What do you need for life? Let’s expand that a little bit, so it doesn’t sound like we’re living on peanut butter, crackers and water. What do you need to live life? Not just survive, but thrive, have joy, satisfaction?
For some, their answer connects with money and possessions. For others, it’s about relationships of love, respect, and belonging. What do you need to thrive in life?
For a time, my answer to the question of having fulness of life was about removing problems. I had health problems, family problems, work problems – it was quite burdensome. And for a while, I put a lot of energy into attacking these problems, attempting to solve them one by one. Except, for every problem solved, a new one would pop up. Even more so, my health problems grew worse.
Enter prayer. This is more than just a quiet time. Or a casual chat with an invisible Being. Prayer is a heart to heart talk with the God who made you. In prayer, you unload your burdens and care onto God. In prayer, you load up with the love, grace, and truth of God.
Psalm 119, verses 73 through 80 are filled with prayer requests. We’re listening into the prayers of one who is deeply afflicted and burden. At the very center of his prayer are these two requests:
O may Your lovingkindness comfort me, According to Your word to Your servant.
May Your compassion come to me that I may live, For Your law is my delight.
Psalm 119:76-77
To live life truly, fully, the Psalmist needs God’s love and compassion. How do you get these? For one, you need to ask in prayer. For another, you need to read God’s Word; God’s Law is to be your delight. Nothing in life touches, heals, blesses, and renews like God’s love.
What do you need to live life? What do you need to thrive? May God’s love comfort you and come to you so that you may live!