Letter to the Church: February 2023

February 8, 2023

Dear Radiant family,

Having recently completed our SEEK 21 day season of prayer and fasting, I am a bit stunned and encouraged by the level of spiritual hunger that I witnessed in our community right from the beginning. Historically, it takes a while for the distractions of the holidays to catch up to our commitment to pursue the Lord. But this year, there was a supernatural anticipation that began on the opening Sunday of SEEK which bled into our Revival Nights, resulting in an overflow. As your pastor, I was so encouraged, but also asked the Lord, “What does this mean?”

Psalm 63 has been resonating within me for the last couple of months.

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
6 when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.”

David, who found himself on the run from his enemies, cried out to God with this heartfelt declaration. To hunger and thirst for God is a gift. Hunger is the gift that drives us forward and brings all of our inner zeal into concentrated focus. Most of us never, or perhaps rarely, experience the kind of hunger that threatens our wellbeing. Our bodies can go up to 40-50 days without food, and only 3 or so days without water. There comes a point when your brain shuts off all other functions and drives you to do nothing but find food and water. This is the state that David was in. He knew that nothing less than God and His Presence could sustain him and rejuvenate his heart.

Spiritual hunger and thirst are different than natural hunger and thirst. In the natural, the more you consume, the less you hunger. In the spirit, the more you taste and see of the goodness of God, the more you want. When our lives are starved of the Presence of God, it’s amazing how little appetite we really have. So many Bibles sit idly by while weak Christians search the cupboards of this culture to satiate their souls longing for “something.” We wonder why we feel so weak and easily overcome by the temptations and siren voices of the spirit of this age. Going through the motions of powerless religion will never bring the power we need to walk victorious in the midst of the spiritual darkness that grows increasingly heavy. What is needed is fresh hunger and new thirst.

It is impossible to hunger for something that you have never tasted. When you have gone without natural food for a while - whether by purposeful fasting or unintentionally - your body craves and reminds you of what you have had in the past that it would like to have again. Hunger is rooted in memory. When David grew hungry for the Lord, He recalled the times in the past when God’s presence was so tangible and real to him and how, in those moments, his heart came alive.

“So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life….”

He longed for what he had tasted before.

I want to encourage each of us to recount the things God highlighted during SEEK 2023. Maybe it was a prayer meeting that you attended in our Prayer Room for the first time. Maybe it was a song, a message, a devotional you read, or a conversation that you had with someone that awakened your heart to the nearness and goodness of God. Maybe it was just a moment between you and God in the stillness of your home, when you knew that God was with you. Remember these things. These will help keep your heart hungry and thirsty as the rest of the year unfolds.

Perhaps you feel as though you have never felt true spiritual hunger and thirst for more of God in your life, but you have a hunger to hunger. What should you do? It’s time to seek the Lord. It’s time to break up the fallow ground (Hosea 10) and prime the pump. Ask God to give you a soft, pliable, and hungry heart. Remember, hunger is a merciful gift from the Lord.

Here are three things that I would encourage every believer to do to stir and sustain spiritual hunger:

1. SEEK GOD FIRST
At the beginning of your day, intentionally decide to build a personal altar to the Lord - a specific time and place for you to meet with the Lord, pray, and read the Bible. Let the Lord know that you are making this vow because you want more of Him than you are currently experiencing. “Here I am God, because I have determined to seek you with all of my heart!”

2. SEEK GOD OFTEN
Now that you have set your heart toward seeking Him and growing in your hunger and relationship with Him, be persistent. We often overestimate what should or could happen in our lives in the short term and underestimate the power of persistent long term decisions. Jacob wrestled with the Lord all night and said, I will not let you go until you bless me! God loves this kind of persistence.

3. SEEK GOD TOGETHER
We were created to grow best in community and fellowship. We need one another more than we could possibly imagine. We spur one another on in faith and worship. This is why worshiping and praying together as a corporate body is a powerful atmosphere. In a culture that emphasizes DIY (do it yourself), we must be reminded that we are all members of one body - the Church. Make it a priority to attend church services, come to a corporate prayer meeting once a week, join a small group, and simply spend time with people that sharpen your relationship with God. There are some people that will be like gasoline to the flame of your faith and others that will be like a bucket of water. Prioritize those relationships that spur you on toward love and good works (Hebrews 10).

Let’s stay hungry, Radiant. God has so much more in store for us this year and beyond. SEEK is not just a season; it is a lifestyle. Let us press on to know the Lord. May we continue to hunger and thirst for righteousness. Jesus said if we do, we will all be FILLED!

Pastor Lee Cummings

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