Passionate Lovers of God

“Do you want to be a lover of God? Do you want to see your dedication to Him increase? Then understand God’s dedication to you. Do you want your enjoyment of God to increase? Understand God’s enjoyment of You. Do you want to pursue God more? Study how God pursues you” As I read these words penned by Mike Bickel (Director, International House of Prayer – KC) last evening, I was struck by how so often I do the opposite of that. Because my American “pull yourself up and fix it with hard work” mentality believes that if I try hard enough, I can get closer to God. If I just work on these four areas, that everything will be much better. And then, two months later, guess what. I am not any closer to where I wanted to be. I am coming to realize that it has nothing to do with my self effort. “It takes God to love God. It takes God’s power for you to love God. If you want to become a fiery lover of God, you must understand God as a fiery lover of you. We see Him as a lover, and it makes us a lover. We see His emotions of desire for us, and this is what awakens emotions of fiery desire back to Him. Whatever you understand about God’s heart for you changes your heart for Him.”

“You will never love God more by trying harder. Gritting your teeth and making promises is not what makes your heart awaken in love… Your passion for Jesus will increase to the measure that you study and encounter Jesus’ passion for you.” When I spend time in the presence of the Lord, studying, worshipping, and praying, I find that my passion for Him increases. I find that I become more excited about knowing Him deeper. A long time ago I read a book by physicist Dr. Hugh Ross who made a chart essentially showing that as we move closer to God, the attraction or pull that He has on our lives increases proportionally. And I guess in a nutshell that is what I am after… an increasingly strong attraction to Him and greater understanding of His love for me.