Worship More and Worry Less: 30 Days of Praiseنموونە

In Psalm 116, David proclaims his love for YHWH. I love telling God I love Him, too. A prayer I pray almost every day is: “Lord, I love you with everything I have.” But the other day, when I prayed it, a question drifted through my mind: What if I don’t really love Him with everything I have?

I began to question my daily prayer. Do I really love Him with everything, or is it just a prayer on repeat? It concerned me. I really do want to love Him this way—nothing else on the throne of my heart.

The Lord heard my concern.

As I researched Psalm 116 for this devotion, I discovered something wonderful. It’s another Hebrew word translated as love. It’s not chesed. This word is ahab.

The annotated definition in my study Bible took my breath away. Blinking back tears, I read: “. . . . Implies an ardent and vehement inclination of the mind and a tenderness of affection at the same time” (Key Word Study Bible NIV p. 1501).

Though my spirit felt the impact of those words, I needed to study further, so I looked up “ardent.” Good old Webster blessed me, too:

“Ardent is an adjective that means intensely passionate, devoted, or enthusiastic. It describes someone with a strong, fervent feeling or desire for something or someone, such as an "ardent supporter" or "ardent admirer". The word also carries its original literal meaning of "burning" or "glowing," though this is less common in modern usage.”

Oh, my friends, I want to love the Lord that way. Intensely and enthusiastically devoted. I want my love to glow! I pray the same for you. I pray we love the Lord with fervent, burning, tender passion. That’s how the psalmist loves Him in our scripture today.

Journal

Write a prayer to love the Lord with crazy, intense, and tender passion.