“Thou art my God.” I know the truth of this assertion and yet my soul is not satisfied. I am hungry and thirsty. I have tasted just a little of His bounty, His feast set before me, and my heart and flesh cry out for more. How deep is the desire to learn to pray? How deep is the yearning to know God? What am I willing to endure to find the full satisfaction of His presence?

I have days of dryness. I pass through valleys of humiliation and the barrenness of desert wastes. I call on Him and receive no answer. Prayer seems meaningless. What do I do then? Only one thing will avail. I will hold on to God. Over and over again I will affirm: “Thou art my God.” I will seek Thee with my whole heart, for here is Thy promise: “They shall seek me and they shall find me when they shall search for me with all their heart.”

That’s it! “With all the heart.” I am committed to this life of prayer, this life in God. I search until I find and He becomes a living reality within me. This period of searching is my growth in understanding prayer. “Oh God, Thou art my God,” said the Psalmist. My God – personal, intimate, available. The Creator of the Universe, the Ruler of men, the Provider, the Redeemer. My God. My God has time and concern to think upon my trivial, individual needs. He bestows His abundant blessings. He gives His matchless love to me. If I had been the only sinner, He would have died for me. My God. I can never fathom the meaning of it.

“Early will I seek Thee.” Early in life will I dedicate my powers to Thee and seek Thy guidance. Early in the morning will I meditate upon Thy precepts and Thy wisdom. Before seeking help in material things or worldly advice, I will seek Thee. For Thou art my God. Thou art the source of all my help. I will seek Thee.

“My soul thirsts for Thee. My flesh longs for Thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is.” My soul is dry and barren and languishing without Thee. A thirst like that of men lost in the desert, a yearning like that of the blind man possesses my soul when I am away from Thee. As a bird returns to its nest, as the dove flies home again, as the waves return to the bosom of the deep, so my soul seeks Thee and finds no resting place outside of Thee.

Thou art my God. I am seeking Thee. And when the creature seeks the Creator, when the child runs to the Father’s arms, when the homesick turns again home, and the yearning pours out his prayer to a Gracious Giver, there can be only one result: satisfaction of hunger, fulfilling of every need, union of spirit, oneness of man’s soul with his Creator. Thou art my God. I seek Thee, I find Thee. You possess me. This is Life.

CCF Guest Contributor: Mildred Long
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