Winter
1998
The
Secret That Results In Increased Spiritual Hunger
By Wade E. Taylor
"Draw me; we will run after Thee; The King hath brought
me into His chamber." SS 1:4.
The first part is a prayer of only two words. The second
is our commitment to respond, if the Lord will draw us to
Himself. The third part is the result of the first two - our
being brought into the intimate presence of the Lord for a
higher purpose.
The word "draw" relates to our spiritual hunger.
Hunger is the foundational drive that motivates every level
of our life and ability to function. We are to ask the Lord
for spiritual hunger.
This prayer, "draw me," expresses an intense desire
to be lifted from earthly needs and desires, to the heavenly;
from a self-centered, to a Christ-centered life and witness;
from nominal Christian living to an active Spirit-led Kingdom-centered
life.
Our having spiritual hunger is of primary importance if we
are to grow into the deeper things of the Spirit, and into
spiritual maturity. If we intend to go further with the Lord,
this must become our essential prayer. Only then can the Lord
create within us the necessary hunger to take us all the way
to the finish line, where we can say with the Apostle Paul,
"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my
course, I have kept the faith."
"Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the Righteous
Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to
me only, but to all them also who love His
appearing." II Tim 4:7-8.
The next step, "We will run" means that we are
willing to become experientially involved; it is our commitment
to go beyond the blessings of fullness to the power of possession,
which results from the trials and testings of the Holy Spirit.
The Scriptures tell us concerning Jesus, "The Word was
made flesh." The Word is never ours, until it has been
personalized within our life experience. When Jesus was baptized,
He came up out of the water, the heavens opened, the Holy
Spirit descended upon Him as a dove and His Father said, "This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
Jesus had received the "approbation" of His Father
and the "fullness" of the Holy Spirit. But there
had to be something more. He was then driven into the wilderness
to be tested. At the end of this forty-day test, He had experientially
overcome the Devil. As a result, He came from the wilderness
in the "power" of the Spirit.
Only after we have fulfilled our commitment to "run
after Him" will we be ready to hear the testimony of
our Heavenly Father concerning us; "The King has brought
... (put your name here) into His Chamber."
"We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto
good works, which God has before ordained that we
should walk in them." Eph 2:10.
It is only after we have come within the Chamber that the
Father can fully accomplish our being "conformed to the
image of His Son" (Rom 8:29).
The Lord desires to work within our lives, not just to get
us through to heaven, but to conform us to the image and likeness
of Jesus Christ, thereby making us an active member of His
body.
In this day, the Lord is bringing forth a people who have
been tested and proven; a people who are not satisfied with
just moving in "fullness" - the gifts and blessings
of the Holy Spirit which are freely given; but who have gone
through the wilderness, and have come forth victorious in
the "power" of the Spirit.
These are being made ready to partake with the Lord in the
closing out of this age and establishing the Millennial Kingdom
age.
"For Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by
Thy
blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and
nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests:
and we shall reign on the earth." Rev 5:9b-10.
The Scripture says, "to whom much is given much is required."
The Lord is seeking out those who will not only seek after
spiritual hunger, but will make the commitment to go all the
way with Him; knowing that a wilderness experience is required.
This "commitment" is the secret of receiving the
spiritual hunger we desire.
