Book Study
on the book by Mike Bickle
March 2011
Summary:
1. The
Longing to be Enjoyed by God.
We were
created to be enjoyed in a personal way by our Creator. When we believe this truth we are set free
from accusation, rejection, and shame.
He doesn’t just love us, He likes us!
This revelation keeps us running to Him and not from Him when we mess up.
2. The
Longing for Fascination.
God invented
the idea of pleasure. He created us with
the desire to be amazed in order to drive us to the Amazing One. Spiritual
pleasure resonates at a deeper level than any other pleasure. He wants us to experience “divine
entertainment” and overcome spiritual boredom by plumbing the depths of God.
3. The
Longing for Beauty.
We reflect
God’s beauty, and we are moved by beauty.
We long to possess beauty, to be striking and engaging. “We are meant to feel beautiful before God
and there is something powerful about those who genuinely do.” The Holy Spirit wants to show us what God
looks like and then show us what we look like to God. He is the Bridegroom and we are the
Bride. His beauty is transferable to
humans though Jesus.
4. The
Longing for Greatness.
There is
something within the heart of man that yearns to be crowned with
greatness. God satisfies our longing to
be great by granting us, His Bride, a position of authority surpassing even the
highest ranking angels. We will rule and
reign with Him. Our nobility is in the
Kingdom of Heaven, not of this world.
5. The
Longing for Intimacy Without Shame.
God
created us with a profound desire to fully know and to be known without
shame. Loneliness severely breaks and
bruises us, and it is not God’s plan for us.
The Father has permitted Jesus to pour His glory out on us now in part,
and in fullness in the age to come.
There is a difference between solitude and loneliness. Worldly counterfeit intimacy is what brings
shame.
6. The
Longing to be Wholehearted.
You shall
love the Lord your God with all of your heart is not just a command, it is a
prophetic statement. The time is coming
when followers of God will follow Him with wholehearted love, not mindless
ritual. The supernatural work of the
Holy Spirit empowers us to walk out full obedience. We were created for Holy Romance; people who
are in love give up a lot less frequently than those who are not in love. It reduces burnout and reduces temptation.
7. The
Longing to make a deep and lasting Impact.
We long to
share things with others that change them or bring them joy and goodness. This is not innately self-serving or a sign
of weakness or vanity; it’s an expression of being created in the likeness of
God. We are very important, but only
have lasting significance as we walk in obedience to God’s will for our lives.
My
Perspective:
The Longing
for beauty and for intimacy without shame resonate with me the most. I have spent a lot of time and effort trying
to mask my loneliness and insecurities; trying not to be that cliché single
woman in her thirties, desperate for a husband.
It has not been easy living alone and being in a community of friends
who are all married. Somewhere along the
line I started to believe I not worthy of love and marriage, and that being
single was somehow more holy or virtuous.
I’m not sure how one can hold both opinions at the same time, but I
did. My married friends were envious of
me and the freedom I had and I was envious of them with their built in best
friend and house full of people. I wouldn’t
even let myself pray for a husband because I was 1) afraid that He would say
no, and 2) I was afraid it was a selfish request. If He knows the true desire of my heart, why
should I have to ask Him? I’ve come to the conclusion that I am pretty messed
up in this department. I had done the Song
of Songs study and had come to the deepest revelation of God’s love and
affection for me than I had ever known, but still felt like longing to be
pursued and for a husband and family was wrong. Hope deferred had truly made my heart sick.
(Proverbs 13:12)
The first
thing that I was faced with when I arrived and started the internship was
loneliness. I was confronted with the
spirit of rejection 3 times in the first week as people prayed and spoke
prophetically over me. I was actually
angry and questioning God as I was facing the reality and asked the Lord, “Really?
Is this what I came all the way out here for?”
I felt like there were much more important things to focus on. But finally the 3rd person helped
me pray through and come out of agreement with this spirit of rejection. At that point I realized that I had developed
a huge “back off” sign on my forehead. I
was rejecting people; warning them away from me by my demeanor before they
would have a chance to reject me. I
found it really hard to trust new people and certain types of guys and even
women. I was holding on to the hurt and
rejection from past encounters and I needed to let go of them and be healed.
The 2nd
step was confronting my thoughts on desiring a husband and family. God encountered me through a very wise and
Godly couple and showed me that I needed to be praying specifically for my
future partner. Through this encounter I
realized that I had believed something about myself and about God that was not
true. He had never called me to be
single, but I had projected that fear on Him due to my insecurities about being
beautiful and lovable, and due to misguided words of others about being called
to singleness. He began to restore my
hope in marriage and I have begun to pray for the one He will send to me.
The 3rd
step was restoring a right perspective about the goodness of marriage and partnership
and raising a family, which He started through a couple of Craig Cook’s
sessions. Further encounter and
confirmation came through the “True Feminine” session of Pure Heart. I have gone through quite a lot emotionally
the past couple of weeks trying to get rid of the garbage and believe the truth
about how God views me. I need healing
and to come out of agreement with what the world calls beautiful and see myself
and others as He sees us.
God has
called me to be a Forerunner. Hi is
placing a message inside of me that is busting at the seams to get out of
me. I cannot afford a “back off” sign
on my spiritual forehead or a fear of rejection that will keep me from speaking
truth. I cannot afford to judge others;
appearances the way I have judged my own.
I need God’s perspective on
myself, to truly love myself and see myself as He sees me so that it’s possible
to see and love others the same way So
the answer to my own question is “Yes, really.
This is what you came here for.”
I am
learning that the longings in my heart are not sinful or selfish; they are part
of God’s design to draw us to Him. While
we will never be fully satisfied until we see Him face to face, we can be
satisfied in part here on earth if we seek His face and allow the Holy Spirit
to transform our desires into the holy desires of God’s will for us. He created the concept of unity in marriage
and raising families. It is a prophetic picture
of our salvation relationship with Jesus.
He has awakened a desire in me for adoption through this whole experience
as well. Especially for crisis pregnancy
situations; providing a home for babies saved from planned abortions. Coming into agreement with how He loves me
frees up my heart to receive love from others and to move more freely in the
calling He has placed on my life. It
makes me more approachable and makes me more willing to approach others. A heart free of the clutches of fear of
rejection is a heart that can be used for the glory of God and the Harvest of
souls.
Fast
Forward: February 2013
Since moving
to Michigan and pursuing the dreams of God’s heart for my life, I have seen a
huge difference in my everyday life. The
healing that I received during my time at IHOP-KC from the Lord has been a gift
and has led to an ongoing transformation of my soul. There is a new found confidence that allows me
to look people in the eye, to have the courage to give a ready answer for the
hope that lies within me, and to testify to the goodness of His healing
Hand. The Lord has been opening doors
for me to be light and to bloom where He has planted me. Situations that I
would have shied away from, conversations that I would never have imagined,
answers and wisdom that I could never have come to on my own, have become the
norm in my life. I have been able to
embrace the fact that I am introverted but not be shy, and not to use
it as a reason to isolate myself from the unknown. I have come to trust the Spirit that lives
within me to give me the words to say (and NOT to say) in any and all given
situations. He is faithful and
true. He is Healer. And He uses weak and broke people to declare
these truths.
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