A Hungry Heart
He has filled the hungry with good things (Luke 1:53).
Edwin Hatch was an ordained priest in the Church of England, and in his day he was one of the foremost church historians in the world. His lectures forever established his name among the scholars of the world.
But when he left the lecture room and went into his prayer closet, his heart hungered for more than academic truth or inter-national fame. He prayed:
Breathe on me. Breath of God, until my heart is pure, until with thee I will one will, to do and to endure. Breathe on me, Breath of God, ‘til I am wholly thine, until this earthly part of me Glows with thy fire divine.”
Many of us expect God to work in other people in ways that are identical with the way he works in us. The reality is that God is not confined to our religious tradition or our language categories. He can take any hungry heart and breathe his Spirit upon it until that heart glows with his fire divine.
Edwin Hatch may never have heard the language about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but his heart cried out for God to do something more for him. Is your heart hungry for more? God does not have to work within the confines of our language or our categories.
—Dennis Kinslaw
Job declared, “For the Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life” (Job 33:4). He later concluded, “If God were to take back his spirit and withdraw his breath, all life would cease, and humanity would turn again to dust” (Job 34:14-15). He understood the generative manner of God’s speaking life into our hearts; God is life. Apart from His “breath” in our lungs, we are not really living in the fullest sense. We often pray, bringing our wants and desires before the Lord; sometimes even our desperate needs. But how often to we pray in thankful acknowledgment for His being the life-giver, animating our souls, and specifically asking for more of His blessing? Let us pray for a fresh blast of this new life; the winds of His Spirit to fill our lungs and our lives with His life-giving breath, that we might truly live, today, and always! –DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics