First of all, let me touch on what it means to elope with someone. Several dictionaries define the word "Elope" as meaning "To secretly run away with a lover and leave everything behind, especially with the intention of getting married or to abscond". So you ask me, how do we elope with God? To where do we elope and does God really have a desire to have me take off with Him to secret places in His presence? Can this almighty God really take me to heights I have never known? Can we both really escape to places where no demon dare tread, a secret place in Him where you cannot be touched by anything, not even the elements and issues of this world? Can we really both take off to that secret place where I can give perfect uncorrupted but sacred love to this God whom I have come to adore? Can I really get to a point in this life where God starts to look for me and wait for me?

 

Before I begin, I want to share with you something that happened to me recently. There was a period where I was so busy with God's work I barely spent anytime with Him and one day, I was woken with the softest and most gentle voice I have ever heard. I knew it was the voice of God, and He spoke through His Holy Spirit these words to my heart; "Rex, where have you been, I have really missed you? I have missed the times we shared" That knocked out all the sleep from my eyes as I listened to Him talk me. I asked why would You miss me? God said to me, "when you love on Me, you express your feelings in a way that is creatively unique and I love to hear you tell Me how you feel about Me".

 

From that day onwards my relationship with the Holy Spirit changed. It was then I started finding out from God's word that you can literally get to a point where God starts to wait for you and look for you so that you two can elope to places in His presence you never knew existed.

 

In Genesis 3:9 we read, "But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?". Here we find God looking for Adam in the cool of the day. What type of a relationship did Adam have with God to have caused Him to be looking for him?

 

Abraham had the same type of relationship with God and that is why in the book of Genesis God kept appearing to him wherever He went and I have often asked myself; what type of a relationship did they share that was so deep for God to be looking for him everywhere? They were so close that God said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am going to do?" – Gen 18:17. There are several examples from the bible I can share with you but let me go straight to the point.

 

Do you know that you can get to a place where God wants to be around you?

 

You say to me, what in the world are you talking about? What do I have to offer, for God almighty to want my company not to talk of missing me when I am away from His presence? What could I have possibly said to Him that would have touched Him so deeply for him to draw towards me? First of all let me say, in this world there are billions of people calling on God and while He answers humanity one after the other, there are only a very few people that God seeks after because of the quality of relationship they offer him. 

 

How do I Elope with God?

 

Every relationship is built over a period of time but the growth rate of any relationship is primarily based on the quality and nature of the emotional investments in that relationship. Herein lies the secret! Not the quantity but the quality of time spent with him. When you come into the presence of God in what you call your quiet time or your prayer time, what do you say to him? What constitutes the bulk of your conversation? How do you approach him? Before we even begin to talk about conversations and approach, have you come to the knowledge and understanding that the only way you could ever elope to any spiritual heights is by the very person of the Holy Spirit. Remember that Jesus is currently in heaven sitting at the right hand of the Father but He gave us the wonderful person of the Holy Spirit and He is the only part of the Godhead that is here with us on earth and yet Christians know so little of him today.

 

Let's start briefly on this wonderful person of the trinity. Do you know that the Holy Spirit is the only one who knows the mind and innermost thoughts of the Father? He is the one who knows Jesus best (John 16:14-15).  Jesus even said that this Holy Spirit would teach all things including how to interact with God. To know the Holy Spirit is to know the Father. If you want to know that which moves and shakes the heart of God, the Holy Spirit is the only one who can reveal this to you. He is the very life of God in a believer.

 

When you come into the presence of Holy Spirit, below are a few steps that I believe will help you get to that place where the Holy Ghost starts to enjoy being around you which will be the beginning of Him waiting for you every day:

 

1. Create a Longing in Your Heart for Him – The most important thing is to first of all create expectancy in your heart even before you get into his presence. You know that feeling you have when you are so looking forward to meeting that special someone you are in love with. Cultivate that feeling in your heart from day to day towards the Holy Spirit.
    
