What to Do When You Don’t Desire God

Posted on April 1, 2010

On Sunday at Austin City Life, we explored the answer to the question: “Why don’t I pray (more) for the salvation of others?” We concluded that there are two related reasons:

1. We Don’t Want God’s Kingdom to Come. Instead of seeking first God’s kingdom and trusting him to add all we need, we seek first our kingdom (comfort, job, health) and then add on God’s kingdom, if he’s lucky. We don’t pray the Lord’s prayer–that his kingdom would come in the lives of others who don’t know Jesus. We pray Our Prayer—“Let my kingdom come, let my will be done.”

2. We Don’t Want What God Wants. A related reason that we pray such selfish prayers, and so few prayers for the salvation of others, is fundamentally because we lack desire for God. We do not find the infinitely desirable God desirable, so we do not spill over into prayer crying out that others would repent and believe the Gospel and enter into a satisfying relationship with God.

How then do we cultivate desire for God?

Cultivating Desire for God (and Prayer for Others)

How do we move beyond our languishing desire for God and kingdom of Self prayers? How do we cultivate desire for God and love for others, so that we will transgress the boundary between our private world and the public need? Here are several suggestions:

1. Repent and ask God’s forgiveness for not desiring him. The Scriptures are filled with commands to rejoice in the Lord, to delight in him, to sing His praise. Our indifference to the infinitely desirable God calls for repentance. Fortunately, God is also abounding in lovingkindness and patience and gladly extends us forgiveness.

2. Cultivate a real relationship with the Holy Spirit. Begin each day by drawing near to God and asking for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18). Most of us wake up empty or half-full. We need the Spirit of God to give us fresh affection and desire for God and belief in the gospel. It is the Spirit that awakens us to the beauty and glory of God. Ask the Spirit to guide your prayers (Rom 8:26-27; Jud 1:20; Eph 6:18).

3. Pray memorized prayers that promise God’s work to give us desire for him.

  • “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” James 4:8
  • “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4
  • “Satisfy me in the morning with your lovingkindness that I might rejoice and shout for joy.” Psalm
  • “God is faithful, who has called us to fellowship with his Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:9

4. Make a list of people who you can pray for each week, by name, and share this with your Fight Club. One of the best ways to cultivate prayerfulness is to begin a set aside time to pray each day. Of course, we should pray throughout the day in dependence upon and relationship with our wonderful God. However, we need both continual and concentrated time with God if we are to truly nurture a relationship, and pray his kingdom.

Helpful Resources in Cultivating Desire for God

  1. When I Don’t Desire God (Piper) The Dangerous Duty of Delight (free sample)
  2. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (Whitney)
  3. A New Inner Relish (Ortlund)
  4. The Expulsive Power of a New Affection (Chalmers, free online)
  5. Communion with God (Owen)
  6. Confessions (Augustine)

Review: Untamed by Alan Hirsch (pt 1)

Posted on April 1, 2010

If Alan Hirsch wasn’t a household name among the mission-minded before the VERGE conference, he certainly is now. Alan was kind enough to lend his 6 Elements of missional DNA as the architecture of the VERGE missional community conference. Add to that the outstanding introductory videos that explain each of the 6 Elements, and you’ve got a quite Hirschian splash. As if that wasn’t enough, Alan & his wife Deb drop a new book called Untamed: Reactivating a Missional Form of Discipleship.

Structure of Book

Those familiar with The Forgotten Ways will immediately recognize that Untamed is an expansion of one of the 6 Elements of mDNA—missional discipleship. However, the book does not assume this familiarity.

The Introduction is extremely helpful in laying out a map for reading the book. There are four main sections (Theology, Culture, Psychology, Mission), each containing four Signature Themes (Jesus-shaped discipleship, Shema Spirituality, No Mission, No Discipleship, & Of Idols and Prophets).

Recovering the Incarnational Jesus

Chapter One is a cultural exorcism of distorted American Christology, a calling out of moralistic and hypermasculine (read=Mark Driscoll critique) views of Jesus. Could Hirsch be more Jesus-centered than Driscoll?! He levels an irenic but incisive critique. Speaking of men more effeminate than Driscoll’s “caricature of Jesus,” he writes: “they are unacceptable to Jesus as they are…but this strikes a blow against the gospel itself.” Before we start defending and accusing missional leaders, let’s be sure to make this about about Jesus, not personalities, something both Driscoll and Hirsch would want.

Hirsch keeps centering on Jesus. Warning us of cultural stereotypes of Jesus, he says that Jesus must be freed to relate to all people. Hirsch doesn’t simply exorcize the demons, he replaces them with an incarnational Jesus, a Jesus who enters our humanity and empathizes with our condition as the basis and example of mission. On this incarnational note, a couple quotes are worthy of reflection:

  • “It is true that Jesus is like God, but the greater truth…is that God is like Jesus!” (36)

  • “Jesus holiness was compelling. Sinners flocked to him.” (46)

  • “For Jesus, acceptance must precede repentance.” (48)

I love the first two quotes but have some pause on the third. I’m sincerely grateful for this book, chapters one and nine in particular, which underscore and unpack an incarnational way of following Jesus. I’ve been provoked, challenged, and encouraged. Thanks, Alan & Deb!

Follow the Passion of Christ on Twitter

Posted on March 31, 2010

My friend John Chandler is sending out tweets during Passion week to remind us of what Jesus was doing this week leading up to the cross and the resurrection. Follow him @passionweek for reminders throughout the week to focus on Jesus this Easter season. He explains:

Throughout the week, the @passionweek twitter account will post a brief glimpse of what Jesus experienced at the time he would of experienced it. The timing is mostly estimated. Regardless, I hope it can give you reason to pause throughout the week to reflect and anticipate the crucifixion on Friday, the silence that follows, and the resurrection on Sunday

Go here for a list of Scriptures that describe what happened on Wednesday of Passion Week.

Christ & Culture Revisited

Posted on March 30, 2010

D. A. Carson’s recent contribution to the growing, informed discussion regarding Christ & Culture is a worthy read. However, Christ and Culture Revisited is not without its shortcomings. In a series of posts, I offer a critical reading of Carson’s well-researched book in an attempt to further good thinking and practice on the topic of Christ & Culture.