Thou Shalt Cry

"God desires His church to be a rejoicing church, but before there can be true joy there must be a humble, broken vessel.
-- "When Ye Fast" written by Joy Haney

2nd Corinthians 4:7 says, "However, we possess this precious treasure [the divine Light of the Gospel] in frail, human vessels of earth, that the grandeur and exceeding greatness of the power may be shown to be from God and not from ourselves."

Earthen vessels can be broken.
Leviticus 6:28 -- "But the earthen vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken, and if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, that vessel shall be scoured and rinsed in water."
-- This foretells of the broken body of Jesus.
-- Also significant that the vessel that houses the treasure of His Spirit is of material that can be broken.

THE LORD CHOOSES TO DWELL WITH THE HUMBLE SPIRIT

Psalm 34:18 -- "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."
Contrite in the Dictionary says: 1: sorrowful for a wrong that one has done: deeply repentant 2: resulting from or expressing repentance

After David sinned with Bathsheba, he sang, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." (Psalm 51:17)
DAVID WAS A MAN AFTER GOD'S OWN HEART BECAUSE HE WAS HUMBLE BEFORE THE LORD.

"A broken spirit drieth the bones." (Proverbs 17:22)
--- There's a difference between a broken spirit of humbleness and willingness to do His bidding and a broken spirit because of self-pity or hopelessness.
It is the OPPOSITE of being Proud / Hard / Tearless Disposition...

If we are proud and follow our own way, God will break us.

"It is better to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God than to have Him humble us. Let us fall on the rock instead of the rock falling on us. To fall on the rock means to be broken; to have the rock fall on us means to be crushed. How do you humble yourself? You do what Jesus did. He, being full of the Holy Ghost, humbled Himself by fasting and prayer."
-- Joy Haney

When the disciples could not cast out a demon and the man ran to Jesus exclaiming this (Mark 9:17-18) Jesus said,
Mark 9:29 -- "This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting."

Matthew 21:44 -- This is Jesus talking to the Pharisees, who were of a proud and haughty spirit -- "And whoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder."
-- 'stone' being none other than Jesus.
Ephesians 2:20 -- "...Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone."

To be poor in spirit
=
Being broken before God.
It is a needy spirit that desires to be ministered to.

Sometimes it is hard to get through to Jesus until there is a brokeness.
Mark 2:4 -- "And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press [of people], they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay."
verse 5 says this: -- "When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, "Son, thy sins be forgiven thee."

We need to scrape away (just as they did the roof) the callousness of self-indulgence, staleness and pride.

Jeremiah 4:3-4........
- Do not be so hard-hearted, cold and indifferent but allow yourself to be broken before Him.
- The stripping away of despair, bitterness, hate, envy and pride causes the fresh breath of heaven to air out the soul.
-- It may be painful and revealing, but it brings True Joy...!
To circumcise means: To cut away the top layer of your heart so that it can be made spiritually pure. It is a rejection of the sins of the flesh so that there can be spiritual purification.

(Fallow ground is land that is allowed to lay idle during the whole, or great portion of, the growing season. It becomes hard clods that have to be broken up before planting again.)

God hears humble cries but rejects proud utterances (found in Exodus 2:23-25)

The scripture says that God is no respecter of persons, but it also says, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau I hated."
-- He gives everyone the same chances, but gives respect to them who draw nigh unto Him.

Psalm 9:12
-- "...he forgeteth not the cry of the humble."

Psalm 34:15
-- "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry."

GOD ALWAYS RESPONDS TO THE CRY OF THE HUMBLE
2nd Chronicles 7:14 -- "If my people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

THE MORE EARNEST YOU BECOME, THE MORE EARNEST GOD BECOMES
Jeremiah 29:12-14 -- "Then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you. Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find me when you search for Me with all your heart.
I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will release you from captivity and gather you from all the nations and all the places to which I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I caused you to be carried away captive."

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Luke 10:42 - While Martha busied herself with the cares of the kitchen and surrounded herself with natural food, Mary sat down at the feet of Jesus and ate spiritual food.
verse 39 - ... If you want to get rid of frustration and have a sound mind, it is through withdrawing from the things of the natural and absorbing the things of the spiritual.

Psalm 27:4 -- "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple."
-- Take the time to linger in His presence...

Daniel 11:32
- Those without division (the pure of heart) shall see God and His glory.

"...This rushed generation cannot push a button and expect to see God."
-Joy Haney

John 20:10,11,14
-Because Mary lingered, she saw His glory. The disciples had already left and she was still at the tomb when she saw the angels and when she turned around, she saw Jesus standing there...
- Mary is the one who, because she lingered at the tomb, received the instructions from Jesus Himself to take the message of His resurrection back to the disciples.

THE MIRACLES WILL FLOW WHEN HE IS LIFTED UP AND HIGHLY EXALTED AND WE ARE NOT IN A HURRY, BUT ALLOW THE SPIRIT TO MINISTER!

James 5:16 -- "...the effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
He always answers desperate prayers. The rest of the verse says that you must confess your faults and pray for others as well...

-- Sometimes a person has sins and faults that are covered up by too much feeding and pampering of the flesh. Fasting and prayer reveals the sins and faults that need to be purged. --

Isaiah 6:1 - when Isaiah saw the Lord's glory, he saw his own sins and said,
Isaiah 6:5 - "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."

Isaiah 6:8 - who will go for us? (said the Lord) and Isaiah said, Here I am, send me.

Matthew 13:15 -- (Jesus described people who aren't sensitive to His voice, and who will neither pray, nor fast, nor seek or hunger after Him)

THE BEST WAY TO DO SO IS TO SEEK HIM THROUGH PRAYER, FASTING, READING THE WORD, AND WAITING FOR HIM.

Cry unto Him and He shall hear and answer.