Soak in the Spirit

The term "soaking" was birthed out of the Toronto Blessing revival that took place at the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship.  While even in charismatic churches this practice can seem New Age, I assure it is both Biblical and essential to our spiritual growth.  This is not something I practice on a daily basis (although it probably should be), but as often as it is feasible.  Soaking brings rest, peace, revelation, vision, and oftentimes divine encounter.  So what is it?

Soaking is when we still ourselves before the Lord in His presence and wait upon Him to work on our spirits.  We get saturated by His Spirit and His presence.  Most of the time, when people soak they listen to soft spiritual music (a couple sites that have free soaking music are Soaking with a Purpose and Soaking.net).  If you want to purchase music I highly recommend Glory Reign's Soaking CDs and Joshua Mills soaking music.  I liken this practice to much of what you see David do in Psalms and here's a few verses for it:

• Psalms 131:2 “But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.” 
• Psalms 37:7 "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him” 
• Psalms 27:14 "Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD."
• Psalms 40:1 " I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry."
• Isaiah 40:31 "Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.

That's just a few starters.  If you have ever experienced a solemn assembly, then the idea of waiting on the Lord should be familiar to you.  Some of the other terms that you'll hear that generally mean the same thing are "waiting" and "tarrying".

There are some things that you can expect when you begin this practice.  First, is that sitting still for 10 minutes (with or without music) is likely to seem like a long time.  Most of us are accustomed to darting from one thought to another in the busyness of life, so the concept of letting your thoughts be still before the Lord seems foreign.  One thing that has really helped me with this is worship.  Before I soak, I worship for a while.  It fixates my mind and spirit upon the Lord.  Soaking is a practice that initially requires discipline.  When most of us started reading the Bible we first had to discipline ourselves to do it, but later grew to love encountering the Lord through the Word.  It's the same way with soaking.  You can expect to see visions, feel Holy Spirit's presence significantly increase upon you in your daily life, and receive divine revelation.

So how is it done?  It's simple and I'll give you my steps for soaking:

1. Worship the Lord until your thoughts stay fixed on Him
2. Turn on some instrumental worship or soaking worship music
3. Get in a seated or lying position that is comfortable
4. Focus your thoughts on the Lord and holding your mind still before Him
5. Wait for Holy Spirit to takeover

When I feel His presence it comes like a very light blanket being laid over me, but it gets heavier and heavier the longer I soak.  Hold your mind still before Him and look with your spiritual eyes (similar to your imagination, except you are the one causing what you see/hear).  The more you look the more you'll see.  You may feel like nothing is happening, but as you wait on the Lord He works on your spirit and that doesn't include your mind.  Benny Hinn also has a fantastic teaching on this that makes me jealous (in a good way) every time I hear it.  So I encourage you to take up this practice and pursue God from the place of rest (and please share your experiences with it in the comments to this post)!