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Gen. 30:20 Zebulun, “God has given me a good gift.”

“Now my husband will dwell with me,” says Leah after giving Jacob his sixth son by her and the eleventh in the family line.  This child given towards the end of her life represents the deeper desires of a mother and the recognition or our most rewarding gift—dwelling together.

As you overcome challenges and temptations, as you receive rewards and accolades, these will gradually pale in comparison to the value of simply dwelling in God’s presence.

I have noticed that I say less and less in prayer now than before.  I am still and listening, because there is really just one answer that I desire.  I no longer wait or seek a word.  I am not anxious about getting the daily bread or resources I need to survive.  I am even less concerned about my sins which need to be forgiven as I have seen again and again His willingness to restore, forgive, and repeatedly deliver me from temptations which were too great for me to endure.

Instead, the pursuit of my prayer now is His presence.  I am not happy with an answer or a simple acknowledgement of His hearing me.  The gift I desire is Him dwelling with me.

“This one thing I desire,” says David in Psalm 27:4, “That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.”  Nothing else satisfies.  Nothing else is needed.

If you have ever tasted and seen the goodness of the Lord, been enlightened by His heavenly presence and captured by His love, you are now officially ruined.  No drug, pleasure, gossip or temporal victory compares.  Laurels and earthly accolades are just fleeting gestures.

Instead, I am asking God later in my life to turn up the glory of His presence.  I am hungry for more, and the initial feelings and goose bumps of the Holy Spirit are no longer sufficient.  Says David, “I will be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.”

When the Lord withdraws His presence, we pray, “My God, My God. Why are you so far from the words of my groanings? In the night season, I am not silent, and in the daytime, my prayer shall come before you.” (Ps. 22)

When He withdraws Himself from me, my yearning only increases.  I think in heaven we will be on a perpetual chase falling ever and ever deeper into the depths of His love.  An endless fall into grace.

Gen. 30:13 Asher, “Happy am I.”

Leah said, “I am happy because the daughters will call me blessed.” As we move through different seasons of prayer and ministry, we eventually come to a place of happy contentment when we enjoy the rewards of our labor.  Often Christians wear a sour frown instead of reflecting the blessings that God has bestowed here and above.

A happy, peaceful season of blessing is to be expected as we labor with the Lord.  Particularly in the ministry of prayer, an oil of gladness begins to flow upon our heads as we practice seasons of extended prayer and praise in God’s presence.  The reason this gladness and joy abound is because God’s very nature is to be happy, glad, and have “pleasures forevermore at His right hand.”  Psalm 16.  God is not a sourpuss or a killjoy, but rather delights to give His children the desires of their heart.

The happiness of the kingdom, however, is a different feeling than worldly pleasures that come from indulging our flesh.  Sinful pleasures are degrading and manipulating to others.  They always rob some of the joy, health, and freedom that God means for us to enjoy.  As opposed. “if one would love live and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile. Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it.” (1 Peter 3:10-11) Turning away from evil thoughts and actions, seeking peace, and speaking life are actually the activities that make us happy.

When we develop this hunger for righteousness, we begin to understand the Beatitudes of Jesus. “Happy are the poor in spirit.  Happy are those who mourn.  Happy are the meet, those who hunger, the merciful, and the pure in heart.”  (Matt. 5:3-8) A lifetime and lifestyle of prayer reorients our emotions with the affections and appetites of the Kingdom.

Instead of seeking happiness through the accumulation of goods and power, the praying and mature Christian finds happiness is the distribution of our resources and power in exchange for a taste of the Kingdom of God.  We experience a higher reality, and eternal one, and then everything on earth pales in comparison.

Allow yourself to be happy.  But be happy in the knowledge of God and the eternal kingdom free from suffering and pain that He is establishing.  This heavenly happiness is the result of a life spent seeking His Kingdom, and it is a peace that the world could never give nor ever take away.

As you endure wrestling and weeping for the night, joy will come in the morning as God makes us joyful in His house of prayer.

Gen. 30:11 Gad, “A troop comes! How fortunate!”

Here Leah expresses her delight after her maid has given Jacob another son.  The name Gad can be translated to mean either fortunate or a troop, which are both welcome responses after a season of wrestling.

In your walk with God, your ministry will experience some of the most blessed seasons of favor and fortune immediately after some of your most pressing wrestling moments.  The devil knows his time is short, and he will throw his forces of hell against you just before the break of day.

The lesson Jacob and Leah are celebrating here is that they are not alone but have the resources of an entire troop surrounding them in the battle.  The revelation of the power of numbers and the multitude that are with us propels our ministries into a position of favor, strength, and victory rather than being buffeted at the hands of the enemy.

There is strength, exponential strength, in numbers.  “A strand of three cords is not easily broken,” Ecclesiastes 4:12 summarizes the power of a company of people, a troop.  In my 25 years of doing battle, there are a few seasoned warriors who I know will lift my hands during the battle and come to my rescue like a cavalry.  These trusted brothers and sisters are your secret to lasting success in ministry.

Ecclesiastes elaborates, “Woe to him who is alone when he falls.  For he has no one to help him up.” (4:10) Israelite armies, Egyptian armies, Roman legions all recognized the power of a unified army in standing against the enemy.  God sent Gideon and his group of 300 as “one man” against the Midianites and won the battle.  This unity and comradery is a treasure of warfare that makes the struggle sweet to the warriors.

Says my brother, Randy, “Pleasure doing battle with you.”  We instantly remember and instinctively know the many times God had come through for us when we gripped hands in prayer against the enemy.  In your desire to plant a work of God, you will inevitably face battles and demonic powers that are beyond the ability of one person to defeat.

Developing a troop mentality is the key to overcoming regional principalities.  No one person is left on the wall alone, but we are connected to one another in the work, and at the sound of the trumpet, everyone runs to the battle.

Whoever is surrounded by such a troop is truly fortunate.  I consider myself exponentially blessed by the band of brothers God has surrounded me with for the battle.  Together, we are Gad and we are glad to fight alongside one another.