Thursday, October 27, 2022

Search Me

"Search me Oh God and know my heart."

silhouette of kneeling man
Photo Credit: https://unsplash.com/s/photos/prayerphoto-1457139621581-298d1801c832
   
 That is a common prayer.  But what does it really mean?!  Do we truly want the Lord of Hosts to dig deep, into those dark and hidden places and to know them?!  It's not just some quick, cute little prayer that we send up to heaven as we run out the door to get to the next important place.  It is a guttural cry to our father, begging Him to know us.  It's desperate and raw and vulnerable.  Or at least it should be.  It should take time because our hearts are full of dross.  Layers that need to be burned away in the refiners fire.

    David prayed it in the caves while he was on the run from Saul, a man who desired to kill him.  David knew that in order to have Lord's protection in battle he would have to be right with his Creator.  Anything that could potentially separate him from the Lord's protective covering of His presence had to be dealt with.  And so, David invited the Lord in.  He cried out with the desperation of his very lifeblood, "Search me, God!"  And the Lord did.  

    Jesus Himself says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him..." (Revelation 3:20) Here, Christ makes Himself known by His desire to come in.  And He promises to enter wherever He is not denied admittance.  

    "Prayer is something deeper than words.  It is an attitude of our hearts, an attitude of our mind.  Prayer is present in the soul before it has been formulated in words.  And it abides in the soul long after the last words of prayer have been spoken." (Hallesby) 

    Our helplessness is our best prayer.  Like a mother with a newborn child- whose infant cries of distress are all that are needed for you to know what is required even though not one single word is formulated.  God is like that- tending to our constant heart-cries, knowing that only He can meet our needs.  El Shaddai.  We need to allow this helplessness to become a quiet, sustaining power in our prayer life.

    May this be a motivation and not a discouragement to seek the Lord in honest prayer.  What a gift that we can boldly enter His throne room in supplication and make our requests known!  Our covenantal relationship should drive us to dwell more and more with Him.  Our intimacy with the Creator of all created things should drive us to our knees as the Spirit refines our hearts, our minds, and ultimately our lives.

    

No comments:

Post a Comment