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At night my soul longs for You, Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently; For when the earth experiences Your judgments. The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. (Isaiah 26:9)

Longing for God

I want deliberately to encourage this mighty longing after God. The lack of it has brought us to our present low estate. The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so very long, in vain.

Every age has its own characteristics. Right now we are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship, and the servile imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all.

This month Heart2Heart will be posting excerpts from A. W. Tozer’s “The Pursuit of God” We hope this series will bless and encourage you in your own pursuit of a deeper relationship with our Lord.