...a thirsty soul...

“1 O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you,    

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 

2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,    

beholding your power and glory. 

3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,    

my lips will praise you. 

4 So I will bless you as long as I live;    

I will lift up my hands and call on your name. 

5 My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,    

and my mouth praises you with joyful lips 

6 when I think of you on my bed,    

and meditate on you in the watches of the night; 

7 for you have been my help,    

and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy. 

8 My soul clings to you;    

your right hand upholds me” Psalm 63:1- 8.

Verse 1 is a verse that often appears in the annals of Christian prayer because it speaks about our personal need for God. We cannot survive a day without God. Consider these words:

“My soul thirsts for You, Oh my God,

as a dry, weary land where there is no water.”

I cannot live without God! Yet, I can live for many days and hours, aware of a certain thirst in my life, a thirst for something more, a thirst for someone in my life. I am thirsting for GOD!

But it’s not a careless, insignificant thirst, no, it’s a thirst in my SOUL! My HEART, my SOUL, the very core of who I am — thirsts for God! How about you? Do you feel some emptiness, some growing, persistent desire for MORE?

Are we not all alike? Do we not all, at times — some more than others — feel like life is dry and weary, and we are always thirsting for more...water! At the very least, do we not all go through periods like this?

Lent is a special time for us to carve out time for prayer. Take time today — don’t put it off — to pray for the Lord to satisfy your thirst for faithful living. Tell the Lord that you no longer wish to live with that dryness in your heart and soul, but for something more — to live for the Lord who alone satisfies your thirst.

Oh Lord, late have I loved You,

ever ancient, ever true.

So long I have thirsted for You.

The dryness in my life — my abandonment of You,

has led me to try to live without You — and this has never worked.

Please give me just a sip of Your merciful love to quench.

Let me change the path of my life and follow You.

Let my soul never again thirst for You!

Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen!

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God,

have mercy on me a sinner.