what is soaking?

[Alive_Again]

And neither is the word “Bible,” but that’s not the point. But Trinity and Bible are biblical concepts … Soaking (as in soaking prayer, soaking praise, soaking pick-a-topic) isn’t.

BTW, where did "the Lord" ever "recently" say "soak" as "if to wait and receive as if for a season to prepare for ministry"? I couldn't find it in my Bible.

We know about being filled, waiting on the Lord, etc. We know about varying levels of the anointing, as well as receiving instruction and wisdom from the Lord, waiting at the pillars, so to speak. We also know about feeding and from the natural we know of the cumulative nature of continued feeding.

I was also referring to the present day speaking of the Lord. He still talks! I mentioned, "witness to this as you may". I mean that we authoritatively go by scripture and test and receive (if you witness to it) the present day speaking of the Lord.

 

[Simon_Templar]

My wife loves soaking in the bathtub and that is most certainly self indulgent.

There are some who believe you should refrain from pleasurable practices and others that believe God created life to be enjoyed in the way He intended it.

C.S. Lewis pointed out in Mere Christianity that sin is really at its root an attempt to gain some type of pleasure in a way God did not intend.

Sex outside of marriage for example, while physically might be pleasurable, robs an individual of intimacy within a life long intimate love relationship. It really is a major step down and abandonment of the whole enjoyment God intended.

Soaking is just a word. If it works for you great, if it doesn't then don't use it, but I think we should be careful in making judgment calls and what is and isn't God particularly over some trivial use of a modern word applied to spiritual things. It is meant to be descriptive, not hocus pocus.

Remember the disciples in the upper room were accused of being drunk. It is easy to judge from a distance and arrive at the wrong conclusion.

I have sat for hours in church services and personal worship times "soaking" in the presence of God and I know some cessationist types who would accuse me of unknowingly practicing some type of eastern demonic cult ritual. It is easy to demonize things at a distance based on exteriors, but God looks on the heart and to Him it's the heart that matters.

My point in my comments about the word soaking invoking self-indulgent imagery was not to say that pleasurable experiences are bad, or to say that our relationship with God should not be pleasurable etc.

My point was that pleasure should not be your motivation.

Its the same principle as telling people that they should give money in order to get more money back from God.

You may very well be blessed financially and in many other ways if you are a cheerful and generous giver. However, if you give in order to get more for yourself... its entirely the wrong motivation and it will only throw you off track.

Likewise, when you seek God, you will have great times of enjoyment and probably wonderful times in his presense etc.

However, if you are seeking, purely to have those moments, then your motivations are wrong and you'll only be hindered by them.

I'm also not suggesting that a person should wait to start pursuing God until they get their motivations right.
Everyone should start immediately... but the first thing you should begin with is praying that God would give you right motivations and right desires.

Personally, two things I always try to remember and to keep in my mind is to ask God to search me and cleanse any wrong motivations, anything selfish, and secondly I try to always focus on being thankful for everything.

 

[Fire_Child]

I think God takes great pleasure when we take pleasure in Him. Didn't He say to delight ourselves in Him? I mean would we go to our spouses and say, "Hey I want to spend some time with you...but I promise not to enjoy it!" God wants us to enjoy intimacy with Him.

Now, if we go to a spouse and say, "Hey, I would like to enjoy some time with you." and the spouse wants to talk about something painful and we say, "Well, nevermind then I just wanted some pleasure." ...that would be a problem. When we do that with God, we run the risk of becoming self-indulgent and "feeling" driven rather than faith driven.

Don't worry, whether in "soaking" or any other type of prayer, God will eventually get around to the subjects of holiness, repentance, healing and laying, sitting, or standing in the presence of God and letting Him cleanse and transform your heart is anything but self-indulgent and can even be painful...but it is extremely fruitful as we grow in our Chistlikeness. Unfortunately...a lot of people give up on God when it starts to hurt not realizing that when we sow in tears we reap in joy. God's plan is, and always has been, for healing and joy.

As far as being demonic, I look at soaking or meditative prayer like this...if I lay myself down before my gracious God and Father Who is the relentless Lover of My Soul and say, "Lord, I love You so much that I'm just going to give You this time and lay here and think about You and express that love while You have your way inside of my heart."...do I really believe that He is going to reward that by saying, "Well Child, where's chapter and verse for this thing you are doing? Since you are obviously doing it wrong, I'm going to allow some evil demons to torment you and pull you away from Me for awhile." ?

God loves us more than we can ever hope to imagine and He promises that when we ask Him for something good, He's not going to give us a hard cold stone, right? God is good and He is kind...He is not legalistic and He hates religion because it drives us away from His heart and character which is what the Bible is all about. It's a love letter not a book of rules that we could never follow anyway.

