“Drawing Inward” By Madame Guyon

The Inner Life (Priceless Material prepared by Eric G)

“The Kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17.21).”

Once you realize that the kingdom of God is within you and can be found there, just come to the Lord. Close your eyes to everything around you; begin to open the inward eyes of your soul, turning those eyes to your spirit. In a word, give full attention to the deep inward parts of your being.

Never doubt His desire to hear you. Call on His name and remain before Him silently for a little while. Remain there, waiting to have His heart made known to you. Come to the Lord as one who has no strength of his own; come to Him as one who has no power to cleanse himself.

Call upon your Lord, the King of Glory, to reign in you. Give yourself up to God so that He may do in your heart what you have so long been a failure in trying to do.

At some point in this encounter with your Lord, you will feel deep within your spirit that it is time to simply remain silent before Him.

Surrender your heart into His hands. Surrender your freedom into His hands. Yield to your Lord His right to do with you as He pleases.

Do you know what God’s will is? His will is that His children love Him. Therefore, when you pray, “Lord, your will be done,” you are asking the Lord to allow you to love Him. So begin to love Him! And as you do, beseech Him to give you His love.

Keep turning inwardly to your spirit until your mind is collected and you are perfectly still before Him. Now, when all your attention is finally turned within and your mind is set on the Lord, simply remain quiet before Him…Do not try to think of anything. Do not try to say anything. Do not try to do anything! As long as the sense of His presence continues, just remain there. Remain before Him exactly as you are.

What is the point? The point is this: There is a fire within you and it ebbs and grows. That fire, when it ebbs, must be gently fanned, but only gently. Just as soon as that fire begins to burn, again cease all your efforts. Otherwise, you might put out the flame.

Pay Close Attention to This Next Section!

How can we speak of a total victory over the five senses and over the passions and desires that become aroused through them?

If your body were dead, you would not be able to feel, and you certainly would have no desire. But why? Why would the body have no desire? Because it would be disconnected from the soul. So let me repeat, your feelings and your senses draw their power from the soul.

Christians have sought to find many ways to overcome their desires. Perhaps the most common approach has been discipline and “self-denial.” But no matter how severe your “self-denial” may be, it will never completely conquer your senses.

No “self-denial”1 is not the answer!

Even when it appears to have worked, what “self-denial” has actually done is to change only the outward expression of those desires.

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1. Self denial as an attempt to work holiness out yourself. Real self denial is ceasing to be that God might be all in all… Surrender [↩]