“That I may know Him.” Philippians 3:10
Dear Father,
In the midst of this boiling, broiling, roasting, toasting summer I heard a song that took me far away. Took me to a mountain where You met me an autumn ago. The cool, brisk mountain air refreshed my body as Your Spirit refreshed my heart. It was a place where You did some real heart work in me that was painful and beautiful at the same time. The song was the theme song for a special weekend at the Billy Graham Training Center. How I loved it then and how I love it now. Will You let me sing it to You in prayer right now?
Give me one pure and holy passion
Give me one magnificent obsession
Give me one glorious ambition for my life
To know and follow hard after You.
To know and follow hard after You
To grow as Your disciple in Your truth
This world is empty, pale, and poor
Compared to knowing You, my Lord
Lead me on and I will run after You
Well that just says it all for me. That is the core of my life – to know Jesus. I don’t want to just know about Him, memorize some facts, quote some scriptures, say a little prayer, sing a little song, do a little project here and there. No, no, no! I want to KNOW Him. Know what He thinks, know how He feels, know His love for me, know His thoughts for me, know His presence about me. It has to be experiential not purely academic. I’m not talking about some kind of spiritual strut but a real live walk with my Lord. And Father, I know that will not happen by some kind of osmosis sitting in a pew. It is supernatural – yes. It is not of this world because Your kingdom is not of this world. But it is not mythical. It is real, very real. It is by Your Spirit. I believe that even having the desire to know Jesus is by Your Spirit. Nothing in my natural self would want that. That old girl on me is very self absorbed and would not give up anything especially comfort to pursue Jesus. But the new creation, that new girl, the one with the effervescent, bubbling life of the Spirit just has a hunger and a dire thirst for Him that begs more, more, more! And the beauty of this Father is that it is all from You. So thank You for Your written Word to us. You speak it so powerfully to my heart – sometimes it’s like I can feel the warmth of Your breath off the pages. Thank You for sending Your Spirit to us – that is just the most awesome thought to me! Pursuing this endeavor to know You is not a Sunday walk in the park. It means to follow You in places and ways I may not want to go. It comes by sorrow, suffering, and separation but the reward is to know, really know right here in this world the presence of the One who holds my heart and my love. And the thrill is that this is just a smidgen of a taste of what it will be like when I behold You face to face. Jesus, that I may know You – that is the deepest desire of my heart. Please make is so. Amen.
Love always,
Penny