 

[Simon_Templar]

There is a huge difference between enjoying spending time with someone, and spending time with them, only because you want to enjoy yourself.

In one case, the relationship is centered on the other person. In the other it is centered on you.

 

[bithiah2]

in the holiness church they call it "tarrying". it amazes me that Christians spend so much time debating over sematics, what something is called or not called, and worse, when someone does it, it is given a label. IF spending time with God does not bring us closer to Him then the Bible is wrong. what are the Psalms about? our relationship with God is based on Faith in Christ as the only way to God, Prayer, Praise, Study of the Word, Fasting, Giving, Good works and everything that is in the Bible. and yes, we spend time with Him. you can call it anything you want to, but please do it! The Lord is waiting.

 

[Alex.C]

I dont know what the big debate is considering we are all spirit filled christians here. Soaking is basically inviting the manifest presence of the holy spirit during times of quite. Its all about creating that secret place where we meet with the father and enjoy his presence. Sometimes there will be revelations and spiritual experiences and other times nothing. Jesus did nothing except what he saw the father do. How did he do this? Through intimacy, which is what soaking is all about. If a christian is against cultivating an atmosphere of intimacy with God then I think there are some serious problems in the body of Christ. Ill get off my soapbox now.

 

[Faulty]

There is no promise of intimacy with God through such a technique. It's completely subjective. Linus felt more secure with his blanket than without it, but he was just as vulnerable either way.

The Apostles gave themselves to fasting and prayer, not to "soaking".

 

[merryheart]

Some of the arguments here remind me of the woman in my church who stood up and spoke against a new translation of the Bible being used in Church, saying that if the King James English was good enough for Peter - it was good enough for her! (i know that is a tired joke now, and oft repeated - but i really did hear her say that !!!)

Point is... just because an English word isnt in an English translation of the Bible doesnt automatically mean it cant be an accurate English representation of a Hebrew or Greek concept.

 

[JimB]

*****

it amazes me that Christians spend so much time debating over sematics

*****

[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]Are you sure “sematics” is a word? Ah, but here we go with those silly semantics.[/FONT]

[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]It doesn't matter, I suppose, if I choose to use hell instead of heaven, night instead of day, Judas instead of Jesus or, heck, just make up theological-sounding words instead of using ones that are, say, in the Bible. It really doesn't matter; it's just "sematics". [/FONT]

[Just kidding, bithiah. Hope you can take a joke.]

[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]~Jim[/FONT]

 

[Shizzle]

Is a child spending time with his father because he enjoys it indulgent?

When i soaked with God i enjoyed it. It wasn't in my head. I heard music while doing something like "soaking" Ive never heard before like it was on a radio. Sometimes it even felt like i was playing it. I saw visions more beautiful like anything else I've ever seen.

When i first asked God to see a vision, i was suprised that i saw a picture I've never seen before in my head. I said in a childish way oh its a vision maybe i should interpret it and the interpretation was obvious. My whole imagination has changed since then and i see pictures in my head most of the time, but its not the same as when I'm actively focused on God and i see visions from him that i interpret and are him speaking to me, i ask him questions and pray and wait and he answers, maybe not my question but he says something.

It's like God spoke to Aaron and Miriam and the other prophets in dreams and visions, but he spoke to Moses face to face. That was in the old testament, now we're all kings and priests. I believed God wants to work miracles and healings through everyone since i was about 14. Now i think he wants to work miraculously in everyone's life, but not necessarily healing through everyone. Faith is the substance of things unseen, i believed on the testimonies of others for a long time laboring and waiting on him in prayer before i saw it in my life.

 

[associate chaplain]

I never heard of "Soaking" and thought I was going to learn something. With all the discussion here, on what it means, I wish I never had.

 

[Alex.C]

Great post Shizzle. Soaking equals spending time with God, being open to a dialogue.

 

[isaiahb]

I use an iPad App for soaking called iMindAmbiEnce. It has some cool guided spoken prayer that help you relax and feel the presence of God...

 

[K2K]

Great post Shizzle. Soaking equals spending time with God, being open to a dialogue.

Yeah-- It's just that simple!!

God is always with us, so spending time in His presence really just means taking time to seek Him. And it is always easier to hear from Him when we stop all our rushing around, and sit down and listen.

That is what Mary did! She sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to Him. Martha keep busy.

Ok - maybe "soaking" is a new term for it, but the practice is the same. It's "spending time with God, being open to a dialogue."

Deut 32:1,2 Give ear, O heavens, and let me speak; and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. Let my teaching drop as the rain, My speech distell as the dew, As the droplets on the fresh grass and as the showers on the herb.

