The Lord’s Rest and Desire
This is the word of the Lord for His disciples, His friends, His overcomers, His sons/daughters, and His bride. “Your purpose and calling is to be my rest.”
Many of us understand that it is the Lord’s will for us to enter into His rest. But do we understand that it is also His will for the Lord Himself to enter into His own rest (which is found in us)?
“For the Lord has chosen Zion; he has desired her for his habitation. This shall be my rest forever; here I will dwell; for I have desired her.” (Psalms 132:13-14 JUB)
“Arise, O Lord, into thy rest; thou, and the ark of thy strength.” (Psalms 132:8 JUB)
It’s one thing to seek the rest of Lord in which we are at peace in His presence. It’s an entirely other thing to focus on giving the Lord a resting place. Mature believers and disciples will break off the chains of self-focus, and start to seek the heart of the Father. What does the Father want, and how can we give Him what His heart desires?
“Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest?” (Isaiah 66:1 NKJV)
The Lord desires a city for His habitation. We, Zion, are that city (Hebrews 12:22-24). Our purpose is to become His resting place now, and continue to be that for eternity. There is no greater purpose than to provide a place for the Father and Son to dwell in. To think that we can fulfill a desire of God, and be something to Him that He longs for! This is life and purpose! King David had a heart after God, and he had some insight and understanding in what the Lord desired:
“Then David, the king, stood up upon his feet and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: As for me, I had in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the footstool of our God and had made ready for the building. But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build a house for my name because thou hast been a man of war and hast shed blood.” (1 Chronicles 28:2-3 JUB)
The Lord had placed in David’s heart a desire to “build a house of rest” for the Lord. Now under the New Covenant, we are the living stones being built together into a spiritual house that the Lord truly desires for His dwelling place in the Spirit (1 Peter 2:5, Ephesians 2:20-22).
The Lord is about to release “the sons of fresh oil” (Zechariah 4:14). The sons of fresh oil will carry an apostolic building anointing to “lay the foundations” of the house of God (Zechariah 4:8). These wise master-builders understand that Christ is the only foundation that can be laid, or built upon (1 Corinthians 3:11). This does not mean simply preaching Christ as a savior. It means preaching Christ crucified (following Christ as a disciple and partaking of the cross-life). Laying the foundation entails the inward life, Christ becoming a persons life, and Christ living through the person (not simply being saved).
As Christ comes forth in a person, the living stone is formed. As the living stone is formed, it can then be built together with other stones that are like it. The temple can only be formed when true disciples are built together which is the royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). Believers who simply believe in Jesus for salvation, and are just waiting to “go to Heaven;” are not the proper building materials for the temple. Only disciples that form the priesthood can be built together, which is why Jesus gave the command to make disciples (Matthew 28:19).
Imagine how it would please the Lord to give Him the place of rest that He desires. We can start right now individually. Since the Lord is a righteous judge, there are a lot of decisions that He has to make world-wide, that are difficult; or simply things He would rather not do. Now He is perfect and can rest in Himself, however He has chosen to make us a place of His rest. So what an honor to be able to “be” a resting place of the Lord. A place in which His desire is fulfilled. A place in which He enjoys to be and finds comfort. In this place of rest, we touch the heart of God. We minister to Him. It’s beautiful.
Our Rest
The Lord getting His rest in us, starts with us entering into His rest. Joshua could never truly give God’s people rest, because true rest is spiritual (Hebrews 4:8). In this life we will always have various sufferings and afflictions in many different forms. Battle is a way of life while in this natural body. However, we can have deep peace in the midst of the storm. We must diligently pursue to enter into the rest that the Lord has for us right now:
“There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.” (Hebrews 4:9-11 NKJV)
In order to enter into the rest of the Lord, we must cease from our own striving and works. This could mean, our own religious rituals we perform attempting to persuade God to move how we want, and when we want. We must cease from our striving and praying for spiritual gifts or ministries that is not the will of the Lord for us to have or function in. Many believers are caught up in this toiling, and will not rest in God until they cease from seeking their own will. Rest is found in seeking the will of the Father, as Jesus did. Then the Father moved in His timing and His way. A man can receive nothing unless it has been granted unto him from Heaven, not whatever he wants or confesses (John 3:27).
It’s time to cease from our own striving or trying to get God to move or attempting to move God. When the Lord is ready to move outwardly, He will do so. A slave obeys his Master, not the other way around. In the times of Moses, the Lord moved upon His people when their groaning came before Him over a period of time (Exodus 2:23-25). Our formulas for God are not working, and will not work in the coming days. The Lord will do as He wills, and we must come into alignment with Him. When we hear His will, we pray it; but we don’t pray our own will.
