“I want deliberately to encourage this mighty longing after God. The lack of it has brought us to our present low estate. The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits for long, so very long, in vain.”
~A.W.Tozer~
I am going to be bold and say in other words that this very desire to want the Lord in our lives will have to come from Him. We naturally will not have this desire or the ability to drum it up on our own. We need to start asking daily that God will give us this desire. We need to say each day to Him “not my will but thine”. Help me Lord today to desire You, to listen for You, to love you more. Teach me what it means to abide in You. We need to recognize the importance of the Holy Spirit in our lives. God the Spirit who teaches us, testifies, guides us, convicts us, comforts us.
We need to open our Bibles daily, read, meditate, listen, and respond to His leading.
Ezekiel 36: 25-27
“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”
II Corinthians 5: 17
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”
John 7: 37 -38
“On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him”. By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.”
May I encourage you and me to speak to God today like we would speak to a real person. Let’s ask Him to give us the desire to grow closer to Him and to give us the awareness of all the Holy Spirit is in our lives.
For more In Other Words visit Debbie at Chocolate and Coffee.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
*Hugs* Love your insightfullness!
Thanks for your thoughts on this quote. It was a powerful quote. I loved it.
Pressing into HIM today with you! He lives IN us.
Thank you Ellen, for these refreshing words, to which I say Amen and Amen! It’s right where my own heart is this morning.
Well put! I missed posting but you covered it all!
Pleading, begging, imploring Him today for greater desire because I know I cannot muster it up on my own!
Beautifully put. The first one hit me hard. My man use to be called the “Holy Boy.” I keep asking that boy to come back, but he doesn’t. He was to be my leader and now I feel I need to lead. Thx for the encouraging words. Gave me a tear or two. Thank you thank you.
And for the gr8 gift, come by and get one from me when you have a chance.
Well put!! It does all start with Him. He is the One that puts that desire there. It’s our job to cultivate it everyday. If we mess up and get tripped up, He is so gracious that He will put that desire back. All we have to do is ask.
Great thoughts on this great quote!!
we have to learn to ask, ask, ask, ask……and ASK again…
be willing to then MOVE in the direction HE guides…and then continuing to ask, ask, ask some more!!
Great thoughts today….I’m asking all the way!!
lori
Wow Ellen…
This was awesome!
“Help me Lord today to desire You, to listen for You, to love you more. Teach me what it means to abide in You”, yes Lord, this is the cry of my heart too.
This was an awesome post! Thanks for sharing.
Blessings to you today!
My stars! That is wonderful! I have been in that contemplative mood today…thinking difficult things..and this really puts things into perspective. Wow. I love the verses you shared.
🙂
Indeed, we did not choose Him. He chose us. Good point.
Thank you for that awesome post. It’s just what I needed to read today. And for the link too.
Pattie
AMEN Ellen !!!! GREAT verses!!!!
yes!
Well said. Bless you for sharing.