So you take time to stop what you are doing and start listening to the words God has for you, like Mary did. And they come down like rain, dew, droplets, and a shower, so you get soaked!!

I used to work in a Christian healing room ministry, where we had soaking rooms. One for the people that were going to pray, so that we who were going to minister could connect with the voice of the Lord and get cleaned up before ministering. And another room for those coming in for prayer so that they too get hook up with the Lord and get cleaned up from the daily grind before recieving prayer.

So many times people got healed in the soaking room, and never needed to even come into the room. God is our healer, so that is of no surprise. And as for me getting ready to minister; the Lord never failed to talk to me during that time. It calmed me down from the day. It enabled me to hear His voice better. And He always told me bits of information about what was going to happen in the rooms that night the enabled Him to lead in the room when the ministering started to happen.

"Soaking equals spending time with God, being open to a dialogue."

Nicely put, Alex C.!! It is just that simple.

And I feel alittle sad for those that have a problem with others taking time to try to get closer to the God.

 

[Messy]

I don't go to soaking meetings anymore, but I still sometimes sit on the couch listening to worship music. Soaking for me is just spending time with Him now.

 

[Logeth]

Life is more simple over here, where american words and practices haven't arrived.

 

[Girder of Loins]

N-N-NECROPOST!!!!!!

Anywho, the best way I can describe "soaking" is to think of us as sponges. Whatever we get "soaked" in, is what will leave us when squeezed. If we fill ourselves with Christ, whenever we are put in pressure, only Christ will come out. A glass can only spill what it contains!

 

[K2K]

We know about being filled, waiting on the Lord, etc. We know about varying levels of the anointing, as well as receiving instruction and wisdom from the Lord, waiting at the pillars, so to speak. We also know about feeding and from the natural we know of the cumulative nature of continued feeding.

I was also referring to the present day speaking of the Lord. He still talks! I mentioned, "witness to this as you may". I mean that we authoritatively go by scripture and test and receive (if you witness to it) the present day speaking of the Lord.

 

[jamadan]

I think the thought of doing it with others is just to make everyone accountable; to actually set a date with God and to keep that weekly date. If everyone knows to put aside "Tuesdays", then it will more likely happen. When we resolve to do something alone, we're not accountable to anyone; doing something in a group makes you more accountable. And we all know how easy it is to push the "God time" out, if we need more time.

Interesting . . . I think this would actually be the crux of my objection to what's being called "soaking" . . . calling a meeting where everyone "soaks" just seems oxymoronic to what should fundamentally be an absolute one-on-one experience between me and God with no other distractions.

I love sitting in God's Presence and just enjoying Him, alternating with reading the Word, talking to Him, listening, and often just singing quiet worship songs as my spirit seems to soar to Heaven and becomes aware of the host of angels and saints who've gone before us. Christians throughout time have done this and written about it. Often it is the place where visions and words from the Lord are birthed.

But to be successful, at least for me, no one else can be around. I adhere to Jesus' admonition and go behind closed door so everyone doesn't see me praying as if I'm trying to impress with my holiness or piety. And that is the core objection I have to 'soaking sessions' . . . I have to question, but not judge, just what the motives are.

I eschew 'soaking' and never use that term. I just call it praying. I prefer to either sit still or to walk through nature while doing it. My best times of communion with the Lord is at the beach during sunrise and just walking along at the edge of the water talking to Him, admiring His creation, being honest about who I am in Him and asking Him to mold me into His image.

As a form of communion, many times, I experience such a tangible sense of His peace and Presence that I just want to be swept up to Heaven right then and there. Other times, it seems like a one-sided conversation, but by faith I know it has nothing to do with feelings, it's about faith. In that place, whether I feel Him or not, I find peace just knowing I'm not alone and even though so many look to me for strength, and inside I know my weakness, fears and unworthiness, I thank Him for always being there providing my strength through His joy that sustains not only me, but those around me (like my wife and sons) who look to me.

 

[K2K]

Interesting . . . I think this would actually be the crux of my objection to what's being called "soaking" . . . calling a meeting where everyone "soaks" just seems oxymoronic to what should fundamentally be an absolute one-on-one experience between me and God with no other distractions.
.

It seems great to take time with God by yourself, but we go to church don't we? And why do we go to church if not to get close to God?

Personally, I really wish that church services had a period of soaking!!

Typically a church service is - sing some songs, announcements, then preaching. Shouldn't going to a service be a time to meet with God? If so, then there should be a quite time in the service, but it seems people just can sit still and seek God. So soaking is an excellent way to encourage us to take time to just seek the Lord.

So a scheduled meeting to sit with God is the "crux of my approval" - not objection.