Prayer as Intimacy - Part 2

Intimacy is about knowing and being known, but it it also about closeness and desire.

Desire is a very important motivator. It helps us get up in the morning. It helps us work harder. It helps us grow and it helps us change. Despite all these benefits it is also true that every life will be filled with unfulfilled desires. In life there are some plans, some dreams, and some prayers that won't come true the way that we want them to. We desire many things, but there are times we have to say no to our own desires. There is food, drink, business, sexual relationships, and so many other things that we may desire but must say no to. It is actually good for the soul to have some unfulfilled desires.  If every prayer was immediately answered with a resounding yes, not only would God have to answer contradictory requests, but we would immediately take God for granted and lose any sense of relationship.

One desire that it is never wrong to ask for and is meant to be satisfied is the desire for God himself. When we desire God, our soul finds the singular purpose for which we were made. When we talk about the thoughts and plans God has for us, there may be no verse more widely known than Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord , plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." But do you know what God said next? "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:12‭-‬13 ESV This is the purpose of prayer as intimacy. Seek God with all your heart and you will find Him; desire God with all your heart and you will be satisfied. As we seek God's face in prayer this week, think about the prayer of King David in this psalm and let us open our hearts to God with the same intimate longing and desire.

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:1‭-‬8 ESV

Prayer

Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for Your everlasting love. Your love is deeper than the ocean. Your love is reckless. I want to love like You love. Lord, don't let my desire for You ever dry up. Help me continue to grow my relationship with You, so that I may love You the way You love me. And Lord, thank you for loving me even when I felt like I was unlovable. I pray all this in Your Son's Mighty Name. AMEN.