As the Deer Pants for the Water Brooks, So My Soul Longs for You, O God!

Psalm 42:1-2 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

(1) Let Us Get hungry for God. Get thirsty for his mercy. Ask the Lord to make you conscious of your need for Him. Ask Him to give you an intense hunger and thirst for righteousness. Ask Him to place within your heart a longing for intimacy with Him, for purity of life, for the salvation of friends and neighbors, for revival in His church, and for the advancement of His kingdom in the world.

(2) Meditate on the spiritual riches God has promised His children. Compare the reality of your spiritual experience with the abundance He offers. If you are not enjoying the fullness of His peace, joy, freedom, and power, let that motivate you to come boldly to His throne of grace to receive all that He has promised.

(3) Welcome pressures and problems as an opportunity to cry out to God. Though my natural instinct is to wish for a life free from pain, trouble, and adversity, I am learning to welcome anything that makes me conscious of my need for Him. The psalmist said, "When I was in distress, I sought the Lord" (Ps. 77:2). And "Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD" (Ps. 130:1; see also Ps. 107:5–6; Jn. 2:1, 7).



Rather than running from, resenting, or resisting problems, learn to embrace them, for they move us to seek the Lord. When we have nowhere else to turn, we will be more likely to turn to Him.

4) Recognize that without Him you can do nothing. I sometimes wonder how much of my work for God will go up in smoke at the Judgment Seat of Christ, because it was done independently of His enabling and power. It was my agenda and my effort, not His. When I walk through my day without expressing my need for Him, without asking for His grace and enabling, I am really saying, "Lord, I can do this without You." All such labor is of the flesh and is less than worthless in terms of eternal or spiritual value.

(5) Remember that spiritual battles cannot be won without divine intervention. In the midst of everyday realities, we so easily forget about the warfare that is going on in the heavenly realm. How often do we tackle life's challenges and demands under our own means-natural wisdom, human effort, man-made programs-rather than in dependence on the power of His Spirit? Ask God to give you eyes of faith to see the real battle; the vision will move you to cry out to Him to exercise His power over the unseen forces of darkness.

May God grant us faith and boldness to approach His throne. For when we do so, we link arms with Omnipotence and become instruments of the fulfillment of His eternal purposes on this earth.

Our prayers that we persistently take to God over and over will bear much fruit. . Miracles tend to happen when there is a desperate need. Folks need to rely on God to meet their needs. Miracles still happen in places where there is a total reliance on God, and the accompanying belief that He will answer.