What does it mean to passionately pursue the heart of God? We hear something so deep coming out of the heart of David as he wrote this text from a place of deep passion.
Psalm 63:1-6 O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water… 6 On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. NLT
I don’t want to merely talk about pursuing God. I want to address the deeper issue of passion. All of our lives are full of passionate pursuits. It’s easy to find ourselves passionately pursuing money, positions, power, pleasure, fame, houses, cars, relationships, etc.
None of us have a problem pursuing what we are passionate about in life. We will sacrifice for what we desire. Pursuit is always proof of passion.
God wants consecration, convictions and standards to shape our passionate pursuit of things that truly matter!
There is a LOT going on inside you!
Once I was having a conversation with a pastor and his wife. Suddenly she produced a reaction that seemed to exceed the magnitude of the conversation. Something was said about a girl who was pregnant. “Our church will never turn our backs on a girl who is pregnant and alone!” exclaimed this woman. I realized she was coming from a very deep place, so I asked her why the passionate and emotional response. She shared that their oldest child, now a mother herself, was actually conceived out of wedlock by another man. The church she was involved with scorned her and shunned her producing this passionate position of deep conviction.
There is a LOT going on inside you.
When a person has a reaction that exceeds the magnitude of the situation there is something deeper going on producing that reaction from an experience that may have taken place many years ago.
One time after preaching a sermon, I had dropped papers from my hand to the floor to illustrate a point. De De Glaze came up after the message, gathered the papers, and handed them to me. In the moment when she did this I began to weep.
De De is a retired schoolteacher. The reason the papers were on the floor was because I explained as a part of my message how my sixth-grade teacher handed out everybody’s homework in my class one day except for me. After realizing I didn’t get a paper I watched as she returned to her desk. Finally she called my name asking me to come up front to get my homework. As I reached for the paper she let it go just before I could take it and the paper floated to the floor. She stood there explaining to the class that I put so little effort into the assignment that it wasn’t worth her effort to even hand it back to me. What a visual that was. I kneeled in front of her to pick up my paper and walked back to my seat completely dehumanized and humiliated.
De De’s effort to pick up the papers was an effort to say teachers care. Teachers don’t want you to feel dehumanized and humiliated. Teachers want the best for you Lawrence. In that moment, I felt De De was extending a regretful apology from the office that had been horribly misrepresented in my life. All these years later all of the emotion from 40 years ago suddenly came back up as she was demonstrating something so gracious to reverse the pain of that childhood experience.
There is a LOT going on inside you.
What if your capacity to feel things so deeply is actually a mechanism that has been given to you by God?
We don’t have a problem sacrificing for the things we desire. The question is what do we desire and why?
Anybody have a difficult time getting up in the morning sometimes? What about Christmas morning when you were a kid? Why did you never have a problem being passionate about jumping out of that bed and running full speed into the expectation of that day?
Well surely, you’re not saying every day of our lives can be like Christmas morning, are you? My response to that question would be another question. What do you think it would be like to have the treasure of God as your greatest pursuit experiencing the mercies of the Lord that are new every morning as you wake up with eternal expectation stirring in your soul? This is what David is expressing so beautifully in Psalms 63, Psalms 42 and other beautiful expressions of this deep and passionate pursuit of God.
Psalm 63:1-6 O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water… 6 On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. NLT
Psalm 42:1-2 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? NIV
The real question becomes, “What are you into?” Whatever “you are into” will consume the resources of your life. I’ve learned on my phone that apps can be running in the background without my even being aware of it. These apps are putting a steady, constant drain on the battery consuming the power and energy so it doesn’t have power and energy for the things it should be applying that power and energy toward.
Don’t settle for a life that’s spiritually impoverished as a result of not prioritizing personal spiritual development.
The less we pay attention to the Holy Spirit the more we thirst for entertainment! Medicating the absence of God’s purpose in your life never takes you anywhere good.
Taste & see that the Lord is good (Ps 34:8). This isn’t a sit back and see, but it’s about getting to the table!!! These first 40 days of the year are all about deepening our pursuit and awareness of God together as a church family!
Luke 9:34 “…they became deeply aware of God.” MSG
We are OUTRAGEOUSLY LOVING people who PASSIONATELY PURSUE the Lord with IRRATIONALLY GIVING lifestyles as we CONSISTENTLY SUBMIT to God’s desires and EFFECTIVELY DISCIPLE others to do the same.
We Bring GP2RL Action Point:
Start somewhere on this journey of exploring more of who God is calling you to become. Share your first step with someone today and ask them to ask you how you’re doing on this journey.
Consider leading communion on your own in your home this week.
