Crude Oil

If you observe how a petroleum refinery operates, you will discover a fascinating physical law that perfectly mirrors a profound spiritual reality.

When raw crude oil is extracted from the earth, it contains immense value. It holds petrol, kerosene, diesel, aviation fuel, and even the heavy asphalt used to pave roads. All of these products are locked inside the same dark, raw material. But you cannot simply scoop a bucket of crude oil and pour it into your car's engine. It must be refined.

The refinery uses a process called fractional distillation, and the entire system is governed by one primary factor: temperature.

The crude oil is subjected to intense heat. At lower temperatures, the lightest gases are extracted. As the temperature steadily increases, petrol is released. As the heat rises even higher and is sustained over time, kerosene is produced. If you want the heavy, high-grade oils or the aviation fuel that powers massive jets, you cannot rush the process. The refinery must reach and sustain extreme temperatures to break those specific molecular bonds. The temperature determines the extraction.

This is exactly how prayer functions in the Kingdom of God.

God is the source of all things. In Him dwells infinite wisdom, power, deliverance, and provision. But we often approach Him with the mindset of an instant-gratification culture. We want the aviation fuel of the Spirit to power our destinies, our marriages, and our ministries, but we only want to invest the time and spiritual heat of a three-minute, lower-temperature prayer.

We live in a world that expects microwave results, but God’s Kingdom operates on the laws of spiritual thermodynamics. There are certain things God will never release to you in a casual, rushed conversation. Prayer that receives the deep, weighty, and important items from God must be a tarrying prayer.

Look closely at the final instructions Jesus gave His disciples before His ascension in Luke 24:49:

"And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high."

Jesus did not say, "Ask and immediately walk away." He said, "tarry." To tarry means to stay, to remain, to wait purposefully. The disciples needed "power from on high"—a spiritual product of the highest possible grade. Jesus knew that this level of extraction required an upper room. It required a sustained spiritual climate. It required the disciples to stay in the refinery until the temperature was high enough for the Holy Ghost to fall like cloven tongues of fire (Acts 2:3).

We see this law of spiritual temperature again in the Garden of Gethsemane. As Jesus prepared to carry the eternal weight of the cross, He asked Peter, James, and John to watch with Him. When He returned and found them sleeping, His question in Matthew 26:40 was piercing:

"What, could ye not watch with me one hour?"

There is a depth of spiritual transaction that simply cannot happen in five minutes. Some dimensions of revelation, some breakthroughs against ancient principalities, and some impartations of divine grace require you to stay in the presence of God until the atmosphere shifts.

The Apostle Paul understood this intimately. He wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:10,

"But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." 

The deep things are not lying on the surface. They are not released at room temperature.

When you find yourself frustrated because heaven seems silent or the answers you are receiving seem too light for the heavy burden you carry, do not assume God is withholding from you. Check your spiritual temperature. Are you rushing the process?

If you want the deep things, you must learn the lost art of tarrying. You must learn to stay in the place of prayer when the flesh wants to leave. You must wait upon the Lord until your strength is renewed (Isaiah 40:31). The crude oil of heaven's resources is infinitely rich, but it requires the sustained fire of a waiting heart to extract the exact product you need for the journey ahead.

Stay in the refinery. Let the temperature rise.

I ask that the Holy spirit will stir up your spirit to wait on the Lord. Wait I say, on the Lord.