Sometimes, because we are praying for spiritual things, we assume that it is spiritual. But the truly spiritual understand that they can only do what they see the Father doing, and that it doesn’t work the other way around. We aren’t going to pray and have the Father do what we want or think, simply because what we are praying is found somewhere in the Bible. Jesus didn’t part the sea and walk across on dry ground simply because it was in the Bible, and He certainly didn’t pray for that to happen. He had a true and living relationship with His Father, not words on a page. He is our example.
Just as the Father did not do an old work of power during the time of Jesus (such as part the sea), He is not doing one now. Some charismatic believers have gathered in years past with large well-known events, in an attempt to get God to move in a revival like he did in the early 1900s. But the Lord is not trying to reignite some old move of revival. He wants to go on to the inward life of Christ possessing His people, and transforming them into a dwelling place. Many in the church are still looking outward, but Christ’s life points inwardly. Inward transformation must come before outward revival if we want the outward movement to last longer than a few years.
When we cease from trying to get the Lord to perform the spiritual things we want Him to do, the door of His rest is open unto us. The door to religious corporate activities must also be shut. Some ministries and gatherings are so busy doing things, that they are not taking time to rest in the Lord.
The Lord wants us to enter into His rest individually and corporately. Entering into His rest means making time to get alone before Him, and waiting upon Him in silence until we connect with Him. Many times the Lord’s presence will come and fill us. This refreshing is needed, and this intimacy is necessary for our spiritual life. Sometimes we will be tested, to see if we will give up easily if nothing seems to happen. Those who continue to seek the Lord diligently will be rewarded with the Lord Himself. These will be carriers of His presence. They will find the Lord inwardly, because the King and His Kingdom are within.
When believers who are experiencing “the rest” of the Lord gather together, then the Lord will begin releasing His rest on a corporate level. There will be waiting in silence in our corporate meetings. The Lord’s thick and fiery presence will fill His temple as the individual living stones gather together. As the church ceases from its religious programs and activities, the Lord will come to dwell in His temple. As leaders cease from their continual need to speak, the Lord will then appear in His glory. He will arise in Zion. Rest will come.
During corporate worship, oftentimes it’s best to remain silent in order to focus on the Lord. Playing videos and announcements can be distracting. Even a leader smoothly or emotionally speaking in a “charismatic flow,” can take people’s attention away from the Lord. Oftentimes these tactics draw attention to the leader, or cause the people to focus on themselves. It is nearly impossible to have intimacy with the Lord, and achieve rest in this type of environment. Worship that continues to build without distractions is what we need to go deep into the Spirit. Then we must stay there for as long as possible without an agenda of moving on. If we are having the service or meeting for us, then we will continue to place the Lord in our box of time; and move on when “we are out of time.” If we are having the meeting to encounter the Lord, and be His resting place; then we will cater our meeting toward Him, not people. We are either going to be people pleasers, or pleasers of the Lord.
Why do we feel the need to always say something in meetings? Can we be still before the Lord and wait in silence under His heavy glory at the close of worship? Will we continue to go deeper into Him corporately as we wait in silent prayer? If we will, then we will know true communion and experience “the rest” of the Lord. If the church will learn this practice, she will experience the glory of God that she so often speaks of, and be transfigured by it (2 Corinthians 3:18).
However, as it is now, so many leaders and congregations need to talk instantly after worship. We have to give the Lord a loud “clap and praise offering.” So many gatherings have to take time and “greet your neighbor.” As we turn our attention to these rituals, the anointing and presence gets sucked out of the service. There is a time and place for fellowship. Will we change our religious Americanized rituals, and hold meetings so that we can have the Lord? Will we contend for His rest?
Peter learned this lesson as he felt the need to talk while in the presence and glory of God. Will we learn from Peter’s testimony, or do we need a rebuke from the Father as well?
“Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”” (Matthew 17:4-5 NKJV)
In other words, the Father was saying, “Don’t speak. Abide in my presence and listen to my Son.” I know from experience that when you are before the face of the Lord, in His thick glory, you simply want to stay in that place as long as possible. Talking or shifting focus can take you away from that place of intimacy. Once you have experienced the Lord in His glory, things that take you out of His presence become very disruptive to your spirit.
The Lord is looking for a people who live a life of rest. He is searching for groups of believers who will allow the Lord to make them into spiritual families, in which true community is formed. The Lord will rest among these people. My heart longs to have this and be apart of this kind of community. The Lord has placed this desire in our hearts for a reason. Those of you who yearn for family and community in the Spirit; keep standing and believing. The Lord will guide you to His place for you, and is preparing you now. Rest is coming.
We have to let the life of Moses speak to us. Israel was on a journey to a promised land where they would have rest. But any rest they had was outward. It wasn’t a true lasting inward peace. Moses had found the promise land even while in the wilderness. The true promise land was abiding in the glory of God, and speaking with Him face to face. Oftentimes leaders try to motivate the people and compare revival, or ministry activities to the promise land. When the real land of promise is the Kingdom of Heaven that is inside of us. Oh that we would go there inwardly and have the Lord Himself!
