Someone once said, “Where there’s a will there’s a way.” It’s not a Bible verse but it hints at an important spiritual principle. A paraphrase of the statement might be this: When the desire for something is strong we will do whatever it takes to obtain the object of our desire. The stronger our desire the more we will push through to lay ahold of it.
In our pursuit of God, we must possess abounding desire in order to overcome the obstacles that keep us from coming into the fullness of the Spirit. Desire for God is likened in Scripture to a thirst for water, which the ancient writers understood well in the Middle East. All the great revival writers talked about the intensity of thirst preceding the outpouring of the Spirit. The Lord seems to require this.
For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. — Isaiah 44:3
Consuming
The thirst for God that men and women have exhibited throughout history is remarkable. It could be described as a burning desire, red hot intensity, a fiery passion, a lovesick longing or a desperation. It was an insatiable thirst which means never satisfied—because the Lord is inexhaustible and His riches unsearchable! King David expressed this vigorous thirst in Psalm 63:
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. — Psalm 63:1
He likens his thirst for God to the deep thirst for water that one experiences in a hot desert with no streams anywhere in sight to drink from. Thirst for water dominates the mind; it is consuming. Nothing else really matters to the person but water. They are fixated on water and will do anything to find it.
Levels of thirst
This strong thirst David possessed for God is foreign to many Christians. Most settle for a mild thirst. They do desire Christ but the desire is small. In some cases, the desire is minuscule. This is a problem because it means they have little drive to pray, to fast and to push past obstacles to get close to the Father. Without strong desire we don’t make much effort and, as a result, don’t attain much of God. Listen to what Jesus said about thirst:
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. — John 7:37-39
Why are some people so thirsty for God and others only have a tiny thirst? It would be a mistake to think that our level of thirst for God is genetic or pre-programmed by God. We are responsible for how thirsty we are for God. The Lord ignites thirst in us but we have to then cultivate it. But how do we do that? How can we increase our thirst for God? The answer to this question is not as mysterious as you might think. Let me explain.
Consumed with baseball
Major League Baseball crescendos with the World Series. Even people who aren’t into baseball often watch it (same with the Super Bowl). Some people, however, are gaga over the World Series. It’s the highlight of their year. So the level of desire to watch the World Series greatly varies. Why is that? Let me tell you.
When I was a boy from age eight to about twelve, I was crazy about baseball. My parents signed me up for little league and I loved everything about it. I even started chewing tobacco! My dad played catch with me in the yard all the time and taught me the basics. I started collecting baseball cards and spent hours memorizing stats; I even read the sports section of the newspaper at times. I watched games on tv. I organized all the kids in the neighborhood to play games and even formed a neighborhood league. I thought about baseball on my bed at night. I read books for book reports in school on Pete Rose and Jackie Robinson. I couldn’t get enough of it.
When the World Series finally came I was high with excitement. When I asked my neighborhood buddy, Karl—who really didn’t like sports—if he wanted to watch the Series with me he’d say, “Yeah I guess so.” What? I guess so? He would have been fine if we skipped the World Series and watched The Price Is Right! The reason his desire to watch the Series was tiny and mine was raging is obvious: baseball was on my mind constantly. I was cultivating a love for baseball—I was feeding my mind with baseball! This verse comes to mind:
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. — Proverbs 23:7 (KJV)
Increasing thirst
Let’s bring this back now to our thirst for Christ. What can we do to increase our thirst? We don’t just wake up one day and suddenly feel deeply thirsty for God. Thirst is the result of thousands of day after day choices. Thirst deepens as we think about the glory of God.
It’s easy to get discouraged in our walk with Jesus and just feel like we aren’t passionate. We get down on ourselves because, well, that person is so thirsty for God but my desire is small. We start thinking in a fatalistic way: “It was just meant to be I guess.”
No!
Thirst can be developed by exposing our minds to God-saturated content. I’m talking about reading the Word. And listening to good sermons. Reading an essay about an attribute of God. Reading books like The Knowledge of the Holy by Tozer or Knowing God by Packer. Thirst is increased when we fellowship around the Word of God. When we participate in the Lord’s Supper. When we sing hymns and songs in the congregation. When we read accounts of great historic revivals and the lives of men and women who pursued hard after God and impacted their generations. When we spend time writing prayers to God. All these things—and many other things that could be mentioned—create thirst in us.
Be selective
It is wise to be selective when choosing content to increase thirst. There are thousands upon thousands of Christian books and audio sermons out there. Not everything is good. Some stuff is downright unbiblical and even heretical. Or fluffy (shallow). Other content is accurate but lacks conviction. What I search for is content that was created by men and women who lived in a high level of thirst for God. And just because a preacher is loud and yelling doesn’t mean he or she is passionate for God. It takes some discernment to find good content. My favorites span across denominations and movements. Sometimes I have differences theologically but I am still stirred by the content because of their obvious depth in God. Be picky. Some of the guys alive that I draw from are Francis Chan, John Piper, Tim Keller and Jim Cymbala. But I recommend expanding your reach through the centuries to feast on Spurgeon, Lloyd-Jones, Wiersbe, Edwards, Hudson Taylor, E.M. Bounds, C.S. Lewis, Catherine Booth and many others that I’ll tell you about in the coming days. But you can google away and find all kinds of content.
Duncan Campbell
When I think of this concept of thirsting I think of Duncan Campbell. He lived from 1898-1972 and was used powerfully in the Hebrides revival on the Isle of Lewis (Scotland). In his writings and sermons he often quotes the verse from Isaiah I shared above: “I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.” This was one of the great promises those praying for revival stood on. Duncan has a very old-school style of preaching with a thick Scottish accent with rrrrrolling r’s. He’s fun to listen to. His personal account of the Hebrides revival is a perfect example of content that creates thirst (see link below). I recently read a short book by him called The Price and Power of Revival. I think it doubled my thirst!