“She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have given me the land of Negeb, give me also springs of water”. And he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs”
(Joshua chapter 15, verse 19)
Tonight, I am confronted with my lack of water. My lack of tenderness. My lack of intimacy with my God and Lord. Today I yearn like Caleb’s daughter for springs of water, living water - welling up on the inside of me.
Devotion over distraction
How often have I yielded to the tug of a thousand other loves, the fleeting joys of entertainment that dull my spirit and offend the Holy Spirit who has made His home in me. Scrolling through social media, wasting time, feeding a spirit of gossip and worldliness, and justifying the crass comedy because it’s legitimately funny and “harmless”. Then I feel the grime, the muck congealing on my soul and I weep over my lack of sorrow. Shameless...
Tonight, I felt the weight of my stony heart that so often lifts itself up in pride. Ohhh, for a humble heart! You, Lord, resist the proud, but dwell with the lowly, giving grace to the humble. Oh, that You would dwell with me, Lord - that I would be a place where the Sovereign God can rest without competition.
My thoughts and heart betray me, living in fantasy and distraction when true fascination lies in beholding your beauty. Increase my hunger for You, oh God! Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled (Matthew chapter 5, verse 6).
The gift of hunger
Wound me again with fresh hunger God. Grant me the gift of disillusionment with my present state - Ohhh God there is more! There is more! There is more! Ah Lord God, birth a new hunger within me for You. Would that I were among the desperate and needy- the poor in spirit!
Bless me, Lord! You have given me territory to steward, how can a land flourish without water?
Oh, give me, also, springs of water!
I reside in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Increase my hunger God. Oh for a holy desperation for the living God! Where can I go and meet with God? (Psalm chapter 42, verse 2)
I long for grace to be able to jealously guard my heart - no idols, clean hands, pure heart: that I might see God, and be satisfied with the riches of His presence. Lord, I repent of being careless...of not guarding this sacred space the way I ought. Liberate my heart to walk in love of You.
Set your fiery seal upon my heart and my arm, O Consuming Fire - remove everything that hinders love in me. I want to hate what You hate, and love what You love.
Holy grippings
O for the humility of the Canaanite woman! Engender within me a ravenous hunger for greater breakthrough for intimacy with You, Jesus, and for Your Word. Make me like blind Bartimaeus - pressing past the opinions of men and the barriers, pressing through the dullness of my own heart with the cry “I want to see God!”
Would that I were in the company of the violent; those that lay hold of God. I want to touch You God! I don’t want to just be around You, Lord. I want to touch You like the woman with the issue of blood and hear You say “Who touched me?!!!” I want to see breakthroughs in my family, city, nation, region and world. I want to see the birth of an entire generation of love-sick, longing, pilgrim worshippers who have found their exceeding great reward and inheritance to be God Himself.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God…and I will thirst for You, Jesus. Never let me settle until I see You face to face, Jesus. For all the days of my life, never let me be a professional “Christian”, but always longing, always hungry- holy desperation, as the deer panting after streams of water (Psalm chapter 63). Wound my generation, and the one after, with spiritual hunger.
In an age of a multitude of voices, Lord, I choose Yours, not my own or another. Lord, I choose the words of the Word, and pledge myself to the secret place of abiding in the vine. Open heart, open Bible, I wait upon You, Lord, sitting in silence - awaiting Your whisper.
Set us on fire again, God.
Behold, God is great and we do not know Him (Job chapter 36, verse 26). Ohh, for the knowledge of You.
“These words are addressed to those of God's children who have been pierced with the arrow of infinite desire, who yearn for God with a yearning that has overcome them, who long with a longing that has become pain.”
God Hunger, A. W. Tozer
Francesca Tavares (West Indies) is a daughter, sister, friend, avid reader, attorney-at-law, and porridge connoisseur. She enjoys Jesus and fulfilling His purposes for her life on Earth.
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