Once we have the Lord’s presence and His rest, we must be contend for Him alone. We can not allow the enemy to deceive us with believing that there is more, and that we need to continue striving to get it. When we have the Lord, we have our purpose. Things may not be progressing in the natural, revival may not be breaking out, and spiritual gifts may not be operating. But do we have the rest and presence of the Lord, and are we coming to know Him inwardly in a greater degree? The Lord will release revival in its time, when we have learned to rest.
The Devil will attempt to prevent us from remaining in “the rest” of the Lord. He will try to shift our focus to other spiritual things, to get us out of the Lord’s rest. Satan knows that if we remain in the Lord’s rest, we will be transfigured into the image of Christ. He will seek to prevent this by drawing us back into the outward life. Lucifer will say, “But the gifts are not operating in fullness here, and you really need to press in and pray for revival. You guys should be having more dreams and visions. Something is wrong and you are not progressing like you should. You need to be moving and seeing big things happen. Something is off and you are not making any progress.”
We have to be careful not to be lured out of the secret place of the Lord’s rest. This inward communion should be our life, or must become our life. The Lord has to be our goal, nothing else. Fellowship with Him is what we were created for, and in that relationship is our true rest. The greatest battle we face will be around this issue. Satan’s desire is to prevent the Lord from having His desire (His rest). Are we going to allow Satan to prevent our Lord from having what He wants?
Entering in the rest that the Lord has destined for us also includes resting from our striving in life to be someone important or great. It entails resting in God from the pride of life, the lust of the eyes, and the lust of flesh. Being at peace with what the Lord has called us to, given us, and the life that we are supposed to lead. We have to find His rest in our families, and be satisfied with our current situation. If we are always striving for the future, or “the next thing;” we have not entered into the rest that the Lord has destined for us. If we are striving for our calling and ministry to come to pass, we are not abiding in His rest. We have to find that place in Christ in which we are resting from the disturbance of our souls (mind, will, and emotions). Only from a place of rest will God’s will for our lives come forth.
Great turmoil has already been released in the nations, and greater turmoil is coming. Those who have been led by the Spirit into the “rest” of God, will be fixed and stable under the shadow of the Almighty in the days ahead. These believers will have peace inwardly, even if chaos erupts outwardly. These sheep will be led by their Shepherd into green pastures and still waters. Christ’s will is to deliver us from our restlessness.
My Name
My last name means “restless” or “un-rest” in the German language. The Lord spoke to me some time ago, and clearly showed me that He was changing my name like He did Jacob. He took me through a 3 1/2 year season of stripping that I call the “dark night of the soul.” I wrestled with the Lord and He won. My name has been changed to “restful.” I will admit that I am not yet perfect in being restful, but the Lord has worked greatly in me. I still have a ways to go, like Jacob did after his name change. However I know the Lord will complete the work that He has begun in me, and bring it to completion.
The Lord has used me and my name as a “type” or a prophetic picture to the body of Christ. As the world is becoming increasingly more restless, the Lord is transforming His overcoming remnant church. He is making His bride restful. He is giving her an inward rest. We are to be ministers of rest, and lead others into the Lord’s rest.
The Lord’s Rest
When we find our rest, the Lord can arise and enter into His rest. He doesn’t need to do this, but He desires to. One of the greatest joys of this life is the opportunity to give the Lord something He desires. What a privilege it is to be able to give the eternal Godhead something. The Father and Son want to make their abode and resting place in us.
“Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.” (John 14:23-24 NKJV)
If we love Jesus we will demonstrate it by obeying His commands. Then the Father and Son will reward us, and respond by making their dwelling place in us. This goes beyond the Holy Spirit abiding in us for salvation. We actually become the resting place of the Father and the Son. A dwelling of righteousness that they can rest in, as if they were relaxed at home. This is a very special and high calling. Far beyond any earthly calling to ministry. Jesus prayed for us to have this:
““I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” (John 17:20-23 NKJV)
Jesus is praying that we all would be one in the Father and Son as Jesus is one with the Father. He is specifically praying that we all would be one in Him. The only way that you can truly be one with someone is if that person is living in you. As believers we are called to be related to one another by being built together into a temple, but stones cannot be inside each other. We can be together and unified with other living stones in the form of a building or spiritual house, but we can be one with God because He is inside of us.
It is our destiny to experience this oneness just as Jesus said, “that they also may be one in Us.” This statement is difficult for the carnal minded man to understand, but the Lord is able to fulfill His own prayer if we will align ourselves with His will. May our hearts be moved by His eternal will, so that we might desire and position ourselves to be a resting place of the Lord.
The following verse was written to those who are already born again or saved. It is the call to the overcomers. It is the high call to communion, intimacy, and rest:
“Behold, I stand at the door and call; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and will sup with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20 JUB)
- Ty Unruh (2021)