Communion on your own
Pastor A.T. prepared this information as a guide
Practicing communion together as a family can be a beautiful experience that lays the foundations of the gospel for the whole family, honors Jesus, and encourages and deepens trust in Him.
Preparation
First, know that it is common for adults to feel intimidated or unqualified to lead their family in communion, but that is a scheme of the enemy! These feelings are common when we are learning to do something new! The Bible encourages us to practice our faith in all of life.
Second, communion is about remembering and not about getting all the mechanics right. We can do communion ‘right’ and miss the point! The purpose of communion is to draw us to reflect on and put our trust in what Jesus Christ has done for us. At the center is remembering and remembering builds our faith.
Third, Jesus used wine and unleavened bread, but grape juice (any juice really) and crackers or bread will be perfectly fine. If you desire to use unleavened bread most grocery stores sell Matzah (Matzo) crackers in the kosher section.
The Practice
First, communicate with your family what you are doing. Perhaps refer to what they have seen at church and how communion has and can be practiced anywhere. It’s best to create a calm, unhurried atmosphere. A good practice may be lighting a candle in the middle of the table to represent the presence of God.
Second, lay out the juice and bread. These are often called the “elements” of communion. Pointing them out, take a moment to read the scriptures. Some good options are: 1 Cor. 11:24-26 and Matt. 26:26-28. Before reading, you could ask those around you what the elements represent and why Christians take communion. This could lead to a great conversation about why we need forgiveness, what sin is, etc.
Third, take the bread. One could read the scripture again concerning the bread and then take the bread together, or one could pray thanking the Lord for becoming a man and a sacrifice for our sins.
Next, take the juice. One could either read the scripture concerning the cup or say another prayer thanking the Lord for His death, resurrection, and the new covenant.
Finally, after taking the elements, each person could take turns naming someone they want to pray for and praying for that person.
NOTE: Some may have reservations about taking communion with children who have not ‘accepted Jesus as Lord’ or ‘prayed to receive Christ.’ These concerns are valid. The practice of communion is a way for them to become aware of their need for salvation, the significance of Christ’s death, and the foundations of our faith. Many theologians and churches throughout history have encouraged taking communion with those in a believer’s household who are not yet saved for this reason.
40 DAYS: PASSIONATELY PURSUING
Discussion Guide for Community Leaders
Click here for a downloadable pdf file of this guide.
2021 is a year of faith and action. This is a year where we learn that we are the move of God in the earth.
We must stop waiting for a move of God and become the move of God everywhere we go.
We bring God’s presence to real life in every realm of society and on every level of community.
We are the gates through which Jesus breaks into the earth!
Psalm 24:9 Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift {them} up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! (NAS)
You were born to be a gateway for the King!
As a church family we want to be OUTRAGEOUSLY LOVING people who PASSIONATELY PURSUE the Lord with IRRATIONALLY GIVING lifestyles as we CONSISTENTLY SUBMIT to God’s desires and EFFECTIVELY DISCIPLE others to do the same.
This requires that we put into practice a personal pursuit of God. This year in our Community Groups we want to start each group with the first and primary question of where are you reading in your Bible and what are you sensing from God? This will help us as a church family to explore with expectation how conversations are becoming confirmations that God is speaking to us all.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. Where are you reading in your Bible and what are you sensing from God?
2. What are some things you really wanted in life that you had to work sacrificially to accomplish or acquire?
David was in a painful place of running for his life. He is in the wilderness, a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Psalm 63:1-6 O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water… 6 On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. NLT
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
3. What kind of emotions do you believe were going on deep within David’s heart as he wrote this?
4. Share a time when your reaction exceeded the magnitude of a situation because of something deeper that was going on within you. A time when something touched a nerve perhaps more deeply than it should have.
There is a LOT going on inside you. Your capacity to feel things so deeply is actually a mechanism that has been given to you by God.
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
5. What would your life (your job, your family, your finances, etc) look like if Jesus had it for the next year?
The bigger question for all of us would be why it would look any different if Jesus truly is the Lord of our lives. We should live in a place of actively pursuing God and submitting to his desires as a way of life.
We are told in Scripture to taste and see that the Lord is good. This doesn’t describe an attitude that just sits back to see if something comes about. This is about getting to the table of the Lord!!! These first 40 days of the year are all about our deepening our pursuit and awareness of God together as a church family!
Psalm 42:1-2 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? NIV
We Bring GP2RL Action Point:
Start somewhere on this journey of exploring more of who God is calling you to become. Share your first step with someone today and ask them to ask you how you’re doing on this journey.
See our blog for a detailed guide to help you know how to have communion as a family.