The Invitation of Thirst
(Read Psalm 138)
I had lunch with a really good friend yesterday. Our lunches usually follow the same pattern: We greet. We hug. We engage in small talk. Then, two minutes later, we are deep in real conversation. Most of the time, we center the meat of our time on what is going on with our faith.
My friend (D) grew up as a devout Muslim in Egypt. But our one true God, the God of Jacob, had different plans for him. God softened (D)’s heart when he was on the ledge—literally. That night, in his darkest hour, Jesus offered a better plan. From that point forward, (D) has possessed a very real, perceptible gift of evangelism. He is gentle. He leads everyone he talks with toward the source that quenches all life’s thirsts. He has more of this gift than anyone I know! If they choose not to listen, he loves them just the same.
As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”
— Psalm 42:1-4
God often leads us to the water by first allowing us to feel our thirst. The ache itself becomes an invitation because it points beyond relief to the One our souls actually need. In the dryness, other voices try to interpret our pain as God’s absence, yet that pressure exposes the “false wells” we’ve been sipping from and turns our hearts back toward the only true Source. He meets us in our darkest laments and uses them as a pathway back to Himself.
The Playbook of Prayer
(D) and I spent most of our lunch talking about prayer. I told him I’ve been reading Just Ask by Pastor J.D. Greear, an incredibly powerful and honest playbook for anyone to pray persistently and boldly. Greear writes:
“While he was nailed to the cross, he prayed for the men holding the hammers. And what did he do with his very last breath? He prayed, ‘Father: into your hands I commit my spirit!’”1
There is no better example of the necessity of prayer than our Savior. While we often struggle to carve out ten minutes a day to pray for the people we love within our comfortable lives, Jesus would sometimes pray for days. He had every reason to curse His accusers, but He chose to intercede for them instead—prioritizing the Father’s presence even in His darkest hour. After learning about the execution of his cousin, John the Baptist, He departed. For all we know, He did an “Irish goodbye.” He left everyone behind and prayed through the night.
“Why do you pray?” I asked (D). That was an easy one for him. “I pray to know God’s word better. It gives me greater clarity about what I should do—this minute, today, and tomorrow.”
We discovered that while we have slightly different angles in our prayers, heartfelt prayer achieves the same thing: it brings us closer to Him. For me, prayer is what grounds me. It settles me into my day. Even though it sometimes feels habitual, prayer is the most important “first thing” I do. Before emails, before my run, before breakfast—I pray. It is my small gesture of showing God who comes first.
Finding the Living God
I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness… On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.
— Psalm 138:1-3
When I read “before the gods I sing your praise,” I see it as “before all created things.” Before everything else, we sing. That is the heart of worship.
I didn’t always have this. One Saturday morning, while skateboarding alone, without a helmet or padding, I broke 39 miles per hour. I know this because we had the distance mapped out and I clocked my time. Walking back up the hill, I thought, What if something happened? Who was my god? There was nothing. No God present. My meditative state left me alone and empty. Now, in my prayer life, I have a living God.
Many years ago, my church sang a song called “Heart of Worship.” It granted us moments of peace and solitude. What is at the heart of our worship? Mine comes in many forms and colors, but at its core is my prayer life. I pray to God to be shaped. I pray to be changed. It is the only thing that quenches my thirst.
The Heart of Worship I’ll bring You more than a song For a song in itself Is not what You have required You search much deeper within Through the way things appear You’re looking into my heart I’m comin’ back to the heart of worship And it’s all about You, Jesus.
Heart of Worship — Matt Redman
Life Application:
Audit your “first sips”: Tomorrow morning, before you check your phone, exercise, or even grab your coffee, give your first five minutes to God.
Instead of your usual “to-do” list, spend that time praying for someone who “holds a hammer” in your life—someone who makes things difficult or causes you stress. By making prayer your first act, you allow our Living God to settle your soul before the world has a chance to drain it.
1 J.D. Greear, Just Ask: Joyful, Confident, and Persistent Prayer for Ordinary People (The Good Book Company, 2021), 15.