is not a disappointing fantasy, because we can experience the endless love of God cascading into our heart through the Holy Spirit who lives in us!” (Romans 5:1–5 TPT).
“So now we come freely and boldly to where love is enthroned, to receive mercy’s kiss and discover the grace we urgently need to strengthen us in our time of weakness” (Hebrews 4:16 TPT).
“I promise that I will never leave you helpless or abandon you as orphans—I will come back to you! Soon I will leave this world and they will see me no longer, but you will see me, because I will live again, and you will come alive too. So when that day comes, you will know that I am living in the Father and that you are one with me, for I will be living in you” (John 14:18–20 TPT).
“But when the Father sends the Spirit of Holiness, the One like me who sets you free, he will teach you all things in my name. And he will inspire you to remember every word that I’ve told you. I leave the gift of peace with you—my peace. Not the kind of fragile peace given by the world, but my perfect peace. Don’t yield to fear or be troubled in your hearts—instead, be courageous!” (John 14:26–27 TPT).
“However, there is a wisdom that we continually speak of when we are among the spiritually mature. It’s wisdom that didn’t originate in this present age, nor did it come from the rulers of this age who are in the process of being dethroned. Instead, we continually speak of this wonderful wisdom that comes from God, hidden before now in a mystery. It is his secret plan, destined before the ages, to bring us into glory” (I Corinthians 2:6–8 TPT).
“Concerning this we have much to say which is hard to explain, since you have become dull in your [spiritual] hearing and sluggish [even slothful in achieving spiritual insight]. For even though by this time you ought to be teaching others, you actually need someone to teach you over again the very first principles of God’s Word. You have come to need milk, not solid food. For everyone who continues to feed on milk is obviously inexperienced and unskilled in the doctrine of righteousness (of conformity to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action), for he is a mere infant [not able to talk yet]! But solid food is for full-grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law” (Hebrews 5:11–14 AMP).