For the past couple of months I have made it the cry of my heart that I would become hungry and desperate for the Lord.
Too often I have let myself, my heart, my thoughts become busy. I fill my life with blogging, photography, reading, crocheting, gardening, mothering, homemaking, homeschooling. These things are not bad. They can be good and extremely worthwhile. However, when they become my focus, my all in all, then they become my idols.
Honestly very rarely in my life have I felt desperate to spend time with the Lord. It saddens me to see this in writing, but it is truth. The times I have earnestly sought Him I have been in fear or distraught. Times when I have been brought to my knees in desperation, I have sought Him fervently. Yes, these are important times to cry out to Him, but it should be my soul’s cry every single day.
I should long for Him as He longs for me. I should yearn to spend time worshipping and praying. I should be hungry for His word and His presence.
And so it has become my cry.
Make me hungry. Make me desperate. Make me run to you with an earnest heart.
I don’t want to do my Bible reading, prayer, and worship out of a sense of duty. I want to be on fire!
So, I have started to spend half an hour each afternoon worshiping the Lord. During our household quiet time, I go into my room, close the door and remind the kids that I will be spending time with God. (If they need me, they know they can come in).
I put on a worship CD and lift my voice in praise to my King. I open my journal and I listen. I write out scriptures that touch my heart. I write down anything the Lord impresses upon my heart.
Sometimes its sentences.
Sometimes its a single word.
Monday I was once again calling to the Lord to make me desperate for Him. I was listening to a song I have listened to hundreds of times before and all of a sudden I knew what the Lord was calling me to do.
SAVOR
My SAVIOR wants me to SAVOR Him!
He desires for me to enjoy Him. To be excited about our relationship. To relish in his presence.
To take my time, no rushing, and let his sweetness, his strength, his love, his awesomeness seep into my soul.
To SAVOR!
Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who trust in him!
Psalm 34:8
Yes, yes, yes! I am so right here too.
ReplyDeleteOh Jenn! What a wonderful post! Thank you so much for sharing your heart. You've challenged and encouraged me today.
ReplyDeletewhat a neat routine to incorporate into your day!
ReplyDeleteVery well said my sweet sister!
ReplyDeleteIt's so great that you do this and your children see ya spending quality time with the Father.
What a marvelous example you're sittin'.
God bless ya sweetie and have an amazin' day!!! :o)
I can just feel God smilin' down on ya.
Thank you, thank you for such a great post! I am right here with you too...I have been crying out too; now I need to take action. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteyes! yes! yes! So good and so true. I too have been taking the time to be with Him in the afternoon for prayer and study, it is such a sweet time. Keep pursuing.
ReplyDeleteDraw nigh to Him and He will draw nigh to you.
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
Love you!
This sounds like a needed cry from all of our hearts (the other commentors and my own).
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing and leading by example.
OH in so many ways I truly needed this post. I love that you are going to your room to spend time with God alone. I'm so quilty of not doing that near enough.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff today Jenn.
Oh what a blessing you are to so many of us Jenn, an inspiration, thanks for lighting the path!
ReplyDeleteI can so relate to this post!
ReplyDeleteI know I need to be better about this too.
Especially when I am feeling frazzled.
This was a great post.
Thank you for sharing your heart!
Jenn you have such a beautiful, transparent heart and that's why I love reading your blog.I feel the same way and am learning that putting the Lord first doesn't mean our time is just another thing to get out of the way. Thx for your honesty.
ReplyDeleteLove this post! We must be at the same place in our lives right now. We have been thinking some of the same things.
ReplyDeleteI do my daily readings, write out my study notes and I love your post. I however, fall short in the area of prayer. Every time I go to pray I seem to become mush brained, the thoughts get mixed up and I fall asleep. Oh, that the Lord would help me fight this apathy I seem to have...I needed this post today.
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
I have a few tears in my eyes right now! I so get what you're saying. Why is it so easy for women, for moms, for those of us who love our homes/husbands/kids to get so caught up in the things we've been called to do but forget about the One who called us?
ReplyDeleteI'm in the midst of a project with my church right now reading 5 books in 5 weeks (!) regarding the steady decline of authentic and relevent Christians not only in our country but in the Church. The focus is on families and on passing on the torch to the next generation. The kicker in each book is that parents cannot pass on to their children a passion for Jesus they do not actually possess themselves. I've been challenged by the fact that the only way I can teach my kids to love God is to love God in front of them. My kids to see me spill over with love for Him.
Thanks for this post! Thanks for this reminder! Thanks for being sensitive to the Holy Spirit tugging on your heart, for seeking after God, for telling us all about your journey. It reminds me that I'm not alone on my quest to love and serve God with all that I am.
Beautiful post Jenn! Oh that we would really worship our precious Saviour in spirit and in Truth! HE is truly WONDERFUL and worthy of all our praise. How precious that you are modelling this before your children.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Camille
Beautiful post!
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful post, Jenn, just wonderful. You have carved a time to love on God - a time so easily filled with "me" time sorts of things, Internet, tea, reading, Internet, knitting...(catch the repetition? I'm talking to myself here) and filled with worship.
ReplyDeleteI love it! I believe that God puts on our hears to share in these spaces that will will lift others up, and you have certainly been a servant in God's plan for us all!
Thank you!
Beautiful! I too have gone through a time of hungering. My last post touches on this. Tuesdays are my day of the week to go through hunger, prayer on the knees, and worship just between Him and me. Such an awesome time and I feel it making me a better person through the rest of the week.
ReplyDeleteYou going into your bedroom reminds of of Suzanna Wesley. She would sit in her rocking chair in the kitchen and when she threw her apron up over her head, her 13 children knew she was having her time with the Lord and it was not a good time to disturb her :)
Thank you for sharing this, it is encouraging to hear from others and what they are doing.
Wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI can get so busy with things of this world and find myself empty. It's sitting at Jesus feet that needs to be the first priority. I appreciate your reminder.
Blessings,
Rachel
Savor Him: I love this.
ReplyDeleteThis was beautiful! Thank you. I too long to savor my Savior. I want Him to fill up every nook and cranny. I want to be consumed by Him.
ReplyDeleteI love your afternoon worship time. It really is good timing. When do mothers get the most tired and frustrated? For me it is about that time. If I don't intentionally get filled up, I start to default to my flesh.
I'm so proud of you for pressing in and wanting to fall in love with Him in a whole new and desperate way.