Desiring God
Many of my posts are about building and cultivating a personal relationship with Jesus. If you haven't figured it out yet, it is because I really want all of us to have a deep, personal and meaningful relationship with God. God wants this for all of us! He wants all of us to be dependent on Him, not ourselves and other people or things. Our security and identity needs to be in Christ, yet, we cannot have security without knowing Him for ourselves. I don't know how many ways I can write this to get it ingrained into our minds. We need God and need to acknowledge our need for Him. We live in a hurting and broken world where many turn to drugs, alcohol, money, shopping, sex, and gambling because they believe those things are more accessible than God. This is a sad lie. Additionally, many of us don't understand that the deep longing and desire we have is for God, so we attempt to fill it with anything that temporarily satisfies us. We have got to understand that the void can only be filled by God. We were made and created to fellowship with our Heavenly Father. Nothing can take God's place, so nothing will truly suffice or fulfill the void, hole, and desire. So what do we do?
I've written a little about what you will read today in a previous post called Seeking God, but we cannot seek God unless we first desire Him. Generally speaking, we will not do anything unless we have a desire to do it, or see a benefit. To desire means to long or to hope for, according to Merriam-Webster.com, or I think of it as something that we strongly want, an inner yearning. However, something has to occur before we can desire something. First, we need to see a need. To desire God, we need to acknowledge our need for Him. This is hard for us though, because we've learned to be dependent or self-sufficient. Too many people have hurt us, making us less willing to trust. Hence, we only cry out to God when we are desperate and willing to try anything. Yet, because we've been groomed to need instant gratification, we quickly move on when God doesn't do what we want the second we ask Him. We don't give God time to work. We try and test Him, saying things like if you are real than do this or fix that! We have certain expectations, set boundaries, and create specific timeline for Him to get things done. We do all of this out of desperation, not faith. Then when God doesn't come through like we want, we make ourselves feel better by saying I guess you aren't real God, or yep, I knew You didn't love me like You said You did. Let's read about one of God's followers; even he struggled in his faith. Matthew 14:28-31 says:
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come”, he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out,
“Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
This scripture tells us that doubt doesn't help us. If you've prayed and haven't received God's peace, comfort, an answered prayer, check your motives and standing with God. Do you have faith that He can help you? God is knocking at our door, but many of us are too busy trying to fix our own life that we don't let God in. Or, maybe you've invited Him in, yet, shut the door in His face because you doubt that He can help you. When we doubt, we lack faith. There is no faith when there is doubt. Furthermore, many of us are still fighting the battle ourselves. We get worn out and exhausted, yet refuse to turn to God. We don't believe that He is the answer to our problems, and we have not come to the end of ourselves. We still have fight in us; we are prideful. We still want to do things our way (even though it takes us in a circle and right back to where we started), leaving us with no hope, no change, no peace, and no joy.
To desire God, we must come to the end of ourselves. We need to acknowledge that our way isn't working. We need to hand over the keys, reigns, or whatever it is that we are still holding on to and give it all to God. He will not take your keys, push you out of the driver's seat, or barge though your front door. He wants to be invited and trusted, not mocked. He wants you to believe that He can help you, not ask on a whim or last resort without faith. Let me make a clear point: As long as you've still got fight in you to keep doing it yourself, God will not help. James 1:6-8 tells us:
6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
We cannot be double-minded and unstable. So please, trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge (Psalms 62:8). The way many of us are currently living is not the poor and defeated lifestyle God wants us to live. Jesus didn't die for us to be trampled over, sulky, resentful, or live a meaningless life. Let's stop doing it our way and put our hope in God! God is saying Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland (Isaiah 43:18). Do we have the faith to believe that no matter how hard our circumstances, God will make a way, even when we believe there is no way? Here is a list of what I've written about:
Come to the end of ourselves (exhausted, no more fight left to do it ourselves)
See a need for God (acknowledge we need God and have faith that God can help)
Desire God (with faith: ask Jesus to come into our heart and yearn for God's help and power)
Seek God (get to know Him by reading the Bible and listening to sermons)
Keep going and build your relationship with God (find your identity in Christ, see what God thinks of you, grow deeper and stronger in your faith)
Let us pray.
Our Heavenly Father and Creator,
Thank you for this message and for all those reading. Thank you for showing us what can hinder our prayers like doubt, and for showing us that we need faith. Search our hearts and motives and show us what is not right. Forgive us for not having faith, giving you a short timeline, and demanding things from You. At this time, remove the spirit of doubt and help our unbelief (Mark 9:24) so that we grow into a deeper relationship with You. Help us to come to the end of ourselves and to acknowledge our need for You. Give us the desire to know You and to seek You. Help us to continue our relationship with You and build it so we can grow and know who we are in Christ. Help us to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). In Jesus' name, amen.
Prayerfully,
Pam
