I Will Run to You: A Prayer of Pursuit – Shades of Grace | Natalie Nichols- Shades of Grace | Natalie Nichols
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Jan 15th 20 Posted by Natalie Nichols in Fasting, Prayer

I Will Run to You: A Prayer of Pursuit

I-will-run-to-you

God put you and I on the earth at this time in history, in the exact places where we live—so that we might seek Him! And He promised that when we seek Him with our whole heart, we will find Him! (Jer. 29:13)

It is no accident that you and I are alive today in an age when there is such a thing as the internet, when we can join together in prayer and fasting. God custom designed the details so that you and I might seek Him and find Him! In Acts 17, Paul says,

26From one man He has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live. 27He did this so they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. (Acts 17:26-27, HCSB).

I expanded on this passage in the video below…

The Message Bible puts this Acts 17 passage in familiar wording:

26Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living  27so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. 

Did you notice the last sentence? As I mentioned in the video, God is not playing hide-and-seek with you and me. He wants to be found. He’s not far away… He’s near.

So let’s pray a prayer of seeking and finding—a prayer pursuing Him with our whole heart!

Prayer of Pursuit

In the video segment, I mentioned the event that “night” and the people’s reasons for attending—but we could apply it to the event of Pursuit 21. … Why did you choose to “attend” Pursuit 21? Why did you choose to seek God through prayer and fasting? What is it that you want from Him? How much do you long for Him? Tell Him. You’re hungry for something from the Lord. What is it? Tell Him! 

Let’s pray…

Father, our heart and flesh cry out for You. We spread out our hands before You. Our souls thirst for You like a parched and weary land (Psa. 143:6). We’re here to meet with You, Lord! (Psa. 42:2) You called us to this fast. So we thank You that You were here waiting for us before we got to this moment—You’re not far. When we draw near to You, You draw near to us. (Ja. 4:8)

Holy Spirit, we’re thirsty for Your Living Water. We’re thirsty for Your conviction. We’re thirsty for You to purify. We’re thirsty for passion. We’re thirsty for fire. We’re thirsty to feel God’s heart. We’re thirsty to see the world as You see it. We’re thirsty to see the people around us as You see them. We’re thirsty to see our church as You see it. We’re thirsty to see the bride of Christ as You see her. We’re tired of playing games and playing church; we’re thirsty for You, Lord. We mean business, and we know You do. So we pursue You passionately with everything we’ve got.

We sense an urgency from You, Father. You’ve called us to fast and pray because there is something You want to birth—a move of Yourself that you want to begin in the city, state, and nation where each of us lives. So we say, “Use us now to do it. Everything we have is Yours—our time, our material possessions, our future, our plans, our desires. We surrender to Your will.” Bless You, Lord. In Jesus’ sweet, powerful name. Amen.

If You Don’t Feel It

This video is a few years old now (as you can tell by how much younger I looked compared to some more recent photos), but its message is still the cry of my heart…. Deep inside, that is. I’m so drained from personal illness, and life, and years of caregiving, and months at the hospital that I don’t necessarily “feel” this every moment of the day. Most of the time, I’m too weary to “feel” much of anything… I’m too weary to think or care about things beyond the pressing, beyond the urgent, beyond my immediate sphere.

So don’t be condemned if your feelings don’t match what the Spirit of God in you feels. Your feelings will catch up! For now, just pray this prayer as a choice, a decision of the will, much like you made the decision to fast. You’re not fasting because you felt like it and were in the mood, but because you knew it was what God wanted you to do. You made a decision of your will, not of your feelings. It’s the same with this prayer. Speak the words of this prayer to God and He will answer them! He will stoke the fire on the altar of Your heart and make the message of the prayer real in you.

Passionate Pursuit Song

The song that follows the prayer in the video is called Passionate Pursuit. The streaming video doesn’t make for the best sound mix, but it’s decent enough that you can catch the message… and that’s the point.

