Draw Closer

Call To Prayer 

Title: Draw Closer 

By: Njuacha Hubert 

Date: 16.03.2024 

3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Deuteronomy 8:3 

A wilderness season is a time when God keeps away certain needs of the flesh to draw us closer to Him. It may sound selfish but when you have understood how wonderful He is and how much we need Him then you will see it is for our good. 

From the opening verse you can see that God does not deny that a man lives on bread because it says “… man does not live on bread alone…” meaning there is an admittance on the importance or need for bread. Again, Jesus says in Mathew 6:32, “… your heavenly father knows you need them”. However, the verse (which was also quoted by Jesus when he was tempted in Wilderness) introduces another kind of food that sustains us and that is the word of God and God’s presence. 

The bread symbolizes all the needs of a man’s flesh be it food, companionship, sex, honour etc. These things are good (created by God) but will never completely satisfy us. However, there is another bread that comes from heaven which gives eternal life and satisfies completely. That is Jesus, His word and God’s presence (John 6:33-36). So despite knowing how much we need the bread of now God keeps that away in a wilderness to make us hunger and introduce us to His bread with the hope of drawing us closer to Himself. So, in this season of lack we can learn to depend on God which is a surer dependence since He will never fail. We can learn the joy of His presence and discover the sufficiency of His grace. After going through such seasons of dryness and drawing closer to God we will then learn like saint Paul, to be content in little and in much because we have learnt to depend on God (Philippians 4:12-14), a spring that never runs dry.  

When the season is over and you receive what you desire, the more you had learnt to depend on Him the better you will handle that fulfilled desire. It’s His will that we don’t idolize anything or any one.

Prayer Point:  

Let’s thank God for the word. Let’s pray for the grace to draw closer to God in our wilderness seasons and learn more about the joy of His presence.