Spiritual reflection:

God, you are my God. I seek you with all my heart. With all my strength I thirst for you in this dry desert where there isn’t any water. [2] I have seen you in the sacred tent. There I have seen your power and your glory. [3] Your love is better than life. So I will bring glory to you with my lips.

Psalm 63:1-3 NIrV

Spiritual questions:

  1. What is your level of emotional desire for and investment in your relationship with God?
  2. Describe and list the emotions you feel toward God, which motivate you to seek him?
  3. Describe and list the emotions which prevent you from seeking God?
  4. What do you think it means when the Psalmist says, “Your love is better than life?”

Spiritual prayer:

The goal of this prayer is to deal with the emotions and motivations preventing you from seeking God with all of your heart. Use the answers to your questions to honestly share your thoughts and feelings toward God with Him. We will never gain strength from God if we really don’t want a relationship with him. Conquering any deterrent or distraction from seeking God is the first step toward making Him a priority in our lives.

We cannot gain the strength from our walk with God to overcome our human weakness until we decide to make God a “Deep Priority.”

A “Deep Priority” extends beyond rituals and rules, duty and responsibility, or conscience and conviction. The depth of love necessary to make God a priority can only be found in the heart, which is the seat of our emotions. This is why the goal of this prayer, and every prayer going forward, is to ask God for help developing a heart inclined to passionately pursue Him out of love.

Spiritual commitment:

I Kings is going to be our reading commitment for this quiet time. You are going to pay particularly close attention to Solomon. The goal will be to see how he develops, grows, and sustains his relationship with God.

You are looking to learn who taught him how to have a great relationship with God. Additionally, what were the temptations that might have kept him from making God a priority, and how did he overcome or succumb to them? After this study, you should have a tremendous sense of how to develop, grow, and sustain your love for God.

Spiritual conversation:

I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— [12] that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.

Romans 1:11-12 NIV

One of the primary reasons we lose our faith is we stop making God a priority. After praying daily and working out your emotional issues of faithfulness to God, you will be in the perfect position to strengthen others in their relationship with God.

Spend time working on 1-3 short studies of 5 scriptures apiece, each of which are designed to inspire both yourself and your friends to make God a priority. Share these with your friends by revealing your own struggles and victories. In the end, you should be able to share with them the increase in strength you have experienced because of your faithfulness to your walk with God.

Explore more:
Deep Strength, Part 5: Deep Priority 6

As the editor in chief for Deep Spirituality, Russ Ewell writes, teaches, and innovates with his eyes on the future. His teaching is rooted in providing hope for those turned off by tradition and infused with vision for building a transformative church. His passion to inspire even the most skeptical to view God through fresh eyes can be found in his book, He's Not Who You Think He Is: Dropping Your Assumptions and Discovering God for Yourself.

Deep Strength, Part 5: Deep Priority 7

As the editor in chief for Deep Spirituality, Russ Ewell writes, teaches, and innovates with his eyes on the future. His teaching is rooted in providing hope for those turned off by tradition and infused with vision for building a transformative church. His passion to inspire even the most skeptical to view God through fresh eyes can be found in his book, He's Not Who You Think He Is: Dropping Your Assumptions and Discovering God for Yourself.

Our first book is officially live.

Rebuild your relationship from the ground up with He's Not Who You Think He Is: Dropping Your Assumptions and Discovering God for Yourself.

Deep Strength, Part 5: Deep Priority 8