St. Augustine of Hippo, in a famous passage from St. Augustine’s Confessions, writes, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

I’m writing this at dusk on Sunday afternoon looking out my window at the beautiful thick snow clinging to the trees. Isn’t God wonderful? There are so many things in creation and life that point to God. In a very real sense, what we are looking at when we see creation is the art of God, the handiwork of the Creator. And you can learn a lot about a person by looking at what they create.

One of my very favorite people growing up was my Aunt Rose (pronounced Ant Rose, by the way). She was one of my many colorful Italian aunts, the sister of my mom. She lived in a charming little house overflowing with thousands of interesting items from the 60’s. She had the most fantastic bouffant hairstyle that looked to me like a delicious stack of pancakes on her head. She was a skinny little woman but could be really tough, like when she’d tell off bad drivers, using words I wasn’t supposed to hear as a child. She was ridiculously generous. She and my grandmother would bring bags and bags of presents at Christmas in those extra large shopping bags from department stores with the loop handles.

Today I want to really encourage you from my own struggles of developing a lifestyle of prayer.

My wife and I love going for walks at local parks and ocean view streets. But the conditions have to be just right. We have to be in the mood. If we have a cold or feel tired or have any sort of physical affliction, then, we usually put off exercising to a better day.

There’s an interesting story in the Bible in the book of Ezra. Some of the people of God who were in captivity 70 years in Babylon were sent to Jerusalem—which had been utterly destroyed (2 Chron 36)—to begin rebuilding. Keep in mind that many of them were born and raised in exile and never saw Jerusalem in its glory before it was destroyed. But some of the older 75+ knew what Jerusalem was like in its former glory and were overwhelmed with tears.

Sometimes the Lord takes 700 years to answer a prayer. It’s good to remember that. Because when we have a really earnest prayer session on Monday, pleading with God to move powerfully, we think He’ll probably do it by the weekend. When He doesn’t we are perplexed.

I am so grateful to know You, Lord. Thank you for washing all my sins away and putting me in right standing before You. I have confidence when I think of the Day I will stand before You in eternity because I know I have an Advocate, Jesus Christ. You have placed within me Your Holy Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come. I no longer fear death and judgment because I know Your favor is upon my life.

Like many New Englanders, I am fiercely independent. I’ve always had something inside me that makes me feel like anything is possible if I work hard enough at it. Of course, I’ve come up against the cement wall of my own limitations more than once. I usually pound my fist against that wall for a little while and then move on.

When we talk about the pursuit of “knowing God” I don't think it captures the fullness of the reason for our existence. Knowing makes us think of learning. It conjures the idea of acquiring knowledge about a person, namely, God. Of course, we do want to know all about the person of God. Some have stressed that knowing God isn’t merely academic but that it includes experiencing God. To that I say, “hmm.” I still think that even knowing God in an experiential way is not our supreme purpose.

Have you ever wanted to get close to someone but for whatever reason they just won’t open up to you?

How can we have a deep life of prayer when we are so busy? There’s so much to keep up with. Just when we check off the eight things on our to-do list there are ten new things that come at us. And we often feel pressure not only to get things done but to get them done quickly.

Today’s writing is a little different. It’s part prayer and part reflection on the craving of my heart—intimacy with God. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word intimate like this: marked by a warm friendship developing through long association. Keep that definition in mind as you read this raw psalm-like piece today.

I’m scared for America. At some point, the sins of this nation will reach a tipping point and the Lord God will unleash His fierce judgment. That half a million people have died from the virus could very well be the beginnings of the judgment of the Lord. I especially worry about the younger generations. What kind of country will they inherit in 20-30 years? History has taught us that even mighty empires, like Rome, can fall.

The reading of good books will stoke the fires of pursuit. Books shape our minds. They help us see the beauty of God. They open us to possibilities. In some mysterious way, we can be profoundly moved toward God by something we read. Books are a gift from above.

You are pursuing hard after God. You are praying and doing some fasting. You are groaning for closeness with God. You are searching your heart. You are making adjustments. You are hungering and thirsting. You aren’t sure if you are getting anywhere. You still feel the same. You feel pretty good that you are doing these spiritual practices but it’s hard to measure progress. Rather than feeling stronger you actually feel weaker. Rather than feeling more holy, you feel more aware of your sinfulness.

Here’s what’s going to happen.

Like so many things in life—marriage, college, a new job, a new hobby, joining a church or gym—there is an initial excitement. We could even call it a high. In marriage, we call it the “honeymoon phase.” The same can be true with an initiative like the 100 Days of Pursuit. We feel pumped up. Anticipation builds. Emotions soar for a while but then, well, they flop down. We come down from the high and find ourselves in need of patience and discipline.

All of us have experienced times when prayer just isn’t working. It feels like there’s a dark heavy cloud over us preventing us from seeing the Lord. The sweetness of communion is lost. Figuring out why prayer feels like a sandstorm in a desert is challenging.

When I began high school in the early 80’s I fell in love with the electric guitar. Actually, I have memories of making handmade electric guitars out of cardboard when I was about eight and pretending to jam out with a friend. After nagging my parents continually they finally bought me an electric guitar and an amp. I’m pretty sure they regret that decision because I played constantly and played loud. I just loved playing and learning new things. After high school my favorite thing to do was to set up in a large empty space and create with a few other musicians. My dream was to be in a band and tour around playing gigs. I loved it!

Someone once said, “Where there’s a will there’s a way.” It’s not a Bible verse but it hints at an important spiritual principle. A paraphrase of the statement might be this: When the desire for something is strong we will do whatever it takes to obtain the object of our desire. The stronger our desire the more we will push through to lay ahold of it.