Blog 9 / Our High Calling
December 10, 2020
Make Room for the Longings of God
The natural man is not interested in the things that concern God. He is interested only in his own concerns. But what of the believer? Do we ever take the time to listen to what is on God’s heart? A spiritual writer once wrote, “We have little room in the cluttered prayer chamber of our hearts for God’s longings.” Is this true of us?
We were made to commune with God. Sharing should flow both ways. Our heavenly Father certainly makes room for our personal concerns. He wants us to talk with Him at any time about our families, friends, jobs, finances, our dreams. But if that is all there is to our prayer life then we are missing out on something special.
Psalm 25:14 tells us that God wants to take us into His confidence. He seeks those with whom He can freely share His heart. As our Lord’s bride we should want to enter into our beloved’s confidences; to share His laughter and joy, to rejoice over the things that delight His heart such as a repentant sinner turning to Jesus. We should want to sorrow with Him over the things that grieve His heart such as the sins of His people, be jealous for His glory among the nations whose people chase after false gods, and share His righteous anger over all the injustices in the world.
The things that concern God should lead us into genuine intercession so that He can act on the prayers of His people. I must confess that I am barely treading the foothills of “Intercession Mountain” when it comes to praying for His concerns. I feel challenged by the lives of those who are climbing the higher peaks; those who have devoted their lives in pursuit of knowing God. Surely His deepest confidences are reserved for such ones.
Getting to the higher elevations where the air is thinner means laying aside unnecessary baggage and narrowing our interests. Self is the greatest hindrance to this. Dying to self and letting go of the things that compete for our time and affections is key.
A God-centered prayer life is not the result of self-effort but of full surrender. It is allowing the life of Christ, who knows fully the longings of the Father’s heart, to manifest His prayer life in us in the same way that He wants to express His love, joy, peace and patience through each of us.
My challenge is this: when God searches for those who will watch and pray with Him, will He find me asleep like the disciples in Gethsemane? Or will He find in me a willing heart ready to take on His longings as my own?
I pray that this would be so because I want to join the joyful company of those who, in deep communion with their Lord, are pressing ever onward and upward.
Colin Stott
GRN Global Prayer Coordinator
