LONGING FOR GOD
Brethren…
- Is your soul longing to experience real joy…real peace…real comfort?
- Does your soul thirst for the felt-sense of the Presence of God?
- Do you long for this deeper, more intimate personal relationship with the Lord…and His promise to pour all of His Blessedness and Goodness into you, to have deep and intimate fellowship with you, to become ever more one with you?
Well then, if anyone thirsts, let him come to Me! Let him drink who believes in Me…ever coming, ever drinking, continually satisfied! The Water I give will become a fountain within you, welling up, flooding your soul with torrents of Living Water…ever flowing, continually overflowing! No one who comes to Me will ever be hungry! No one who believes and trusts in Me shall ever again thirst! Your soul shall forever be satisfied, as with the richest of foods! You will feast on the abundance of My House, and I will give you drink from My River of Delights…a River of unceasing glorious and rich eternal pleasures at My right hand…eternal pleasures at My right hand beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations…rich eternal treasures that no eye has ever seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of Man to ever begin to imagine, what wondrous things God has prepared for those who love Him…a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness nevermore to cease!
Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the Waters; and you who have no money…come, buy, and eat! The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life!
Following is a prayer entitled Longing For God. You will be greatly blessed in embracing this as your own prayer!
O Lord, You are my God…I yearn for You with all my heart! Even as the deer, in the heat of summer, pants for water-brooks, so my soul thirsts for You! My soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You…as for streams of water in a dry sun-scorched land where there is no water! My soul thirsts for You, Lord…for the One True Living God! Blessed Jesus…I have come into Your Presence to behold Your Face, the Face of my God. Abba Father…I’ve come into Your Presence to commune with You face to Face, as a man speaks with his friend. Blessed Holy Spirit, sweep over my soul and carry me off into the Heavenly realms…where Your Divine Son Jesus is seated at Your right hand, Father…high and exalted.
O my Beloved…in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the cliff, let me see Your face, Lord, let me hear Your voice; for Your voice is sweet, and Your face is altogether lovely! All Your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; pleasing is the fragrance of Your perfumes! Your Name, O Lord, is like…perfume poured out!
O my Beloved, I am Yours, and You are mine! I have sought Your Face with all my heart, Lord; be gracious to me according to Your promise! Father…show me Your Glory! Stretch out Your hand to heal, to restore, to deliver, to save, to perform miraculous signs and wonders through the Name of Your Divine Son Jesus! Bring Glory to Your Name, and bring Your blessings and Your salvation before the souls of Men! In the presence of the congregation, I will proclaim Your Great Name and Your Mighty Power according to all that my eyes shall see! Surely, I will enter Your gates with thanksgiving, I will come into Your courts with praise! I love the house where You live, O Lord…the place where Your Glory dwells. How lovely is Your dwelling place, Lord God Almighty! My soul yearns…even pines away and is homesick…for Your courts. My heart and my flesh cry out and sing for joy to You, the One True Living God! I find my home and my resting place in the shadow of the Almighty, sheltered in the arms of my God. Whom have I in Heaven but You, Father? And Earth has nothing I desire besides You.
I have gazed attentively upon You in the sanctuary and I have beheld Your Power and Your Glory. Formerly, my ears had only heard of You; but now my eyes have seen You and have seen Your Glory. Because Your steadfast Love for me is better than life, my lips continually proclaim Your Glory! My lips shout for joy as I sing praises to You…I, whom You have redeemed! You turned my wailing to dancing! You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy…that my heart may sing to You and not be silent! It is only the dead who do not praise You, O Lord… neither the physically dead nor the spiritually dead…not by any who go down into the land of silence. O Lord my God, I will give You thanks forever and ever, throughout the eternal ages! I will praise You as long as I have life, and in honor to Your Name, I lift my hands and worship You! Every day I will bless You and adore You, Precious Lord; yes, I will praise Your wonderful Name forever and ever! O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praises; with singing lips my mouth overflows with Your praises! I will open my mouth and offer up unto You a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of my lips, worshiping You for Who You are…the One True Living God; praising You for all You have done for the souls of Men down through the ages; gratefully acknowledging, with a heart of thanksgiving, all You have Personally done for me. My soul shall forever be satisfied, as with the richest of foods! I feast on the abundance of Your house, Lord; You give me drink from Your River of delights…a River of unceasing glorious and rich eternal pleasures at Your right hand!
Day after day You pour out Your steadfast Love upon me; night after night Your song is ever with me…a prayer to the God of my life. You are my strength and my song of unceasing praise; You are indeed my salvation! On my bed I remember You, Father; my thoughts linger with You through the watches of the night. My soul yearns for You in the night, my soul thirsts for You through the watches of the night; in the morning my spirit longs for You.
I spread out my hands to You, Father; my soul thirsts for You…like a parched land for just only a few drops of water! My soul waits before You, with a joyful expectation, an excited anticipation…more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen who wait for the morning! Because You are my help, I sing in the shadow of Your wings! You cover me with Your feathers, and under Your wings I find refuge; Your faithfulness, O Lord, is my Shield and my Protector! My flesh and my heart may fail…often do…but You are the strength of my heart and my portion forever! My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.
Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing Love, for You are my Refuge and my Fortress…my God, in whom I trust! For have You not promised? I will never, never, leave you; I will never, ever, forsake you! Assuredly not! O Lord, You are my Help; of whom shall I be afraid? What can man do to me? Who, or what, shall ever be able to separate me from Your Love, precious Lord? Shall trouble or hardship, distress or persecution…famine, nakedness, danger or sword? No…in all these things I am more than a conqueror through You, Lord…the One Who loves me!
For I am persuaded, beyond the shadow of any doubt, that neither death, nor life; nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers; nor things present, nor things to come; nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all Creation, shall ever be able to separate me from the Love of God my Father, which flows unceasingly through You, Precious Lord…my Redeemer and my King!