I wrote this song in 2008 for the Passionate Pursuit women’s event. As God gave me a different theme for each month or semester of the event, I would write a corresponding verse that we could all sing as a group. The following are the lyrics used in the video:

Lyrics

Passionate Pursuit

Verse

Beautiful Lamb of God
Broken and pierced for me
Word that is speaking, Priest interceding
You’re calling me close to you
With a voice so tender and true
Saying, “Come away and be touched in my presence today”

Chorus

I will run to you
There’s nothing I desire more
I will run to you
I need your Spirit to pour down on me
Cleanse me, mold me, breath anew
As I run to you
In a passionate pursuit

Verse

God of unfailing love
Capture my wandering heart
Completely yours
Wholly,  not in part
Cleanse me now I pray
From my sinful ways
May you be my praise
Your words sweet to my taste

Chorus

I will run to you
There’s nothing I desire more
I will run to you
I need your Spirit to pour down on me
Cleanse me, mold me, breath anew
As I run to you
In a passionate pursuit

Verse

Of days past and to come
Of lands and nations
Your plan Divine placed me here in this tribe and tongue
That we might seek your face
And find you, here in this place
For You are not far, but here where we are today

Chorus

So help us will run to you
May there be nothing we desire more
Help us run to you
We need your Spirit to pour down on us
Cleanse us, mold us, breath anew
As we run to you
In a passionate pursuit

I will run to you
There’s nothing I desire more
I will run to you
I need your Spirit to pour down on me
Cleanse me, mold me, breath anew
As I run to you
In a passionate pursuit

© 2008 Natalie Nichols

In Closing

Beautiful Lamb of God, thank you for being broken and pierced for us. Word speaking, priest interceding, thank you for calling us close to You in this season of prayer and fasting. Your gentle, tender voice is calling us to Yourself right this minute, saying, “Come away and be touched in my presence today.”

So we will run to You. There’s nothing we desire more. We need Your Spirit to pour down on us. Cleanse us. Mold us. Breathe on us in a new, fresh way!

Of all the days past and future—of all the lands and nations—You chose to place each one of us in our communities, our states/provinces, our nations so that we might seek You…and find you.

So we will run to You. There’s nothing we desire more. We need Your Spirit to pour down on us. Cleanse us. Mold us. Breathe on us anew, as we run to You in a passionate pursuit.

–

TweetablesTweetables

  • Holy Spirit, we’re thirsty for Living Water. We’re thirsty for conviction. We’re thirsty for You to purify. We’re thirsty for passion. We’re thirsty for fire. We’re thirsty to feel God’s heart. We’re thirsty to see the world as You see it. Click to tweet Tweet
  • Father, we’re thirsty to feel Your heart. We’re thirsty to see the world as You see it. We’re thirsty to see the people around us as You see them. We’re thirsty to see our church as You see it. We’re thirsty to see the bride of Christ as You see her…. Click to tweet Tweet
  • Heavenly Father, we’re tired of playing games and playing church; we’re thirsty for You, Lord. We mean business, and we know You do. So we pursue You passionately with everything we’ve got. Click to tweet Tweet
–

Questions:

  • Are you fasting because your heart and your very body cry out for God? As you fast, have you felt like your fast is body-talk expressing your heart hunger for Jesus?
  • Are you dry and parched spiritually? You’re doing the right thing—seeking God through prayer intensified by fasting.
  • Are you thirsty for the Holy Spirit’s conviction? Thirsty for Him to purify? Thirsty for His passion and fire? Thirsty to feel God’s heart? Thirsty to see the world as He sees it? Thirsty to see the people around you as He sees them? Tell Jesus!
  • Are you tired of playing games and playing church? Do you mean business with God?
  • Do you sense an urgency from God? Do you feel that He has called you to seek Him through fasting and prayer because there is something He wants to birth—a move of God that He wants to begin in your city, state, and nation? 
  • Will you say to Him, “Use me now. Everything I have is Yours—my time, material possessions, future, plans, desires. I surrender everything I am and have to Your will”? 

 

FASTING DAY ELEVEN FROM THE ARCHIVES:

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2 Responses to “I Will Run to You: A Prayer of Pursuit”

  1. Lywanda says:
    January 17, 2020 at 7:00 pm

    I am in awe of this beautiful life changing song! Beautiful awesome Woman of God! Many blessings to you

    Reply

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