Stimulate Your Desire for Growth

Matt Woodley, managing editor of PreachingToday.com, tells about the time he was playing on the Freshman basketball team and they were down 8 points at half-time to a team they should have been beating.

Coach Hammerstien, affectionately nick-named “The Hammer” by his players, for his demanding demeanor and occasional outbursts, was livid when they went into the locker room. In the midst of his lecture about their lackluster performance Woodley said he yawned.

“The Hammer” went off. He grabbed Woodley by the jersey, lifted him off the bench, and started shouting two inches from his face: “Woodley, if I don’t see more hustle out of you, I will personally pour gasoline down your shorts and light you on fire. You got that, son? You gotta have the want to, Woodley. You gotta find the desire!”

Predicably, Woodley said he and his teammates found the desire, played inspired ball the second half, and came roaring back to victory.

In comparison, Matt writes, “When it comes to spiritual growth, desire is the primary fuel.” In other words, he says, “You GOTTA have the WANT TO.”

All the preaching, teaching, and blogging about spiritual growth will produce very little, if we really lack the desire, if we really don’t possess the “want to.” Too often, Christians neglect doing what they know they need to do because they don’t feel like it. Their feelings of discouragement, apathy, hopelessness, fear, melancholy, or just plain laziness suppress their desire and repress their spiritual activity.

However, as the late psychologist O. H. Mowrer once opined, “It’s easier to act yourself into a better way of feeling that to feel yourself into a better way of acting.”

If you think about it, we do many things that we don’t feel like doing. We do them, because we have to. The boss says so. Duty demands it. Responsibility requires it. Survival depends on it. Love motivates it. Or someone like “The Hammer” grabs us by the collar and lights a fire in our britches.

Obviously, neither preachers nor pastors, can come down on folks like “The Hammer.” And neither does the Lord. He calls us to come to Him, to serve Him, and follow Him because of our devotion to Him. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments” (Jn. 14:15).

The fuel of desire, however, can be found and fomented in several different forms.

#1 The fuel of the Word.

Peter penned that we need to be like “newborn babes,” who “desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Pet. 2:2).

It’s often repeated refrain, but you can’t grow without God’s Word. Reading, studying, and meditating on it will stimulate our desire for growth. It is the bread of life. The water that quenches our thirst. The lamp that lights our path. The medicine that heals the soul. The counsel that provides wisdom. And the road map that leads to heaven.

You’ve got to find a way to regularly get into the Word. Read a little bit everyday. Listen to it on the way to work, while you’re exercising, or just relaxing around the house.

The Word will stimulate your desire for spiritual growth.

#2 The fuel of prayer.

Jesus is our example in prayer. He prayed often to the Father. In these times, we draw closer to God, feel His presence, and find the power to move forward.

If your prayer life feels stilted and stale, read some of David’s prayers in the Psalms. Pray them. Make them your own. As he talked with God, he found strength, courage, and experienced deeper spiritual connection. His fervent desire is reflected in Psalm 42, when he wrote:

As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul
thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?

#3 The fuel of worship.

Have you ever attended a worship service when you didn’t feel like it? Most of us have. Almost without exception, you feel better when you left than when you arrived. Worship inspires. Worship lifts. Worship ennobles. Worship challenges. Worship encourages. Worship enlivens. Worship refreshes.

When “we worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (Ps. 96:9), we fill our spiritual tank with fuel to face life’s challenges and spiritually grow.

#4 The fuel of fellowship

God formed us for family and created us for community. We need each other. The “one another” commands offer instruction and insight into the power of mutual encouragement. “Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:25).

The word “stimulate” is also translated, “stir up,” “spur one another on,” “encourage,” as well as “provoke” in the KJV. It means to incite in a positive way. It speaks to sharpening one another to action.

When we neglect the fellowship of our brethren, we are depriving ourselves of fuel necessary for spiritual growth.

#5 The fuel of music.

We think of music as something we do in the worship service when we “sing and make melody in our hearts to the Lord” (Eph. 5:19) as we “teach and admonish one another” (Col.3:16). However, you don’‘t have to attend church to be inspired by spiritual songs. Play CD’s when you’re driving. YouTube offers some wonderful groups that will lift your spirits through song.

The Greek philosopher Plato once wrote, “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” Music is one means by which your spiritual growth is fueled.

#6 The fuel of good books.

“Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary,” wrote Jim Rohn. Reading is also essential for spiritual growth. Of course, if we could only read one book, it would be the Bible. However, there are many books written by people of Faith that provide insights into Biblical subjects.

Devotional books, discipleship books, leadership books, class books, apologetic books, books on marriage and family, commentaries, and biographies and autobiographies of godly men and women offer fuel to educate, encourage and inspire us to greater spiritual heights.

To grow spiritually, you must fight the feelings that are holding you back. You must overcome inertia. You must fuel your desire. When you act, and do what you know you need to do, guess what? Your feelings will change too.

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman