Prayers of Praise and Intimacy

Thirsting After God

By Dana Olson

Thirst trap photo. It’s a new phrase—at least to me—popping up on social media.

It’s defined as “a photo used to entice a response, usually in the form of praise, compliments, or more explicit expressions of ardent desire.”¹ People are so thirsty for the approval of others that they will post enticing photos of themselves in a desperate quest for “likes” and “retweets” and compliments and money.

We are thirsty people. Daily, we thirst for water. But we are thirsty in more ways as well: there is the thirst for significance, the thirst for accomplishment, the thirst for approval. It’s the thirst for meaning—the longing for hope and joy and satisfaction and a life of impact.

The Cry of the Heart

It is the heart cry of the soul to know and love God and be loved by the Creator. David expressed this thirst in Psalm 63:1 (esv) from the wilderness:

O God, you are my God; earnestly 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.

The present circumstances find us in a wilderness, do they not? All humanity is searching for soul-water and finding only dry desert in a weary land. The desperate offer their thirst traps: sex, food, success, money, and fame. But they find only empty cisterns. There is no refreshment there. No joy for the soul.

Did David find any water in the dry land and wilderness? Oh, yes. He found it in the presence of God.

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
    beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
    my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
    in your name I will lift up my hands (vs. 2–4).

Yes, he found what he needed in the God of glory, in the steadfast love of his Creator. He found a love better than life! And he found it in a wilderness cave. Blessed by God’s presence, he lifted his hands in heartfelt worship and pledged his fealty for life.

In the dry wilderness he found abundance in God, rich soul-food:

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
    and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
when I remember you upon my bed,
    and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help,
    and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me (vs. 5–8).

Soul satisfaction. Quenching the thirst of the heart and mind. A feast of the richness of “O God, you are my God!” A flood of grace in the desert wilderness of pain and sorrow, disappointment and disillusion, sickness and death.

It’s the feeling of God’s powerful right hand underneath you as your enemies pursue you, shouting outside the cave. Still, your hands are lifted in worship, your lungs expelling shouts of praise and joy.

Designed as Worshipers

Like David, we live in a tumultuous time. Signs of the latter days seem a daily occurrence. Rancor, division, crime, brokenness, natural disasters, wars and rumors of wars, abortion, immorality, and a rising tide of anti-Christian opposition might cause us to ask, “Where are you, God?”

But we know very well that God is on the throne of the universe, reigning with Christ at His right hand, preparing a place for His people—new heavens and a new earth. We lift high the cross, proclaim the love of Christ, and keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith (Heb. 12:2).

But how do we keep our eyes focused on Jesus in a world churning and seemingly on the verge of exploding? Where do we renew our hope when the headlines are screaming of daily destruction?

Praise. Adoration. Exaltation. God has designed us to be worshipers. When we find the treasure of His glory in Scripture in passages like Psalm 63, and we turn them into worship prayer, our hearts connect with the Living God, our Creator.

In adoration prayer, praying Scripture, we declare to God—and remind ourselves—that His greatness and mercy and love will see us through the present maze, that His beauty will sustain us, that His power will overcome the enemy.

That’s what I have personally found with praise prayer: that the reality of God’s reign resumes its rightful place in my own heart and mind, that King Jesus is in control, and that His divine purposes cannot fail. I need that reminder!

Like David, we yearn for the living God and we find the grand gold of His glory. He reveals His attributes, and we respond with songs, “Holy, Holy, Holy” and “Hallelujah! What a Savior” and “Joy to the World.”

We feast on the fat and rich food of His marvelous works, looking to the Christ of the cross and the Christ of the resurrection and the Christ of the ascension. When it seems that the world is going to hell, we turn to the final Revelation and read,

“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
    the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
    and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
    and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
    with fine linen, bright and pure.” (Rev. 19:6–8, esv)

Be still and know your God. Quiet your fluttering heart and embrace the Prince of Peace. Ask your Heavenly Father to fill you with His Spirit.

Worship.

Worship the living God with prayers of praise. Exalt Him with your own heartfelt songs in the night. Memorize His many attributes and draw upon their promises in the face of hardship. Then, like the apostle Paul in his letter to young Timothy (1 Tim. 1:17), you will cry out:

To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.  

¹ Merriam-Webster.com

DANA OLSON is senior pastor of Faith Baptist Fellowship, Sioux Falls, SD. He previously served as director of Prayer First (affiliated with the Converge movement of churches) and is a chairman emeritus of the Denominational Prayer Leaders Network.