O Breath of Life
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a hymn you may not know.
O Breath of Life, come sweeping through us,
revive your church with life and power;
O Breath of Life, come, cleanse, renew us,
And fit your church to meet this hour.
Oh, how we need the breath, the wind of God, to sweep through us, because it is only God who can give us the, well… the “want to,” the desire. There are plenty of things we “ought” to do, but rarely do we have a heartfelt desire to do what we should. We ought to forgive people who offend us, we ought to love unconditionally, we ought to seek the good of others, we ought to put our spouse first, we ought to pray often, we ought to, we ought to…, right! But like Romans 8:7 says, “The mind of the flesh is hostile to God, it is not able to submit to the law of God.
Believe me, if we end up ever wanting to forgive or wanting to love unconditionally, or if we ever want to put somebody first or pray often or read the Bible more or whatever, it is only because God has placed the “want to” in our hearts. It’s a gift from the Holy Spirit. And it’s why following Psalm 119 is such a good idea, “Incline my heart to your testimonies” and elsewhere, “O Lord, make glad the soul of your servant for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.” Friend, if we pray that way, if we ask for God to do His heart-changing work in us, He will. He promises to do just that. In Ezekiel Chapter 36, He says flat-out, “I will put my spirit within you and I will cause you to walk in my statutes.” Hey! That’s good news if you have trouble growing.
You know what I do when I see I’m not following through on things I should? I push myself to do the right thing, recognizing I’m probably doing it in the flesh, but I pray that as I’m doing it, God will eventually bless me “the want to”; that He’ll give me the happy desire to forgive or pray or read or love. And is this hypocrisy? No, no! Like Dr. John Piper says, “Hypocrisy hides and pretends that the “want to” is really there when it is not.” No, I want the Holy Spirit to give me the desire to do His will. And you know what? He does. He inclines my heart and He makes me glad and He causes me to walk in His statutes. It’s just a little lesson in how to grow in grace today, making all your ought-to’s happy, glad want-to’s!
Would you like to learn more? Hear more? Well, I’ve written a booklet called “God’s Hand in Hardship” in which I share insights that will inspire you to cultivate the desire, the heartfelt gladness in wanting to do things you should, and do them happily. It will encourage you to ask God to incline your heart. Ask Him to make you glad, and cause you to walk in His statues. So, when you’re on your smartphone today, or computer, click on joniradio.org and ask for your free copy. It’s called “God’s Hand in Hardship”. And if you have questions or thoughts on this topic, let me know on our radio page, or just go to our Joni and Friends Facebook page. Because it’s my prayer that God will keep giving you the want-to – the happy want-to—to follow Him. See you next time on “Joni and Friends”.
Song: O Breath of Life, Written by Bessie Porter Head, Public Domain
© Joni and Friends
