1. Acknowledge God as your only refuge and strength.
The first thing that I do to quiet my spirit is to acknowledge Him as my only refuge and strength. I always start by telling Him, “Jesus, You’re everything to me. You are the peace and the joy of my life. You are my salvation. You’ve set me free. You are my refuge and my deliverer. You are my hope. You’re everything to me.”
Why do you have to do this when it’s time to quiet your spirit? Because there’s always something trying to get between you and your heavenly Father. There’s always something trying to weave its way into the throne room of your heart. But as you get on your knees and acknowledge who He is to you, those hindrances will fall by the wayside.
The great thing about it is that you can acknowledge Him as your refuge and strength anywhere, anytime. You might be at school, at your office, in your kitchen making dinner or perhaps in your car.
As you learn how to quiet yourself before Him, people will come up to you and say, “How come this situation isn’t bothering you? Everyone else is in a frenzy!”
If you take these principles and learn to live by them, you’ll have them in your spiritual arsenal whenever a crisis comes along.
I remember when my mother suddenly died, just after we started our church in Dallas. It hurt worse than anything I had ever felt in my life because mom had prayed me into salvation.
None of the children were ready for her to die. It came as a shock and a blow to the entire family. But I’ll never forget what happened. When she died, the Spirit of the Lord came upon me. I felt His presence the entire time we were making funeral arrangements.
I wept and wept because it hurt so bad to lose her. Yet the whole time my spirit was so quiet, and I felt His presence strengthening me.
What I’m sharing can really help you in the midst of a crisis. Your child could be on his deathbed in the hospital emergency room. The situation could look grim. But you can get on your knees in the chapel of that hospital and acknowledge God, saying, “Jesus, You are my rock. You are my strength. You are my salvation and my deliverer. You are the healer.” There, in that quiet place, He will meet with you.
