Watch to see

Habakkuk first declared what he would do. Evidently, he set his intention. He intended to (and did) go to the watchtower – a quiet place.  Obviously, Habakkuk wanted no distractions. He wanted to be still, and know the mind of God. (Psalm 46:10)

The need for a quiet (not empty) mind is seen in 2 Kings 3:15. Elisha called for a minstrel, and then he heard God speak. But Elisha shows us another ingredient essential to hear God speak. He directed his heart toward the worship of God, so he could be attentive to hear God speak. 

If you are not still in the presence of the Lord in prayer, you probably will simply be receiving your own thoughts. If you are not focused on worshiping Jesus, it doesn't mean that God can't break into your thoughts. He did with Saul when he called out to him, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" (Acts 9:4; 22:7; 26:14).  Saul was riding furiously on the road to Damascus. He wasn't quiet, wasn't worshiping, and evidently was not expecting a vision! But in general it would be true that, If you fix your gaze upon some desire of your heart, all you will get is the flow that comes out of that desire. To have a pure flow you must first of all become still, and secondly, you must direct your mind, heart and spirit towards worshipingJesus. 

You must also expect in faith to see and hear what God wants to show or tell you. Habakkuk said, "I will watch to see what He will say to me," Habakkuk clearly expected a vision from God as he prayed. 

God has given us eyes in our heart. They are to be used to see in the spirit world the vision and movement of Almighty God.  The most obvious prerequisite to seeing is that we need to look.  As Daniel was seeing his vision in Daniel 7, he says again, "I saw … and behold … I beheld … I saw … I considered … I beheld till … " (Dan. 7:1,9,13).  He looked, and kept on looking, at what God was showing him. If you will only look in faith, you will see what God is showing you. 

God revealed Himself to His covenant people Israel using dream and vision. He said that, since the Holy Spirit was poured out in Acts 2, we should expect to receive a continuing flow of dreams and visions (Acts 2:17).

Jesus set us the example. He said that He did nothing on His own initiative, but only that which he saw the Father doing, and heard the Father saying (Jn. 5:19,20,30). 

Is it actually possible for us to live out of divine initiative as Jesus did? A major purpose of Jesus' death and resurrection was that the veil be torn from top to bottom, giving us access into the immediate presence of God, and we are commanded to draw near (Heb. l0:19-22). 

God told Habakkuk to record the vision and inscribe it on tablets… (Hab. 2:2). Many devoted believers keep a quiet time journal. They write out the scriptures through which God spoke, the petitions they made to God, and God's answers to their prayers.

Journaling your quiet times can be a fabulous facilitator to clearly discerning what God has been saying to you, because as you journal over a long enough period, you can go back and examine it carefully in context, and even test it by looking at what you've written in the light of further knowledge of Scripture, and further understanding of God's character and will.

As you journal, cease your labor and enter His rest (Heb. 4:10). Stay close to the Scriptures. As you go on doing this regularly, you will more and more realize the truth of the next verses: