Jesus said that the things that you eat go out by the draught (Matt. 5:17, Mark 7:18 and Luke 11:11). The best that your earthly father gives you will go out by the draught. The best that this world can offer us are assets and things that will waste away. But your heavenly Father gives to you the Holy Spirit, that which springs in you wells unto eternal life. Not only does He give you what your earthly father can give you but He also gives you something that is superior to it. You and I need the Holy Ghost.

The Lord will have us change our focus. And it’s important that you know the direction God is asking of us, His children, as it relates to the time we set aside when we come to His house.

What is the meaning of the word wait? As I searched for the meaning of the word wait, I found that the word wait speaks of ceasure of activity. There are 3 dimensions to when God says wait. Let’s see how these tie together and what they mean for us in the times in which we are.

I want to distinguish between wait and wait upon. From the dictionary the word wait means “a state of inactivity.” But something has to go along with this, because you don’t cease activity just for ceasing activity sake, but in anticipation of something that is about to happen. You find that what the word wait means in regular English ties up with what the Scriptures say: Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation, on thee do wait all the day”  (Psalm 25:5).

There is a specificity to this i.e. there is room for men to cease from all activity all day long but there is a purpose to it which you find in the Scripture in Psalm 25:5. Provided you understand the purpose for which you are here and the direction in which the Lord is asking us to go now you will begin to see. Too many times we just come here and don’t know why we are here. But we are here to wait on the Lord. And I am explaining what it means to wait on the Lord, that we may do it right and get the benefits attached to it.

Psalm 27:14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Here in Psalm 27:14 the word ‘wait’ means to trust in the Lord. Both definitions are correct but what is crucial is the days in which we are where the kingdom of self is driving so many of us, driving us here and there; and I bet that when we call a solemn assembly of this nature many of us are still running around doing the things we think we need to do. What then is waiting on the Lord?

Most of us when we have a solemn assembly are still busy and we just occupy ourselves so that we don’t feel the impact of the hunger and work ourselves out. This is not what God is calling for or asking for. You can as well just be doing bodily exercise, which profits little.

The word wait means a complete ceasure of activity in anticipation of some expectation that you have of God. It’s not the kind of thing you do where you come to church only after you’ve finished your work, not is it where every one is running this way or that way, and your heart is not even there.

What then does “to wait upon” mean? It means to serve. When you wait on somebody you are standing ready to meet his or her need, like a waiter in a restaurant. The Holy Spirit said to me that each time He uses the word wait upon or wait on He is simply saying, “cease form all of your own selfish activities and stand ready to serve Him. Cease from all of your own kingdom of self and serve Him.”

When Jesus was teaching His disciples to pray He said, “Thy kingdom come.” When you are waiting on the Lord you are saying, “I want to stop my own activities in deference to what my God desires.” The Lord is saying to us that we should do it right because only those who wait on the Lord can have their strength renewed (Isa. 40:31). When God speaks of renewal He is speaking about a change in level. Are you are looking to be raised from your current status to a new dimension of strength in the Lord? Then wait on the Lord.

Each time you look at the word wait on the Lord He is saying, “Cease from you own activities and stand ready to minister to the needs of the Lord your God.” That’s exactly why I started by asking you why are you here? And a brother here spoke exactly what is in the heart of all of us here: that we may be beneficiaries of what God has for us. I don’t blame you, maybe that’s what we know but now I show you several things from the word that you may have the true picture.

If you understand what has been said so far then you will understand why God was so emphatic when He was speaking in Isaiah 58 of the type of fast that He approves of. He said something very specific when He was rebuking Israel in Isaiah 58:3 – “Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.” God answered them point blank. “Wait upon” means to cease from you own activities and minister to the Lord and that’s the secret you find in Acts 13:2 where it says, “they ministered unto God.”

Most of the times we fast, we have not done it right. The NIV translation of Isaiah 58:3 reads – ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers [still do all you work]. There comes a time when we must understand the things that are profitable to us, and that’s why I want you to just think a little about the kingdom of your self. What’s driving you? What’s catching your attention all the time?

The word of God says in 1 Peter 4:17 that judgement must first begin from the house of God. What is our understanding of judgement beginning first at the house of God? The word judgement comes from the Greek word kreemah and it says that a decision is taken for or against, based on an investigation. I’ll tell you the way this works. In Luke 9 when Jesus was walking among thousands of people and somebody from the crowd said, “Lord, I will follow You,” Jesus answered and waid, “Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.” Jesus was saying to this man, “you love your security too much.” The whole existence of this man who said “Lord I will follow You, Lord I am Yours” was tied to guaranteeing his security and Jesus shot right at that. I can imagine that the man would have pulled back.

