Over the years that I have been in the faith, I have witnessed believers seeking many things from God. Some of them received what they were trusting God for, but others didn’t get their desires. This observation led me to ask myself a difficult question: What is the single most important thing a person can receive from the Lord?
I wanted to know the greatest gift a person could receive from God so that I would ask for it. Sure enough, the Lord revealed to me the answer in spectacular fashion. This is what I’ll be sharing with you today.
I went from begging God for many things in my life to praising Him daily because of this revelation. I never imagined how wonderful it would be!
I assure you, no matter how messed up your life might be, this revelation fixes everything. If you are at a point where you don’t know what to pray for anymore, this is the solution you need.
The good thing is that God Himself is more than willing to provide you this solution, as long as you ask genuinely.
The beginning of the search
The search began in my late teenage years. At that time, I was born again and diligently seeking God. I had been told God would make my life beautiful if I remained faithful to Him.
I had many desires: I wanted to be wealthy, married, and to serve God, among other desires. With each passing day, the list of things I wanted God to do for me kept growing.
At first, that was not a problem. But as time passed, I began wondering whether the things I desired from God would ever end. This question arose because I felt I was spending all my prayer time asking God for things.
“Augustine, if all you do is ask things from God, when will you worship Him?” I asked myself.
The dilemma was that if I switched to worshiping God, I wasn’t sure if He would still do the things I wanted. After a lengthy deliberation, I decided to ask for one thing that would perfectly satisfy me, so that I could spend the rest of my time worshiping God.
I never wanted to find myself in a cycle of constantly asking God for things, and not having time to worship Him.
Someone may ask, why couldn’t I mix asking for things with worship? That is exactly what I was doing. The challenge was that if I didn’t receive what I asked for, I would find it very hard to worship God.
My plan was to seek God to reveal the most important thing that would satisfy me, and then I would pursue it.
Because I had the gift of praying in tongues, I decided to pray in tongues to get an answer. I began praying in tongues daily, much more than before.
A few weeks into this exercise, I encountered an unexpected challenge: spending so much time in prayer meant I had less time for daily activities. Not engaging in daily human activities as expected led to tension with family and friends.
Though I loved them, I was not ready to explain what I was doing. I could see their displeasure with my new way of life, but I was not going to let them stop me. They would ask about my future plans, but all I would say was, “I’m fine.”
As the weeks went by, they piled more pressure on me. On the other hand, I had not received any solid answer from the Lord.
At one point, I honestly wanted to give up. However, I asked myself, “Augustine, if you give up, what will you do with your life?”
The idea of randomly doing things without God’s direction was a firm no for me. Because of the increasing pressure, I decided to push harder in prayer.
I chose to do a five-day fast, the hardest I could push, and believed God would answer me.
I completed the fast on Friday, rested on Saturday, and went to church on Sunday. On that Sunday, unknown to me, God had an answer for me.
The answer at last!
As the service went on, I diligently prayed and worshiped the Lord. Suddenly, I felt as if there was a covering over me. I did not stop to analyze it; instead, I continued praying in tongues with my hands lifted.
The warmth I felt was quickly followed by great peace. I could not understand how it was possible to feel that level of peace. It was beyond anything I had ever experienced. The peace was then followed by great joy. The joy came from the realization that Jesus was pleased with me. I had never imagined that knowing Jesus is pleased with you could produce such joy.
The mixture of warmth, peace, and joy left me deeply satisfied. Then I heard a quiet, peaceful voice in my heart saying, “This is the best thing a person can ever receive.” I felt so good hearing that still, small voice.
After a while, the good feeling slowly faded, but it left me with many thoughts. At the same time, I knew God had answered me. I knew what I had experienced was the answer, confirmed by that still, small voice.
However, I could not fully describe the voice other than to say it was exceedingly good.
I knew that this was what perfectly satisfied a person, but how was I supposed to ask for it? I also wondered how I was supposed to sustain that feeling.
The revelation
Gladly, the Holy Spirit helped me understand what the encounter was all about in the days that followed.
First, He showed me that a human being is very complex. God designed human beings with a complexity beyond their own understanding. This was so that no one would have the capacity to fully satisfy themselves. No matter how hard a person tries, they cannot achieve complete satisfaction without God.
When I asked God for one thing that would perfectly satisfy me, He could not easily put it into human words, because a human being needs many things to align perfectly to experience true satisfaction.
However, God placed everything that perfectly satisfies a person in His Son, Jesus. So, when a person receives Jesus and becomes one with Him, they receive everything that truly satisfies them.
This sounds simple, but there is more to it.
If this is the case, why are many believers still struggling? The Holy Spirit showed me that many people receive Jesus verbally, but few become one with Him.
How? Many accept Him with words, but refuse to fully unite with Him out of fear of persecution from the world. It is true that the world hates Jesus, and becoming one with Him brings persecution.
The Holy Spirit showed me that those who are willing to share in the sufferings of Christ are the ones who experience this deep joy and peace. Jesus Himself confirmed this truth, as seen in Matthew 5:11-12.
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
This means that if you want to experience the best feeling in life, pray that you may share in the sufferings of Christ.
Apostle Paul also expressed this in Philippians 3:10, saying;
‘I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,’
Peter also emphasized the same in 1 Peter 4:13:
‘But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.’
The apostles understood that sharing in Christ’s sufferings leads to deeper joy in His glory.
In Acts 5:40–41, after being flogged for preaching Christ, the disciples rejoiced because they were counted worthy to suffer for His name.
The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. (Acts 5:41)
At this point, it becomes clearer why many believers live dissatisfied lives. Many believers do not want to be falsely accused, insulted, or persecuted for the name of Jesus. When suffering comes, they doubt God, unaware that they are denying themselves the opportunity to experience the greatest joy available to human beings.
In my case, when I chose to prioritize prayer over daily activities, I began getting insults, experiencing rejection, and misunderstanding. Yet in that place of suffering, I encountered Christ’s comfort in a beautiful way. His promise never to leave or forsake us became real to me.
Conclusion
As a believer, the more you invest your time into praying in tongues, the more persecution arises. But that persecution makes you one with Christ. Once you become one with Him, His peace and joy remain, regardless of circumstances.
You will encounter Christ from time to time as He comforts and assures you in ways beyond explanation. Truly, there is nothing more satisfying than His presence. God bless you.