A FIRE SHUT UP IN MY BONES

...Your word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in. Indeed I cannot. Jeremiah 20:9

It has been my prayer for many years now, that the Lord would give me an insatiable appetite for the Word of God. There were times in my Christian life when I struggled to understand His Word or didn't make it a priority to spend time in the Word each day. I came to a place in my Christian walk where I confessed these challenges to the Lord. Humbling myself before my merciful God, I began to ask Him for a supernatural desire for the Word of God.

Like the persistent knocker found in Luke 11:8, my desire to know, love, and understand the Word of God ran so deep within me, I shook the "halls of heaven" with my persistent prayers. Through the grace and power of God, this verse in Jeremiah, is now the reality of my heart. The Word of God is like a fire, shut up in my bones. The seed of the Word of God has literally become life to me and I physically long for it, if I don't get it. Just like our physical bodies need food, our spirits need the Word of God. The Word begs to take hold of us, to feed us, to become part of us to such a degree, that we, as people of God, ultimately grow weary of holding it in.
Precious Father, by your grace and power, plant a deep and passionate longing for the pure milk of the Word of God within my heart. May my spirit long for the truth of your word, like my physical body longs for nourishing food. It is my desire that if I neglect your Word, I would feel a physical ache in my body that leaves me no choice, but to open my Bible, and take time to feast on the living, life changing, Word of God. Amen

Elizabeth Ward

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