STILLNESS – Biblical Approach vs Eastern Mysticism

Mark Virkler's picture

Be still and know… my soul waits in silence (Ps. 34:10; 62:1). But on the other hand, don’t you dare still your mind, for if you do satan will move upon it. How’s that for inner discord?


The four keys to hearing God’s voice

  1. Stillness: Become quiet inwardly
  2. Vision: Behold Jesus with you
  3. Spontaneity: Tune to flow
  4. Journaling: Record the flowing thoughts, pictures, and emotions

Hearing God’s voice is as simple as quieting yourself down,
fixing your eyes on Jesus, tuning to flow and writing.

The KEY is the synergy created as you use ALL four together!


Expanded and extended

We cover these four keys in depth in our books 4 Keys to Hearing God’s Voice, Dialogue With God, many blogs and video clips, and review them in many of the other books we have written.

Nearly 100 people have now put these four keys into the books they have written. This is all promoting a revolution in the body of Christ as people come alive to dialogue with God daily. This is something they had never been taught they could do easily and daily.

How do I still my thoughts as I come before the Lord?

I choose David’s approach, which is beginning my prayer time by coming into God’s presence with praise and worship.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations. (Ps. 100:4-5)

As I lift him up, my mind becomes still. All of its distractions, worries, and cares are displaced with adoration for the King. Displacement works! I can never chase sin or darkness out of my life. Bringing in His light dispels my darkness. Commanding my mind to become still does not work. Instead, I become completely immersed in God and His goodness toward me.

I use vision in this stilling process. I see Jesus at my side. We are together. He has said I need to become as a child to enter the kingdom (Mk. 10:15). I will likely see myself as a child. This picture helps me quiet my analytical thinking, my judging, my fears, and my uncertainties. I am now prepared to receive His thoughts.

Eastern mysticism and stillness

They feel the highest form of stillness is when one gets beyond all thoughts, beyond all pictures, and beyond all emotions. Therefore they seek this highest state of esoteric nothingness and they may use a mantra to help them get to this state.

I will use speaking in tongues (1 Cor. 14:15). When I am speaking in tongues, my spirit is speaking mysteries to God (1 Cor. 14:2) and this is building up my spirit (1 Cor. 14:4). Hard to find any way to beat that!

How Jesus lived

My goal is NOT that of an Eastern mystic, to get beyond all thoughts, pictures, and emotions. My goal is to follow the pattern of Jesus, to step from my thoughts to God’s thoughts, from my pictures to God’s pictures, and from my emotions to God’s emotions of love, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17).

"The Son can do nothing of Himself unless it is something He sees the Father doing … As I hear, I judge (Jn. 5:19-20, 30). So Jesus was hearing, seeing, and feeling (i.e. moved by compassion, Jesus healed - Matt. 14:14). Jesus was not seeking to get beyond words pictures, and emotions. He simply wanted to receive His Father's words, pictures, and emotions. That is also my goal in becoming still.

Precise definitions: I choose Christian stillness and Holy Spirit encounter

So Christian stillness is not moving to an esoteric nothingness as an Eastern mystic may do. It is becoming quiet in God’s presence so I can receive revelation from Him! A very different goal indeed.

We, as the body of Christ, express Christ to our world. We have died and now Christ is living out through us. This occurs as I tune to the flow of the Spirit within me, the one who is joined to my spirit (Gal. 2:20; 1 Cor. 6:17; Jn. 7:38). The River of the Holy Spirit flows effortlessly within us granting revelation and power as we ask, look, believe and tune to His flow and release Him to the world.

This is called abiding in Christ, abiding in the vine, praying without ceasing, walking by the Spirit, living by the Spirit, and drinking from the Fountain of Living Waters (Jn. 15; Gal. 5:25; 1 Thess. 5:17; Jer. 2:13)! What a simple and wonderful lifestyle. So childlike, so anointed. So creative. Love it!

You can participate in promoting this Spirit-anointed lifestyle!

I want the Church able and ready to articulate “stillness” and describe it as quieting ourselves, by coming into God’s presence, tuning to His flow, hearing, seeing, and receiving from Him revelation, wisdom, healing, creativity, and power. This we release to the world in which we live. We are living the lifestyle Jesus modeled for us. We are receiving wonderful counsel from the Wonderful Counselor and sharing it with all we touch. What a glorious lifestyle.

An anointed Church transforms the world!

We need the Church to be anointed and alive with the power, wisdom and healing touch of God! We need this revival. The world needs it. The nations need it. We can offer revival if we can explain simply and clearly that living in daily revival is the result of having daily walks with God in the cool of the day. You can easily walk and talk with God and enter into communion with Him, A simple tool you can use to take the four necessary steps is the free download called the “Sea of Galilee.” Try it, you'll like it!

I do not want the Church to sell its birthright to Eastern mysticism because we can't clearly define how to become still and connect to God Who is the creator and sustainer of each of our lives. What a travesty. I don't want an Eastern mystic to offer an inferior approach that connects to an inferior god, simply because I can't articulate the biblical way of following Jesus' pattern for a truly heavenly encounter!

Journaling question: Lord, what would You speak to me concerning becoming still and receiving from You?

 

Links to the four parts of this series.

  1. FLOW – Easily Experience God’s Anointing
  2. VISION - God Makes It Easy, Religion Makes It Hard
  3. STILLNESS – Biblical Approach vs Eastern Mysticism
  4. JOURNALING – Biblical Approach vs Automatic Writing (Will be available soon!)
     

