Recently I spent some time with a man whose heart is longing for more of God. Some people cringe at the phrase “more of God” but I have no issues with using it. When someone says that they desire more of God, they are expressing their desire for deeper experience with Him. They want to interact with the God they believe in. The psalmist equated this inner hunger to the panting deer drinking from the flowing brook. That deer feels as if it will die if there is not and immediate and full intake of the water. That’s what it means to long for more of God. If I had time or space, I could easily give multiple examples in the Bible where this more of God ache is communicated. If you care to know, I arise every day with this very desire pulsing through my veins. Graciously, God has made my relationship with Him a full-contact fellowship. It is not that I simply believe in Him, I experience Him. I love those times when I KNOW He is working in my midst, moving in me, around me, through me and for me. I cannot think of anything that satisfies me more than this. The man I met with has also had many encounters with the Lord, but those encounters only left him with the ache for more…for more of God.
“Let Your work be shown to your servants, and Your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands! – Psalm 90:16-17
Did you get what the psalmist was requesting from God? He boldly asked God to visibly manifest His activity. He asks the Almighty to show His work to those in covenant with Him. There was something inside of this ancient songwriter that longed to see with His eyes a response from God to what he was writing. Do not forget that every Psalm you read was once a song sung by the collective followers of God in those days. Can you picture a multitude of voices singing this plea for God to show Himself to them? Beyond that first request, the second request is stronger and more specific. He asks of God to undeniably reveal His glorious power, not only to him, but to his generation’s children. He is saying, in effect, “Lord, show off in such a way that our children are convinced of your glorious worth!” I love this. The Psalmist was not content to merely experience a personal encounter with God that manifested His presence. No, He was unselfish, and he unflinchingly asked God to blow the minds of the youth who were alive at that time. It is beautiful when older believers are convinced that, if the next generation could experience the presence and power of God, those young people will begin to long for Him to manifest Himself in their own generation. The psalmist was convinced that each generation needs interactive experience with the God to whom they have surrendered their souls. He wants us to be more than theologically convinced that He is. He likes to reward those who diligently seek Him, those who cannot live much longer without personally intersecting the God of the Bible.
Verse seventeen above gets more interesting for me because the inspired songwriter asks God to powerfully bless the work he desires to do for God. He asks for favor from the Lord. When he makes this request of God, he is asking God to be gracious, kind and pleasing to His people. We might phrase it as “Lord, let it be pleasing to You to accomplish what I am about to ask.” So, then, what is he going to specifically ask for? He wants God to give longevity to all that they seek to accomplish for Him, to bless the works of their hands. He asks for this twice. Speaking on behalf of Israel, the psalmist says that their hands are ready to work, and they need Yahweh to ensure that the work is prospered in the present and protected for the future. I love this! I’m a type-A guy who loves action. I love to begin a work for God, stay faithfully engaged with it, and see it all the way through completion. I think the psalmist desires the same thing here. He knows that all of Israel’s endeavors will be in vain if the Lord doesn’t put a favorable touch on it. He invites his God in as the sovereign superintendent of all that he aims to do. I am so motivated by his holy boldness in prayer as he cries out to God with a deep longing for God to approve and affirm all that is done for His glory. He did not shuffle his feet, stuff his hands in his pockets and sheepishly say, “Whatever you want, God – I’m fine with whatever.” No, the words above are the words of a son, not a slave. A son can ask a good father anything he desires without fear. He may not get it all, but he is welcomed to ask it all. When our lives are set for the glory of Jesus, we should learn to pray the same way: precisely, boldly, expectantly and hungrily.
So, when my friend and others like him declare that they want more of God, I think they are on good ground. Really, who doesn’t want more of God? Some may protest and say that we already have all of God so, theologically speaking, we cannot have more of Him. Well, the Apostle Paul commands us to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). If we have all that we will ever have of God, why then are we commanded to be filled on an ongoing basis? You see, Paul understood the reality that there is an ebb and flow attached to the Christian life. A thing can only be filled and refilled if there is a certain amount of unused, empty capacity. All of us can experience more of God. It is a relationship we are talking about here, not some theological formula. I legally have all of Amy Lyle as my wife, and have had her since 1997. She has had all of me for that same time period. Yet, if you ask her and me, we will both tell you that we have more of each other now in experience than we did on the day we were legally married to one another. We are more intertwined. We live in more of a oneness. We intimately know one another in every aspect of relationship. This is what happens when we cry out to God for more of Him. Intimacy grows. Love deepens. Trust is built. Power is imparted. Awe abides. Expectation of more surges. This is what you and I really want. It cannot be satisfied intellectually. It is the cry of our captivated hearts to the One who has become everything to us.
So, cry out with me to our God, “More of You, Father! More of You Jesus! More of You, Holy Spirit!”
Keep crying out this same thing.
Then do it again.
And again.
He will not leave you unanswered. He wants more of you too.
I think I live with this man you met. He is truly a friend of God and you have been instrumental in feeding is mind, heart and soul. He walks boldly, he inspires peace and comfort, he speaks wisely, and he grieves for the souls of others. It is said that many times children relate their experiences of their Heavenly Father to those of their earthly father. Our daughter calls 1-800-dad and 1-800-Jesus with confidence because of her dad. This man who wants more and more of God, presents a living picture that more and more is never enough.
The one thing I ask of the Lord – the thing I seek most – is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. Psalm 27:4
Thank you for allowing The Lord to use you to reach others. You reached us all the way in California!! You and your sweet family are in our prayers.
How He longs to engage us and pull us collectively and corporately into realms of glorious intimacy, bliss,joy and power. He wants to experience us as much as He wants us to experience and encounter Him. The psalmist anointing craves this for they carry and they minister (in word and song)the Heart of The Father to His People and the heart of the people to our God! Healings and freedom are in THAT PLACE!! All His attributes are there!! Supernatural unity can be tasted in these realms! God’s longing to TAKE THE LID OFF!!!! All throughout His Land!!! The scriptures reveal the way into the Holy of Holies! Can’t stop at the gates of praise!No more lingering in the outer courts of corporate worship! He hears the cry of the hungry hearts and His Arms are extended to pull us in… He has released revelation and instruction for the Body of Christ that will blast the lid off!! It’s our inheritance to KNOW (intimately experience ) HIM AND THE POWER FLOWING OUT OF HIS RESURRECTION! Hallelujah!
It is long overdue that I should write to you, and I know it should be in a more proper manner. I hate to inform you that Gary Stout and I think you are such an awesome, anointed, amazing communicator of God’s word. But seriously, we’ve been around a while Rev Jeff, and honey I’m here to tell you, you rock The Lord’s Word!!
So, with the topic “Go big or go home” what has God told you about church planting across state lines?? We don’t live in Shelby NC yet, but our grands do and this Mimi and Poppy may be moving there soon, as God leads and works out details. Every time we watch you on TV I think, dang we could do a tape in Shelby of the program as a church branch. I know it is a Go Big or go home kinda deal. But, we do after all, serve a God of Big Dreams.
Thank you for listening to God and His call on your life. Hey to Amy. Big, God sized Blessings to you both~
Thank you and I loved reading this today