The reason for which we want something is important.
Why is more important than what.
When it comes to what the Lord considers, the weight of our motive is greater than our product.
In the parable that Jesus tells in Luke 11:5-8, he presents a person who receives a guest, but there’s one problem.
He has nothing to feed this traveler, nothing to set before him.
As a result, he knocks on the door of a friend and asks for three loaves of bread in an effort to satiate the appetite of his visitor.
He’s not asking for bread to feed himself.
No.
He’s asking on behalf of someone else.
This is key.
I truly believe there are those that are hungering for more of God in this hour because they want to have something to offer.
They feel the weight of responsibility to demonstrate the things of God.
They realize that what they are currently walking in isn’t enough and that in order to meet the need that exists in the world, they need more of God.
He is what the world hungers for.
He is what the world needs.
However, there are no shortcuts when it comes to being clothed with more power to demonstrate the gospel.
In Acts 8, we read about a man commonly known as Simon the Sorcerer.
When Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered money to Peter in an effort to purchase this same ability.
But you cannot buy what God wants you to hunger and thirst for.
The only way to close the gap between where you currently are and where you want to be in the Lord is through hunger and thirst.
Waiting and perseverance proves your resolve to Him.
Perseverance is all about grit.
There’s nothing like waiting to validate what you truly desire.
And, if you allow it, waiting can deepen your hunger for more.
It’s also important to note that Simon didn’t want to be like Peter and John for the sake of others.
His desire to purchase the ability to lay hands on others so that they might receive the Holy Spirit had nothing to do with wanting to love or serve people and be a blessing.
His motive was purely selfish in nature.
This is why Peter urges him to repent of the intention of his heart.
The heart of man is the throne of motivation.
It is by no means wrong to see a gift of God in operation through a person and to desire to have its operation also flow through your life.
We should be positively provoked by the example of and the anointing that rests on others.
Such people serve as an example of what’s possible.
It should inspire us and cause us to hunger for more.
It is wrong, however, if what we desire is for self serving purposes.
In this particular hour, I do believe that the people of God are being provoked for the right reasons.
I see a genuine and pure desire to be able to have more of the Lord and to be able to demonstrate the gospel in power and to be clothed with the attitude of the Jesus.
This is something that we cannot fast track.
This is nothing that silver or gold can purchase.
It’s obtained through hunger.
It’s acquired through thirst.
And it’s imperative that we continue to ask, seek, and knock until we receive more of the one who makes it possible — the Holy Spirit.
- Brian Connolly, Faith Like Birds Ministries
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