How many of us are in the kingdom of self? These are the issues I had to deal with. What’s uppermost in your heart? Your security? If so then you are not fit for the kingdom.

That the time has come that judgement must first begin in the house of God and the judgement is not so much in terms of condemnation and that you are cast out of the kingdom, but whether you are fit for the Master’s use in these last times.

In Luke 9 a second man said, “I will follow You but let me go and bury my father.” In Jewish tradition, a first son who buries his father gets the double portion of the inheritance. In other words, what was in the heart of this man was more about his inheritance and the money he would inherit. Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their dead.” What’s most important in your kingdom? Is it money? You find also that the moment Jesus shot at what was in the kingdom of this man’s heart he drew back.

The third person that said he wanted to follow Jesus said, “Let me first go and bid them farewell which are at my house.” This one prized his relationships. Maybe he meant, “I want to go and say goodbye to my fiancée and tell her that this relationship is over, this relationship has to end.”

What’s uppermost in your heart, in the kingdom of self? Is it security, money or relationship? But as you find in the word of God right after that in Luke 10:1 (note that it was only in the 14^th Century that chapters were introduced into the Bible. Before this it was just one continuous passage) you could see that the crowd was now being whittled down by every word that Jesus was saying because He was exposing what was in the kingdom of their hearts. This is the judgement God was talking about in I Peter 4:17. He did not say that they were no longer in the kingdom, but that they were not fit be in the Master’s army that will do the final work.

When we gather for a solemn assembly what is uppermost in our hearts? The Scripture in Isaiah 40:31 says that those that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. He takes them to a higher level, a higher dimension. That’s what renews you. In the Amplified Bible it’s written as “He changes their strength.” He takes them to a higher dimension. So if you understand to wait upon as speaking of being ready to serve Him. How and what is the service that God requires of us? – Psalm 50:8-12 shows that it’s not the money that you bring.

So what is it that God desires? What is the need of the heart of our God? Psalm 50:14 says “Offer unto God thanksgiving.” He doesn’t want goats or bullocks. What is it He expects you to serve Him with? Thanksgiving! Glorify His name! In that same Psalm, He says He will answer you so that you can glorify HIM; and the one that glorifies HIM is the one that offers.

Can we as a people in the moments of our solemn assembly come to His presence in quietness? There is so much activity, with the unfinished job you left at the office, the unfinished business, the certificate you had to submit or the letter you need to give at the bank on Monday to make your cash transfer. STOP!! The kingdom of self is pushing us out of God’s purpose for such occasions as a solemn assembly and we make a liar out of Him that says we should pray. When we profess “Thy kingdom come” for many of us it is our own kingdom that we are pursuing.

Is there a readiness in your heart? Don’t let anything take away the substance of what God is trying to show to us in terms of what His expectation is. How many of us are taking renewal? The only way you can lay your burden down is to wait upon Him. God shows how to do this in Isaiah 41:1 – keep silent before Him. This is the most difficult for many of us. The silence is not so much as of keeping your mouth shut but as of the busyness going on in your mind. When you kneel down to pray what is going through your head? When you kneel down to pray is there something that is pushing you to remember that there is something that you need to pick up on your table, that you left on your desk or that there is some task that you have not finished on your computer. Stop it. God says, “Keep silent before Him.”

How do people renew their strength? Let them come near and then speak. It starts first with a silence of heart. There is a silence of heart God is requiring of all of us when we come into His presence. Did He not say, “The Lord is in His holy temple let all the earth keep silence before Him (Habakkuk 2:20)? The moment of silence is a recognition of His presence but we all dishonour His presence. Too much going back and forth and by the power of the Lord, God will break that.

Those that wait upon the Lord are the ones that renew their strength, and that’s why I have gone through the rigours of explaining to you step by step what it means to wait on the Lord. You cease from your own activity and you serve him with thanksgiving, worship of His glory, offering of praises then you can go ahead and speak. That is when you can plead your cause.

Acts 13:1-2 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

In Acts 13, the apostles and teachers at that time were gathered together and they ministered and fasted. God answered back in terms of direction as to what next was necessary for them. He lifted them to a higher dimension. They that wait on the Lord change strength.  I don’t think they were asking God, “What shall we do now?” That was not the object of their gathering together. They were not there to ask God for directions but as they ministered to the Lord heavens opened and God said, “This is the next stage of the work that I have committed to you.” Are you looking for promotion? Then learn to do the things God is asking for.

What happened in Acts 13:2 ties in with Isaiah 41:2-20. God is declaring, “I will stand up for you. When you have first of all come to My presence with quietness and then you begin to speak that I will lift you up. I will stand to defend you.” That’s what the word of God says.