Oh my soul, pay attention, and wait only on God!

"The Decent of the Spirit", 1865 engraving, by Gustave Dore'.

Andrew Murray's "Waiting on God" (Day #29) - For the Promise of the Father.

Acts 1:4-5 - And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

As I near the end of this study, Andrew Murray shakes my senses, and reminds me that God, through the Holy Spirit, dwells inside me.

Andrew Murray:

"The Holy Spirit is not a person distinct from the Father in the way two persons on earth are distinct.  The Father and the Spirit are never without or separate from each other;  the Father is always in the Spirit, the Spirit works nothing but as the Father works in Him.  Each moment the same Spirit that is in us, is in God too, and he who is most full of the Spirit will be the first to wait on God most earnestly, further to fulfill His promise, and still strengthen him mightily by His Spirit in the inner man.  The Spirit in us is not a power at our disposal.  Nor is the Spirit an independent power, acting apart from the Father and the Son.  The Spirit is the real, living presence and the power of the Father working in us, and therefore it is just he who knows that the spirit is in him, who will wait on the Father for the full revelation and experience of what the Spirit's indwelling is, for His increase and abounding more and more."

In my mind eye, I am ashamed to admit, I have been picturing God in heaven, and me down here, far away from Him, working my heart out to wait upon Him.

Yet, the Holy Spirit is God.  The Holy Spirit dwells in me.  Therefore, God dwells in me.  God is not far off, he dwells in me!

It is clear to me that a study in prayer is in order.  How could I go 28 days with this picture in my head?  Certainly I have prayed, but I have prayed to God who is out there.  Not to God who dwells in me.

Oh my soul, wait on God who dwells in you.  Hmm....how can you wait on someone who dwells in you?

Maybe, as we learned back a bit, it is God that is doing all the waiting.  Maybe, as we also learned back a bit, I have been so wrapped up in my own...what...self imposed misery, that I haven't paid attention to God who dwells in me?  Is that possible? 

There is a great deal to consider here. 

Holy Spirit, please be so present in me that I can no longer be away from your presence. 

Oh my soul, pay attention, and wait only on God!