I asked for more of Him...

In the recent weeks, I have been asking for more of God in my prayers. This is not about complaining or doubting the all-sufficiency of Christ in our lives. Those who have tasted that the Lord is good would agree with the phrase coined by Wade Taylor as having a "dissatisfied satisfaction". Having tasted the goodness and the delight of our lovely Saviour, we just long for more of Him. Having drunk the sweet wine of the Spirit from the wells of salvation, we just come back for more...

Surrender
Two weeks ago, I began to sense the Spirit of God speaking in my heart.
"Surrender"
Then, I argued "Surrender? Lord, you have spoken to me about surrendering myself before and I have responded to your call to surrender. What else is there to surrender?"

"To have more, you have to give more"
Slowly, I began to understand what He meant. If I want more of Him, do I have the capacity to contain more of Him? Is there room for more of Him in my heart? Or is my heart full of other things that shut the Lord away? I felt ashamed of my earlier argument. Even though I have responded to His call to surrender to Him, there are still areas in my heart that are cluttered with things that somewhat shoved Him away and made Him unwelcome in my heart.

"Surrender your time and energy"
Now, it's getting more specific. How do I spend my time and energy? Are they spent in pursuing worthless things? Or are they surrendered to God in the pursuit of Him (in line with my prayer for more of Him). Could I sacrifice my sleeping hours to spend time basking in His glorious presence? Do I spend my energy during my waking hours doing things as a devotion of love to Him?

No, these were not condemning thoughts that entered my mind. Neither were they legalistic demands imposed by the Master. Deep within me, I know that this is an invitation from the King. In my prayer for more of Him, He has graciously extend His invitation to me, "Come up hither..." Hallelujah!

Prayer:
Father God, turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things,and revive me in Your way. (Psalm 119:37)

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

(to be continued...)