2. Bring Your Mind to a Place of Rest and Quietness – For you to have a really meaningful experience in the presence of God, you must drop every restlessness in your mind and in your spirit before you get into his presence. You see, with the Holy Spirit only the best is good enough and an unsettled mind or a divided attention, He will consider as second best. In His presence He expects total devotion.  Psalms 4:4 - "Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still."
   

    

3. Create an Atmosphere that would woo Him – The Ambience you create is vitally important. The Holy Spirit has a very passionate and affectionate side to Him and just as He can be grieved, He can also be pleased. Jesus said when you pray shut the door behind you and pray in secret. That secret place where you can have absolute solitude is where you create this atmosphere. It is vital that you find a secret place, be it in a room, on a field or anywhere you can have enough privacy to spend intimate moments with Him. A place where you can shut everyone out. You can even go further to have background worship music playing as you begin to talk to Him. It's all about the atmosphere. The Holy Spirit will never show up in a place where the atmosphere isn't right. This topic alone deserves a separate page.  
    

4.  Approach Him with all the love within you – Make it a moment to live for and as if it would be the only opportunity to express your love to Him. He deserves the best. He will never settle for second best and Jesus said; Mark 12:30– "And thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment". Do you know what it means to love with all your mind, heart, soul and strength? Imagine, loving someone with all your mind and strength – you will agree with me that this goes beyond saying the words "I love you Lord". You must take the time and effort to creatively express your feelings. Tell Him in a thousand other ways, how you feel about Him. Tell Him that which you think in your heart He has never heard. That which could only have come from your heart and yours only. Take the time to perfect the very art of loving. Be romantic. In those few hours or minutes you are there, give Him your best as if that will be your only opportunity to express your feelings to this person whom you love.

5. Let it be all about him – The only way to find God is to seek Him and Him alone. We don't seek His power, or even His presence or anything else but Him. His presence, His power and His glory are things that come with Him and can never in themselves replace God. This is where a lot of Christians miss it. We see or taste a little bit of God's power or glory and immediately we sweep Him aside and seek His attributes instead, not knowing that without God we can do nothing. I would rather have Him than anything else both heaven and earth has to offer. With Him belongs all the power and glory. (Matt 6). When we talk about fellowship, remember, it is a giving encounter – a place where you give your all. So go in there with the mindset that I have come to give Him and the only thing I hope to walk away with is that smile on his face, knowing in my heart I loved Him the best way I could. I gave my all.

6. Be honest and no flatteries – God is one who hates flatteries. Trying to tell Him what you don't believe Him to be. Trying to give Him that which isn't coming from the heart, that which you really don't have deep down within you. Just be honest and only express the love you have and not something you heard someone else say they feel. Love grows over time and your love for Him will grow too. You can't stand before Him telling Him how much you love Him when deep down in your heart you doubt Him and are probably comfortably living in sin.  Psalm 78:36-37 - "Nevertheless they did flatter Him with their mouth, and they lied unto Him with their tongues.  For their heart was not right with Him, neither were they steadfast in His covenant." 

7. Above everything else make it a consistent fellowship – One of the biggest enemies of our relationship with God is inconsistency. The Holy Spirit would rather have 20 minutes of your time on a regular basis than to have a relationship where He couldn't really rely on you. Consistency builds trust and closeness between two hearts. Are you that one whom He can count on to be there when He seeks to commune with his creation? Could He really trust you with his heart? Be consistent.

If you hunger for a deeper union with God and a relationship that is real and powerful, then I dare you to begin what will be a glorious love affair with God. If you want to know moments that are so sacred where perfect love is shared then I urge you to just take the steps above on board as you begin your glorious walk with the Holy Spirit.

 

If this has been a blessing to you then please let us know by e-mailing: pastor@chapelofpraise.co.uk

 

God Bless You.

 

Pastor Rex Akpojaro

Chapel Of Praise – London

www.chapelofpraise.co.uk