So, what is the key to desire? How is it awakened? Should I simply make it a matter of prayer? Should I discipline myself and begin to act as one who desires, hoping that desperation will actually kick in?

No. Desire for God begins with God Himself. He, after all, is the Great Initiator. He created life in Genesis 1, and He continues to be the only life-giving power at work on the earth today. If I examine my heart, and find that the once blazing fires of desire have become lifeless coals, it is He who must come and hover over my soul’s darkness, working to bring forth life.

Poetic. So, how does this work?

A desire for the Lord begins with an encounter. Hunger and thirst for Him are only acquired when we have tasted and drunk of His abundance. He first finds us, and thus we begin our pursuit of Him. Funny, perhaps, and not quite the way we’d imagine it to work, but nonetheless, true.

Would we have desire? Then let us first become broken, emptied of our striving and self, and in contrition be still — waiting. The promise is that He is near to such humble hearts, and once He has drawn near, the beauty and awe-inspiring greatness of all He is will stir our hearts to passion and pursuit.

When my heart is far, come find me…