Water for the Thirsty by Rocky Fleming

“For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, And floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring.” Isaiah 44:3 NKV

Do you ever crave a good, deep, drink of water, and nothing else can satisfy you?  I mean, have you ever been desperate for it?  I have many times.  In fact, when I played college and NFL football, it was the norm that we were denied water or any fluids during practice because they thought drying out players was good for training and conditioning at that time.  Little wonder that two of my teammates died on the football field, for this philosophy was wrong. 

Contrary to this philosophy is the athletic science that tells us that if we wait until our thirst is that intense, they say that dehydration has already begun in our body.  We are told to drink ahead of our thirst.  We shouldn’t wait until we are thirsty.  It is also said that when fasting from food, there is a point that our craving need for food is no longer there, and in fact we are moving dangerously close to starvation.  We are told to stop the fast and eat or it could cause great damage to our bodies.  Have you considered that these dynamics are also true for your soul?  Can we lose the God inspired longing for something that hasn’t yet been found, and we settle into a spiritual rut of dryness and not try to shake it?  Instead, we just go through the motions and never change. 

How do you see yourself right now?  Do you long for more of His unfathomable love that Jesus Christ can give to you, or do you feel that you’ve hit the limit and there is no longer any more to receive?  Do you cry out for more of Jesus and what He can do for your soul, or do you suffer quietly thinking that He doesn’t hear you, or even care?  Has spiritual dehydration and starvation set into your life?  If so, it is time to drink and eat from His spiritual food, and His well of Living Water.  Open up my friends.  It’s time to find our why you are dry and what to do about it!

In the scripture above we see that God tells us that He will pour His blessings (water) on the believer who is thirsty.  He tells us that He will flood the dry ground around our life with His blessings.  He tells us that He will pour His Spirit (blessings) out on our relationships and descendants.  In other words, He will give to us what we long for and ask for, and even more.  But why does it seem that He sometimes does not?  Are you in that place right now?  Let’s consider a few reasons:

Because we’re not asking: We’ve been invited to come boldly before the Lord and make our needs known.  Are you doing this? “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” James 1:5 (ESV).

Because of a lack of faith: Where is your faith with your prayer request?  Do you believe God knows, He cares, He is willing, and He is able to answer your prayer?  If He is willing and you are hindering the answer, are you willing to break that hindrance?  Begin with your confession of faith and see where it takes you next.  “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.” James 1:6 (ESV).

Because we ask amiss: Do you know the heart of Jesus?  If so, you will know the prayers that He wants to hear and delights in answering.  Are you asking the kind of prayers God wants to answer?  If you do not know for sure, get to know His heart and you will know what is near and dear to His heart.  Then you will ask on target and see many prayers answered.  “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”  James 4:3 (ESV).

Because of unforgiveness in our life: Do you have any bitterness or unforgiveness in your life toward someone or something that happened to you in your past?  Anything going on right now that causes you to harbor or find justification with holding a grudge?  Is it worth keeping your prayers hindered and from experiencing God’s best for you?  Forgive, for it is an act of worship to do so.  Worship God by granting forgiveness to the person(s) who have hurt you.  Break that wall down, and God will hear you.  “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”  Mark 11:25 (ESV).

Because of unrepentance in our life:  God is holy, and we are unclean sinners.  Never forget this.  However, God has made us holy by His grace and the work of Jesus.  When we sin we don’t end our relationship with Him.  But we do break our fellowship with Him.  Still, we are given a provision for forgiveness through honest and truthful repentance, which restores our fellowship with Him, including our prayers.  To agree with God that I’ve sinned, is the definition of repentance.  Is it worth hindering your prayers so that you can hold on to your sin?  “Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”  Isaiah 59:1-2 (ESV)

and…

“If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.”  Psalm 66:18 (ESV

Because God wants us to wait: Waiting on the Lord for His answer to our prayer is an act of faith.  We do not wait passively though.  It is expectantly waiting on His answer, such as a mother waits for the birth of her child.  It is an anticipation.  It is a hope that we take hold of now, even though we don’t see it.  Faith is being assured of that which we hope for.  Faith is the eye of the soul as surely as our eyes are to our bodies.  We “see” with our faith, and we know that when the time is right, we will actually realize the answer to our prayer.  “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;” Psalm 130:5 (ESV).

Prayer is communication with God.  We have been given an open line to heaven through Jesus Christ.  Keep the communication line open, and you will see many prayers granted to you.