O God, I know in my heart how much I need you. I want to know You truly. Help me to know You in reality. Teach me of Yourself that I may know You indeed.
AW Tozer once said that to know God is a real drive found in every person that finds his way into the heart of God. “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” (Jer. 29:13) We read of men in the scriptures that were truly passionate to know God. Men like David and the apostle Paul were so driven in this regard that nothing else mattered to them, not even their own lives. Their passion was obvious. They longed more than anything to know God and to know Him intimately. If others were able to peer within your soul, and observe what you are passionate about, they could understand why you do or don’t do certain things. Unfortunately, most people are not passionate about much, or their passions rarely seem to rise farther than their own self-gratification. They are actually quite content to be simply entertained or to have peace and rest; their lazy approach to life makes it hard to discern if they are actually passionate about anything at all.
Conversely, a passion for God can never be a casual undertaking. To genuinely know God will never happen passively. It is nothing less than a pursuit that will fill your entire life and finally culminate in the wondrous day you stand before Jesus Christ and see Him face to face.
God uniquely designed us to be passionate creatures. The sad reality is that most people waste their passion on temporal things like sports, entertainment, recreation, and on the fleshy and flashy things of the world. We are not to be like the world in these things. “In the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ… the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Gal. 6:14) Sure, we still make use of things like entertainment and recreation but don’t give ourselves over to them fully. “and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away.” (1Cor. 7:31)
O that we could see how our distractions have hindered us in the pursuit of what really matters! If we are to grow deeper with God, we must lean in to a pursuit of Him that may very well cost us the things we hold most dearly. A faith that leads you on a path where there is no sacrifice in your life is a foreign concept to the bible. Perhaps then, what is needed most in our day is for men and women to drop to their knees and declare to God, in confession, “O how distracted I have been! Forgive me Lord, and set my feet upon the path that will lead me ever deeper into Your heart and Your truth!”
Jesus declared, “You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your mind, and with all of your strength.” (Mk. 12:30)
Ask yourself this question: Do I love God in this way? We’re not talking about perfection here, but do you truly and honestly desire to love God with the intensity He has commanded? If your answer is that you sincerely desire to, then you are in good company. Consider praying this very day, that the Lord would give you a heart to pursue Him with diligence, that you may fully and intimately know Him. Pray that your life would not be wasted in frivolous pursuits, but would be characterized by a passion to know and live for His glory.
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