).
He "stood and shouted" (NLT). The traditional
rabbinic teaching posture was sitting and speaking. But
Jesus stood up and shouted out. Forget a kind clearing
of the throat. God was pounding his gavel on heaven's
bench. Christ demanded attention.
He shouted because his time was short. The sand in
the neck of his hourglass was down to measurable grains.
In six months he'd be dragging a cross through these
streets. And the people? The people thirsted. They
needed water, not for their throats, but for their
hearts. So Jesus invited: Are your insides starting
to shrivel? Drink me.
Internalize him. Ingest him. Welcome him into the
inner workings of your life. Let Christ be the water of
your soul.
Toward this end, I give you this tool: a prayer for
the thirsty heart. Carry it just as a cyclist carries a
water bottle. The prayer outlines four essential fluids
for soul hydration: God's work, God's energy, his
lordship, and his love. You'll find the prayer easy to
remember. Just think of the word W-E-L-L.
Lord, I come thirsty. I come to drink, to
receive. I receive your work on the cross and in your
resurrection. My sins are pardoned, and my death is
defeated. I receive your energy. Empowered by your Holy
Spirit, I can do all things through Christ, who gives me
strength. I receive your lordship. I belong to you.
Nothing comes to me that hasn't passed through you. And
I receive your love. Nothing can separate me from your
love.
Don't you need regular sips from God's reservoir? I
do. I've offered this prayer in countless situations:
stressful meetings, dull days, long drives, demanding
trips, character-testing decisions. Many times a day I
step to the underground spring of God and receive anew
his work for my sin and death, the energy of his Spirit,
his lordship, and his love.
Drink with me from his bottomless well. You don't
have to live with a dehydrated heart.