08/29/2020
His disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray as He did, and David sang in prayer that God would teach him His paths. Are we satisfied with the speed at which we are progressing spiritually? Are we inclined to sit patiently waiting for instruction without expressing our desire for more? There is a difference between trusting that the Lord will lead us in understanding, and being indifferent about it. Both David and the disciples wanted more, and they asked for as much... we should ask as well.
“Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.”
Psalm 25:4 ESV
Many years ago I was a Boy Scout, and wanted to learn as much as I could about hiking, camping, and surviving in the wilderness. I knew that our leaders intended to teach us these outdoor skills, but I had certain things that I was most interested in, like fire starting, and identifying edible plants; so I specifically asked to be taught these things. It is the same way in our faith, we know that we will be led by the Holy Spirit, and that God will reveal Himself to us as we grow in faith, but there are specific skills and characteristics of faith that we each want most to understand, or know better. Think for a moment about what you long for God to teach you... is it patience, long suffering, joy, peace, healing, prayer, or some gift of the Spirit?
“Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.”
Psalm 25:5 ESV
We are told to seek God, and this is more than just waiting to be led. We are meant to want desperately to know Him. If we sit silently in the pew on Sunday waiting for someone else to lead us into a spirit of worship we are not seeking, but simply following. We are not active in our faith... just complacent followers of our religion; is this how we want to be characterized before the throne of judgement?
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
Hebrews 11:6 ESV
When our desire to know Jesus Christ, and to understand God the Father beyond an idle curiosity consumes us, that is good, but when our spirit aches, and we pray fervently for Jesus and God to reveal Themselves, asking that we be taught their ways, and that they abide with us, then our faith leaps within us, and we know what it means to long for Them with every ounce of our being. Does our faith feed on the tears of our longing every day and night, and does our spirit call out in prayer for God’s instruction? This should be the state of our longing, and our faith. In this way we find ourselves desperately in love with God.
“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?””
Psalm 42:1-3 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the desperate love you have shown for me, and I ask that you awaken that same love in me as my spirit pants after you. Open my heart Lord, and let no shadow be cast over my desire to know you with all my heart. Teach me Jesus to not only pray as you pray, but to cry the tears of your intense desire, and to sweat the drops of blood that are your manifest longing. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who longs for us to know you. Praised be your name for the mercy and grace you have poured out upon us through Jesus the Christ, and the steady breath of your Holy Spirit that blows upon us to make the flame of our faith roar, and to consume every unrighteousness we might harbor. Great are you who teaches us of yourself, and glorious are you as we fall prostrate in perfect worship before you. See our tears all the day, hear our penitence as we cry out, make Holy the blood we sweat at your feet, and answer our prayers Father. Teach us those things we seek so desperately from you, and call us your children as you seat us at your table to be fed with Jesus throughout eternity, nourished by your goodness, and love forevermore.
“Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.””
Isaiah 12:6 ESV
Rich Forbes