Come

“Is anyone thirsty?
Come and drink – even if you have no money!
Come, take your choice of wine or milk – it’s all free!
Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength?
Why pay for food that does you no good?
Listen to me, and you will eat what is good.
You will enjoy the finest food.
Come to me with your ears wide open.
Listen, and you will find life.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you.
I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.”
- Isaiah 55:1-3, NLT

I had the privilege of talking with one of my oldest friends yesterday. We had not spent time talking in a while, and it felt so good to catch up.

Eventually the conversation turned to prayer.

“I am not successful in praying right now. It seems like you are, Jess. You hear from God all the time – I don’t. I feel like a failure with prayer. I don’t even want to spend time with the Lord anymore.”

I wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. A success? Yeah, right. No, no, no.

I sat there for a second as I tried to figure out what to say. How could God use me in this moment to encourage my friend to pursue God passionately on a daily basis?

Success has nothing to with it, I said. I wake up many days and I do not feel excited about spending time with God. I wonder if the Bible will speak to me today. I worry that my time will be characterized by lack of focus.

But I have learned one thing in spending consistent time with God the last few years.

The only thing I have to do is show up.

That is it. When I start thinking about how I feel and if I want to pray, then I become swallowed up by self-focus instead of remembering that God is the one in charge of my relationship with Him.

He is the One who will speak to me. He is the One breathing life into me through His Word. He is the One who sends conviction through His Holy Spirit. It is all about Him.

“It’s not about success at all,” I told my precious friend. “It’s about being thirsty for His Presence and getting filled. That’s it.”

This morning I read Isaiah. He calls out to God’s children: “Is anyone thirsty? Anyone? Then come…” Jesus echoes these words in the temple as He shouts to another generation of broken people: “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me!” (John 7:37).

Jesus cried out for the children of God to come to Him. The only thing they needed to bring him was their thirst.

They did not have to come successful.

They did not have to come with a great prayer list.

They did not have to come without sin or strongholds.

They did not have to come every day for a week or a month or a year to be allowed into His Presence.

They just had to be thirsty.

And the promise of Jesus to the one who comes thirsty is that “Rivers of living water will flow from his heart” (John 7:38 ) – His Spirit will come to fill and to satisfy.

God, make me thirsty. Bless the people in my life who want more of you, and make them thirsty for you – for your Presence and your Word. You are the Living Water, Jesus. Fill me up this day. I want to drink deeply of the water of life that you offer to me with your scarred hands outstretched to my dry, chapped lips. I need you today. In your name, Jesus, Amen.