Thirst for God 1

 

Thirst for God

I Long to drink of You O God,

Drinking deeply from

the streams of pleasure

Flowing from Your presence

My longings overwhelm me for more of You!

Psalm 42:1

For now, just know that it’s a place of prayer that we learn about in the book of Revelations. We long to help others know Him. We want to teach others how to pray without feeling ashamed, guilty, unworthy, or inadequate. In reading through the Gospels you’ll never find Jesus making people ashamed about prayer or condemning them for not praying. He told His disciples, “when you pray”-not “why don’t you pray more?” We somehow sense that the Lord Jesus understands the battle we engage in as we develop a life of prayer.

Everything about you was made for God and created for His presence. And the true longing of your heart is to know Him because we were all formed in His very image. Just like every one of us longs to know our earthly father better, so there is a longing for all of mankind to know our heavenly Father. You might call it our soul-thirst for Him, we are connecting with our True Source. Its in His presence that we’re empowered. Its in His throne room that we come to life because there is absolutely nothing else on this side of heaven that can compare to communing with Him!

Were all created to be Father’s living vessels, filled with all that He is. He becomes our content, our substance- and we become His containers of the Christ! Without man, God has nowhere to put Himself, nowhere to pour out His very life. He can fill the universe with His wisdom and order, but He longs for a home, a place of rest. In a very real way, God needs you to become His Completion, His fullness on the earth.

Ephesians 1:17-23.

I pray that the Father of glory, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would impart to you the riches of the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation to know him through your deepening intimacy with him.
¹⁸ I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of his calling —that is, the wealth of God’s glorious inheritances that he finds in us, his holy ones!
¹⁹ I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power ²⁰ that was released when God raised Christ from the dead and exalted him to the place of highest honor and supreme authority in the heavenly realm! ²¹ And now he is exalted as first above every ruler, authority, government, and realm of power in existence! He is gloriously enthroned over every name that is ever praised, not only in this age, but in the age that is coming!
²² And he alone is the leader and source of everything needed in the church. God has put everything beneath the authority of Jesus Christ and has given him the highest rank above all others. ²³ And now we, his church, are his body on the earth and that which fills him who is being filled by it!

As we thirst for God, we connect with the desire of the eternal soul. Like a hunted deer panting for refreshment, we thirst for the living God. And this thirst can sometimes be overwhelming. As you go on a journey with us, you will begin to find that you just can’t go on without a fresh infilling from the fountain of Life, and prayer gives us that infilling.

After years of seeking Him, we have discovered that the way to live Christ is to breathe Him, and the way to breathe Him is to call on Him without ceasing. In 1 Timothy 6:12, Paul says,

“Lay your hands upon eternal life to which you were called.”

We’ve been called to eternal life. Now we must lay hold of this life by calling on the Lord night and day, day and night. By calling Him, we breathe Him in.

The greatest lesson we have ever learned about prayer is this: Jesus is my prayer life! Jesus is our life, our strength, our victory, our hope of glory. He is the life and power of our prayers. Jesus in me is my prayer life and to be His prayer partner in prayer must be the passion of every intercessor. His life in me is an ever-praying life! He ever lives to make intercession for me and in me! When you really believe this, your fear of not praying correctly will vanish! God has given us the privilege of taking hold of Him and borrowing His strength. Fellowship with the eternal God takes weak and unfit people and makes them His co-rulers, working together to bring His purposes to pass. You can become a walking prayer meeting on two legs as you intercede throughout the day. Busy moms, hurried men, students, and ministers alike can all mingle prayer with their daily work. An intercessor can maintain a spirit of constant prayer no matter what else is going on.

Calling on the Lord is one way that He draws us into His heart. He knows that His life-changing power is released when we spend time with Him. And He knows that adoration turns into transformation if we’ll be patient. To love Him must be our supreme occupation. And the more we love Him, the more we spend time with Him, and the more we spend time with Him, the more our soul is transformed into His image.

2 Corinthians 3:18

We can all draw close to him with the veil removed from our faces. And with no veil we all become like mirrors who brightly reflect the glory of the Lord Jesus. We are being transfigured into his very image as we move from one brighter level of glory to another. And this glorious transfiguration comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

John 14:21

Those who truly love me are those who obey my commands. Whoever passionately loves me will be passionately loved by my Father. And I will passionately love you in return and will manifest my life within you.”

As we give Him our hearts in prayer, He gives us His heart in exchange, transforming us from deep within. The more you give your heart to prayer, the more you’ll experience His presence.

Think of the Holy of Holies as the heart of the father.

Think of the veil separating you from the Holy of Holies as being torn open by the Father’s hand. Think of it as God’s heart being torn open for you to peek inside. When you do, you’ll see that He really is kind and merciful and forgiving after all. Prayer is the exquisite privilege of looking inside of God. He’s not a condemning Father staring at you and wondering why it took you so long, but He is a Father whose heart has been torn open and ready to receive you and hear your voice as you cry out to Him. He loves it! Prayer is not a burden, and it’s not a duty. It’s a privilege, and it’s easy. It’s a pleasure-filled experience of entering the ecstasy of His presence. When we understand the heart of the Father God torn open to receive us, we will run into His presence with delight and joy. Remember, prayer is easy when you love Him!

