One of the things that God put on my heart to minister on in our recent Miracle Crusade is “Miracles and Reverence.” Brother Hagin had stated, “When reverence and honor are restored, there will be a restoration and multiplication of the miraculous power of God.” There is so much connected to our reverence and honor for the Lord.
Not only is miracle power connected to our reverence and honor for God, but so is receiving the wisdom of God. We need His wisdom to fulfill His plan for our lives. Proverbs 9:10 (AMPC) reads, “The REVERENT and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning (the chief and choice part) of WISDOM, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight and understanding.”
The GNT translation reads, “To be wise you must first have REVERENCE for the Lord….”
The NCV translation reads, “Wisdom begins with RESPECT for the Lord, and understanding begins with knowing the Holy One.”
The NLT reads, “Fear of the Lord is the FOUNDATION of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.”
“Fear of the Lord” is a wholesome dread of displeasing Him. Because of our love and reverence for Him, we want to please Him and live lives that are pleasing to Him.
God is always dealing with us about something because He is faithfully working to bring us into full spiritual maturity. When we reverence God and “fear the Lord,” we listen to Him and we obey Him in His dealings with us. When we listen to Him and obey Him, we will operate in the wisdom He gives. Proverbs 15:31-33 (AMPC) reads, “The ear that LISTENS to the reproof [that leads to or gives] life will remain among the wise. He who refuses and ignores instruction and correction despises himself, but he who HEEDS reproof gets understanding. The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord brings instruction in Wisdom, and humility comes before honor.”
Reverence will bring you into wisdom, because reverence for God shows you are trustworthy to handle wisdom rightly.
In Ephesians 1:16-19, Paul tells us a Spirit-inspired prayer he prayed for those in Ephesus. “Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the SPIRIT OF WISDOM and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe….”
Paul prayed that they would be given the spirit of wisdom and revelation, which would cause them to come into the knowledge of Christ — who we are in Him, what we have because we are in Him, and what we can do because we are in Him.
Reverence holds a proper regard for the things of God. Reverence won’t treat the wisdom and revelation God gives lightly. Because having reverence for the Lord is connected to wisdom, the measure of reverence we walk in will affect the measure of the “spirit of wisdom” we will receive.
Rewards of Reverence
There are rewards of reverence. Proverbs 22:4 (AMPC) tells us of those rewards. “The REWARD of humility and the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is RICHES AND HONOR AND LIFE.” Riches, honor, and life are connected to our reverence for God. Reverence brings the Presence of God, and the Presence of God prospers us.
Jeremiah 5:22-25 (AMPC) reads, “Do you not fear and reverence Me? says the Lord…. But these people have hearts that draw back from God and wills that rebel against Him; they have revolted and quit His service and have gone away [into idolatry]. Nor do they say in their hearts, Let us now reverently fear and worship the Lord our God…. Your iniquities have turned these blessings away, and your sins have kept good [harvests] from you.”
In this passage, their failure wasn’t due to the devil, but because of their lack of reverence for God. He was speaking to His people that had gone wayward, which laid them open to defeat. He was letting them know that their lack of reverence for Him put them in this wayward condition and laid them open to defeat by their enemies. So, if lack of reverence opened them up to defeat, then being reverent toward God is a safety to our lives — safeguarding us from defeat. It holds us in the flow where God can bless us and manifest Himself.
We Need Miracles
Every man needs miracles! We want to conduct our lives in such a way that we are always positioned to receive the miracles we need. Reverence positions us for miracles.
God and His Word are one, so to have a reverence for God is to have a reverence for His Word — for His written Word and His spoken Word — and for what He would say to us by His Spirit.
We don’t want to displease the Lord — we want to please Him. Let’s continue to grow in our reverence and honor for God, which is expressed through our worship and our obedience to Him and His Word.
As Proverbs tells us, there are rewards that come with reverence of God — riches, honor, and life. That’s the flow that we will live in when we reverence and honor God.