Unleashing Healing Power Through Spirit Born Emotions
Free Video Event: January 13-22
Register now: https://go.cluschoolofthespirit.com/unleashing

CLU Course of the Month:
HEA302 The Power of Kingdom Emotions
Request 40% tuition discount until January 31st when ordering here: https://www.cluonline.com/christian-online-college-courses/#HEA102


Free Zoom Session with Mark & Charity on a recent health advance

Friday, January 24th 7:30 PM EST: Join us as we share our latest discovery for health and longevity!
(And even if you can't join live, you will receive the replay recording if you register.) Sign up here to reserve your spot!


Fan the flames of revival by sharing this blog with your friends on social media! 


 

Related Resources: 

How to Hear God's Voice!   
Add new comment

Add new comment

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Results

Results 351 - 360 of 490

Pages

Healthier Today than Yesterday - Book Cover

Healthier Today Than Yesterday eBook

Mark and Patti Virkler | 103 Pages

I am healthier at age 60 than I was at age 40! That excites me. I want to share with you what I have learned in the last 18 years since I wrote the book Go Natural. I researched and wrote that first book on health when I was 40 years old because my body was beginning to break down. The truths I learned then improved my health and many others have written to tell me that it improved the quality of their health, as well.

Price: $9.95

Hearing God Through Biblical Meditation ebook

Unlocking fresh revelation daily - by Mark and Patti Virkler | 179 Pages

For many years I studied the Bible incorrectly, and it produced death rather than life. Even though I had a knowledge of the Scriptures, I did not personally experience the life and the realities they revealed. The Bible calls this the ministry of death, rather than the ministry of righteousness (2 Cor. 3:6–9). Upon coming out of Bible college, I found myself just like the apostle Paul, attacking those who disagreed with my theology. 

Price: $15.95

Hearing God's Voice for Healing e-book

Mark and Patti Virkler | 281 Pages | Retail: $23.99

Explore the many methods Jesus used to heal. Recognize the significance of the fact that more than half the time, the word used for these healings was the Greek word for "therapeutic," which means "cure". Become aware of 28 therapeutic cures which are either mentioned in the Bible or, if not specifically mentioned, are compatible with biblical principles.

Price: $19.95

How Could I Have Been So Wrong? eBook

Mark Virkler | 80 Pages

This book is my story of how my cardiac event was resolved by combining the best in medical care, Christian spirituality, and nutrition. 

I was NOT supposed to have a cardiac event. I ate a healthy diet, exercised several times a week, consumed lots of great nutrition and sought to live destressed by abiding in Christ. This story contains the lessons I learned in the months of healing after having emergency surgery which involved five heart bypasses.

Price: $14.95

How Do You Know? eBook

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 180 Pages

How do you know? What is the process you use to discover truth? I did not ask that question during the first 25 years of my life. I used various methods for discovering truth such as: if my parents said so, then it was so. If my teacher said it was so, then it was so. If my pastor said it was so, then it was so. If my theology said it was so, then it was so.

Price: $17.95
How to Build a Winning Team eBook

How to Build a Winning Team eBook

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 105 Pages

Can I succeed like others have? What do I need to do? How do I go about it? What if I don't have the gifts necessary to do something great?  The wonderful truth revealed in Scripture is that God uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary feats, especially when they say, "Yes, Lord" to the destiny He has prepared for them!

Price: $12.95

How to Deal Effectively with Your Sexuality eBook

by Six Contributing Authors | 80 Pages

Question: How do I handle my sexuality? It is such an intense, persistent and driving force. I battle with pornography. How do I tame this monster within me? I see so many people and even Christian leaders fall, and I don't want to fall. I want this to work! I feel trapped and no-one is preaching a sermon on how to handle this. So I grit my teeth, try my hardest, and fail over and over again, and then get consumed with shame. Can you help me? Have you found any answers that work?

Price: $9.95
How to Receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit eBook

How to Receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit eBook

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 44 Pages | Published 2002

This brief booklet walks a person through the main obstacles to speaking in tongues, and shows how each one can be successfully overcome. It is down-to-earth, practical and biblical, and in it Mark Virkler shares the struggles he went through before he was able to speak in tongues. Some were theological issues and some simply practical issues, like the fact that if I am going to speak in tongues, I will need to speak. Otherwise, nothing happens.

Price: $2.66
How to Walk by the Spirit eBook

How to Walk by the Spirit eBook

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 136 Pages

Are you like many western Christians who have been taught little about how to sense their spirits? Do you have trouble even defining what spirit sensations feel like within you, much less recognizing them? This training was birthed from Mark’s passion to live out of his spirit, and thus release the anointing of God. The problem he faced was lack of clear biblical definition as to what his spirit felt like. So Mark looked up every verse in the Bible on heart and spirit.

Price: $13.95
Imagine That eBook

Imagine That eBook

by Rev. Jimmy D. Smith | 85 Pages

Beginning sometime around my 72nd year, my imagination really started to wake up again.  I was reading Dialogue with God, by Mark and Patti Virkler, when wheels began to turn.  In the weeks that followed I decided that this was a “do” book, not just a “read to learn” book. I began to do what the book suggested. Somewhere along the line I felt that the Lord gave me permission to experience the freedom of using my imagination to worship Him, to talk to Him, and more importantly to hear from Him.

Price: $7.95

Pages