Yearning for God

During this fast, I have been checking out the daily blogs on jentezenfranklin.org and they have been very thought provoking. The post written by Blake Harmon challenged me and I thought it was worthy of posting on my blog so that my fellow fasting friends could benefit from it as well. It's a little on the long side but really only takes about three minutes to read...it will challenge you and change you.

"During this fast I have been listening to a song every morning that is simultaneously crushing yet encouraging my heart….sounds like a spiritual paradox doesn’t it?

It’s the song “Yearn” by Shane & Shane. If you haven’t heard it before, I’d like to encourage you to listen to it before the end of the fast.

It’s a simple prayer that merely says, “Lord I want to yearn for you. I want to burn with passion over you....and only you...Lord I want to yearn”.

Sure, we’ll joyfully enter into a time of passionate worship and prayer on a Sunday morning when the worship team is singing the right song, and even on a Wednesday night. Or how about on the days when the Sun rises precisely when we’d like it to and we wake up on the “right side of the bed”? It’s slightly easier to enter into a moment of selfless worship unto our God when the moments and situations are right, isn’t it? But what about the days when it seems as though our stomachs are screaming at us because of the fast; maybe you’re somewhat discouraged because you’re not having the experience you’d hoped for during this fast; or maybe nothing is necessarily wrong, we’re merely not in the mood to worship...

My very simple question to you is this: “Do you YEARN for the living God?

The initial and immediate answer to that simplistic question is, “Of course I do!”

But do we truly YEARN for our God?...

During this fast I’ve been paying a lot of attention to the Psalms, and as I do I attempt to think as David thought. “As a deer pant and thirsts for streams of water, so my soul longs for you O God. My soul thirsts for God. The living God. When can I go and meet with God? (Psalms 42:1-2)”

I don’t question for a moment that we all love to enter into the presence of God with passionate worship…..but do we yearn for Him? Are we ok with not taking time out of our day to sit down with the living God? Are we truly ok with waiting until a Sunday morning or Wednesday night to step into His presence? I’m not talking about the moments when you’re day has lacked any and all enjoyable moments and you hear that perfect song that just warms your heart as you lift up your hands in worship and thank God!

…Do we YEARN for God?”

One thing I’ve come to realize during the fast is this: A true yearning for God knows no past, or present circumstance. That’s not implying that those circumstances are non-existent, it merely implies that no circumstance will have a hindrance on the praise I give my God. The increase/decrease of the intensity or severity of our circumstances should have no affect to the intensity of our worship unto God.

I believe a wonderful example of that type of yearning and worship is displayed in Job 1:20-21:

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised

Do we yearn for God?

My prayer not only for myself, but for you as well, is that we would develop a craving for God beyond what we thought was possible; that our hearts would ache until we have encountered God....that in the midst of difficult times – whether big or small - our yearning for Almighty God would stir up a zeal and passion that would cause us to cry out in utter worship at all times – regardless of our circumstances.

God give us a yearning for you. Burn within us a passion that can never be subsided. God, that we would not become complacent or content in our relationship with you, but that every day we would seek to chase after you with more passion and zeal than the day before. Let our yearning for you overflow out of our hearts and into the lives of others."