Free ebook: Seven Longings of the Human Heartby Mike Bickle with Deborah Hiebert. Visit mikebickle.org
The 7 Longings of the Human Heart
I.Introduction:Designed to live exhilarated in God
26“I will declare it [Father’s name], that the love with which You loved Me may be in them.”
(Jn. 17:26)
A.God reveals God to the human spirit to awaken love in us. There is nothing more pleasurable or exhilarating than loving God by the power of God energizing our heart. It takes God’s power to love God. The Father’s love is supernaturally poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5). Our very desire for God is God’s gift to us;it is an expression of His desire for us.
B.God created the human spirit with 7 longings that draw us to Him and reflect His glory in us.Theyexpress God’s creative genius in how He designed our spirit. Each longing is a reflection of God’s personality. We are made in His image; thus, we have these longings that enable us to walk with Jesus as His eternal companion. We cannot remove these longings by repenting of them; rather, we must repent of seeking to fulfill them in wrong ways. We must not seek to satisfy these God-given longings outside of God’s will and outside of relationship with Him.
C.We have a God-shaped vacuum (gnawing emptiness) in our heart that only Jesus can fill. These 7 longings will never be fully met in this age.
D.The Spirit will satisfy our heart as He answers these7 basic longings the He put in our hearts. God created us with a great appetite for pleasures that are in His will.He frees us from the dominion of the “inferior pleasures” of sin by releasing the “superior pleasures” of the gospel.
E.The generation in which Jesus returns will be filled with great emotional brokenness. There will be a great increase of sin—murder, pornography, theft and the occult (Rev. 9:21).The perversion and woundedness of the human heart will reach proportions unknown in history (Dan. 8:23). Thus, only those who are truly satisfied in God will be equipped to stand in the coming days.
21They did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or thefts. (Rev. 9:21)
F.In the midst of the escalating sin in the end times, Jesus will bring His people to victory. He is returning for a Church that lives as a spotless prepared Bride that is fascinated with God and walking in His power (Rev. 19:7). Seeing Jesus’ beauty will empower His people to overcome even in the midst of the most lawless, demonic, and sexually perverted generation in history.
26…that He [Jesus] might…cleanse her [the Church] with the washing of water by the Word, 27that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. (Eph. 5:26-27)
G.By receiving spiritual insight,we will experience more of God’s power on our heart (Eph. 1:18).
17…the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know [experience] …what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints… (Eph. 1:17–18)
longing #1: the longing for THE assurance of being enjoyed by God
9“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you.” (Jn. 15:9)
We were created with a craving to be pursued, delighted in, and enjoyed, first by God and then by our loved ones. Understanding God’s affection for us is where we begin to live exhilaratedby His love.
Thereisagreatdifferencebetweenrebellionandspiritualimmaturity(thatsincerelyseekstoobeyGod).
longing #2: the longing to be fascinated
4One thing I desired…all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord… (Ps. 27:4)
There is a craving in our spirit to be fascinated, to marvel, and be awestruck. The entertainment industry has identified this longing and exploited it to their profit—to the ruin of people.Without having a sense of awe we live aimlessly and spiritually bored. A spiritually bored Churchis weak and vulnerable.
longing #3: the longing to be beautiful
3…to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning… (Isa. 61:3)
Every person longs to possess beauty and to feel beautiful. The beauty that God possesses is the very beauty that He imparts through redemption. His beauty is transferable to human beings through Jesus!
longing #4: The Longing to be great
We long to be successful. The great God created us with a desire for greatness. We were made for greatness and honor (Heb. 2:7).We cannot repent of this longing, only of pursuing it in a wrong way.
19“…whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt. 5:19)
longing #5: THE longing for intimacy without shame
We each long for intimacy without shame in knowing and being known before the Lord. Jesus shares the secrets of His heart with His people (Ps. 25:14), and we will share the secrets of our heart with Him.
longing #6: the longing to be wholehearted—First Commandment
We long to give our all to God with deep loyal love.He imparts to us the power to be passionate because He is a passionate God. We cannot function properly until we passionately give our heart to a Person and purpose beyond ourselves. If we don’t have something to die for, we have nothing to live for.
longing #7: The longing for significance—to make a lasting impact
We are desperate to live with meaning and to make a contribution that is significant to God so that He esteems and remembers it forever. This longing is satisfied by service that results in eternal impact and rewards. God designed us to long to make a difference in the lives of others.
International House of Prayer of Kansas City ihopkc.org
Free Teaching Library mikebickle.org