Day Eighteen
We offer many prayers during Lent. Prayers of confession, prayers of repentance, prayers of commitment and submission…these 40 days are a time of deep communion with God as we pour out our hearts to him and seek to be more conformed to the image of Jesus. We spend much of this journey to Jerusalem on our knees, crying out to God in faithful trust that he listens…and answers.
It is very unlikely that there is any one prayer God desires to hear from us more than another, but I have a sneaking suspicion that there is one simple prayer that brings a special smile to his face, and it’s this one:
Lord, I want to know you more.
The heart of Jesus’ ministry is relationship: he came to reconcile us to the God who created us to be in relationship with himself. If you have ever found yourself longing for a relationship with someone you love dearly who has wandered far and doesn’t return that longing, then you have a small inkling of what was in the heart of God as he sent Jesus to earth. And as Jesus goes to the cross, it is that desire that carries him through the pain and suffering: he knows that what he is going through will enable the relationship that human beings were created for to be realized anew.
And yet so many of us who claim to be in that relationship are prone to treat it casually at times, causing it to languish and stagnate. We can take it for granted, and when we do, we lose sight of God’s call further and farther into his love, into a deeper and more intimate fellowship that knows no limit.
The Lenten journey provides a counter to our casual leanings: as we meditate on the cost of our reconciliation we are exposed in all the ways we fail to pursue our relationship with Jesus with passion and fervor. This doesn’t happen to shame us or to tell us we aren’t doing enough. That is not what God is saying when we’re convicted of our own spiritual stagnation. What he is saying is, “I was willing to go through this for you; that is how precious you are to me. That is how much I desire to be in a relationship with you. I love you with an everlasting love and will go to any length to draw you to myself. The way has been made, the work is already done. Will you, in turn, draw near?” Paul describes this deep and abiding love of God so powerfully in Romans:
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”—Romans 5:8 (ESV)
The invitation that comes to us is to know the heart of the psalmist:
“As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so I long for you, God.
I thirst for God, the living God.”—Psalm 42:1-2 (CSB)
The beauty of this call is that it doesn’t require psalmist-level poetry on our part. Six simple words are all that are needed:
I want to know you more.
And this is one prayer we can know without a doubt that God will honor and answer, because answering this prayer is his absolute delight. As James reminds us:
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”—James 4:8 (ESV)
And if that’s not where we are right now, that’s okay. In fact, that’s kind of the point. The kind of passion we see in Psalm 42 isn’t something we can just stir up within ourselves. It only comes as we drop all pretense and simply be honest with God. Maybe in that honesty we add a couple of words to our prayer:
I want to want to know you more.
Again, that’s a prayer God is more than pleased to answer. It’s a handing over of our hardened hearts to the work of the Spirit, and Lent is a powerful season to take that step. The cure for our spiritual stagnation is to stop pretending it isn’t there and begin to hear anew God’s invitation to intimacy, because the truth is that he wants us to know him more.
I want to know your voice when you are calling
I want to feel your touch in my despair
I want to know you'll catch me when I'm falling
Just to know you are there
Read the rest of the lyrics here.
Questions for Reflection
1) Can you remember the first, or a significant, moment when you realized that God desired to be in relationship with you? That he delighted in it? If that is a truth that you’re still seeking to know in your life, ask God to reveal to you in a new way the depths of his love for you.
2) How have you navigated times of spiritual stagnation in your walk with Jesus? When your passion for God seems to be in decline, are there specific prayers or practices you find helpful to keep yourself centered? If not, how might you ask God to be near to you during those times?
3) The song for today includes these words:
I want to know your voice when you are calling
I want to feel your touch in my despair
I want to know you'll catch me when I'm falling
Just to know you are there
Which of these resonates most with your spiritual journey right now—do you need a sense of God’s voice? His tender touch? His saving arms? Or maybe just to know he’s there? Offer to God the deepest cries of your heart and rest in the knowledge that he desires to meet you there.
4) Many people build intentional moments into their day to reconnect with Jesus: times of prayer, of worship, of silence, of Scripture reading. What might you build into your day to express your desire to know him and be rooted in your relationship with him?
Read and reflect on this verse. Let it lead you into prayerful worship and gratitude:
“Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.”—John 14:23 (NLT)