We pray not only to receive what we need but to know Him. All prayer is union with God. We join our hearts, our spirits, and our longing with God’s as we touch the eternal together. Our hearts are drawn toward heaven when we open our lips and call upon His name. Any need we have must be secondary to satisfying His Father-heart in prayer.

You are a priest coming to God with words, a priest with a ministry before the throne. Prayer is the greatest and noblest human action possible. Our true ministry is not what we do before others but who we are before the Lord.

1 Peter 2:5-9

Come and be his “living stones” who are continually being assembled into a sanctuary for God. For now you serve as holy priests, offering up spiritual sacrifices that he readily accepts through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For it says in Scripture:
Look! I lay a cornerstone in Zion,
a chosen and priceless stone!
And whoever believes in him
will certainly not be disappointed.
⁷ As believers you know his great worth—indeed, his preciousness is imparted to you. But for those who do not believe:
The stone that the builders rejected and discarded
has now become the cornerstone
⁸ And
A stone that makes them stumble
and a rock to trip over.
They keep stumbling over the message because they refuse to believe it. And this they were destined to do. ⁹ But you are God’s chosen treasure —priests who are kings, a spiritual “nation” set apart as God’s devoted ones. He called you out of darkness to experience his marvellous light, and now he claims you as his very own. He did this so that you would broadcast his glorious wonders throughout the world.

Most of us measure our ministries by their size, the number of people impacted. Or books sold. But in heaven, our ministry is with God. We serve Him, we wait upon Him, we pour our hearts to Him, and we listen to His voice. Yes, true ministry cannot be measured by any of earth’s value, it can only be measured by heaven’s glory.

Wherever you see miracles, you’ll find prayer. God releases His power to work miracles in answer to the prayers of His people. You are one who can pray down the miracle power of heaven. We don’t “hype it up”; we “pray it down”. More prayer means more power. Without prayer, we can’t do the work of Jesus, let alone the greatest things He claimed we would do.

Miracles are waiting for your prayers. Everything we want is in heaven, and our prayers come alive in the heavenly realm. It’s time for you to pray bolder prayers!

Bolder prayers brings big miracles. Don’t let everybody else see the miracles without you being included! If your prayers don’t move your heart, then they won’t move His heart! Pray with passion, and the miracles will flow.

Luke 5:15-16

After this miracle the news about Jesus spread even farther. Massive crowds continually gathered to hear him speak and to be healed from their illnesses. ¹⁶ But Jesus often slipped away from them and went into the wilderness to pray.

John 14:12-14

“I tell you this timeless truth: The person who follows me in faith, believing in me, will do the same mighty miracles that I do—even greater miracles than these because I go to be with my Father! ¹³ For I will do whatever you ask me to do when you ask me in my name. And that is how the Son will show what the Father is really like and bring glory to him. ¹⁴ Ask me anything in my name, and I will do it for you!”

Why do we pray?

The first thing that happens for people when you mention prayer is a feeling of condemnation rather than joy of communing with the living Father. Many people think God is either mad or sad. They imagine that He’s mad at every sinner, every backslider, and every Christian who blows it. Or they think that He’s sad and melancholy over a world that’s abandon His ways. But we need to see that God is a happy God. He enjoys weak people, loves our prayers, and is touched by everything that effects us. And prayer touches His heart. Believe it or not, the Lord Jesus understands the difficulty we have in developing a life of prayer. He understands all our weaknesses!

Song of Songs 2:14 says

“ How beautiful your eyes of worship and lovely your voice in prayer.”

Where is there condemnation in that?

Guilt is the greatest hinderance to prayer. And guilt is such a poor motivator in the Christian life. It will produce results for a while, but it leaves a horrible aftertaste in our soul. You may start to feel that you never pray enough. And you may never feel as though you pray perfectly, with the right passion and the right words. But He’s not keeping a record. In the ears of the Father there is a sweetness to our voice. “Come and pray to me,”He says. “Let me hear your voice in prayer!”

This is an invitation for you to arise and pray. It is time to worship Him even in your place of need. If only you knew how sweet you voice is each time you call out to Him, it would bring you over and over into the secret chamber of His heart. Jesus calls to you: “How lovely you look there hidden in My love. Let Me hear your heart’s cry, and I will answer you. Your voice is music to my ears sweet, pleasing, and acceptable to Me.”

He's waiting and longing to commune with you. It’s time to invade His privacy. Rush into His presence like a child and love on Him. Let your words be free! Speek from your heart! And like any child would like to enjoy his own natural father, why not crawl up in His lap just for the sake of enjoying him?

He is saying to the Shulamite, and He is saying to you and me:” Let Me take pleasure in you.” Jesus always finds delight in His times of fellowship with you and me. Imagine Jesus looking at you where you are today and saying, “I enjoy you; I call you delightful; and I love you! Arise from your self-life and let Me break your  shackles off and the fear that keeps you distant from Me. Give Me your worship, for it is sweet.” Just think: Jesus loves your voice in prayer.

 

Pray this today:

Lord Jesus, you have won my heart. You tell me that my voice is sweet and that you delight to hear my prayer. Your love is the strength of my heart. Show me even more of you love today. I want my prayer to move your heart and to change me. Teach me how to value prayer as you did. Help me to rise early to seek your face and gaze upon your glory. I trust in you, my Lord and my God. Amen

 

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