Our Soul Longs for God
Recently I received an email from a reader questioning some strong emotions they have been experiencing even though they do not currently have an active relationship with God, nor are they involved in church or prayer. The reader expressed feeling an emotional draw and pull towards church. They communicated that they cry every time they hear a Christian or gospel song, in addition to experiencing overwhelming and even exhausting tears during the couple of times they have attended church as an adult. Their question was to ask how they could be experiencing such emotions and a draw to something with which they are not even that involved. My short answer: Our soul longs for God.
Deep down in our innermost being, our souls long for God. There are numerous scriptures in the Bible that talk about this.
Scriptures about how our souls long for God
“He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 (AMP)
“Through the night my soul longs for you. Deep from within me my spirit reaches out to you…” Isaiah 26:9a (MSG)
“O God, you are my God, and I long for you. My whole being desires you; like a dry, worn-out, and waterless land, my soul is thirsty for you.” Psalm 63:1 (GNT)
“My soul (my life, my inner self) thirsts for God, for the living God. When will I come and see the face of God?” Psalm 42:2 (AMP)
“My soul (my life, my inner self) longs for and greatly desires the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.” Psalm 84:2 (AMP)
“I stretch out my hands to You; My soul longs for You, as a parched land. Selah.” Psalm 143:6 (NASB)
“My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word.” Psalm 119:81 (ESV)
“My soul longs for the Lord more than watchmen long for the morning; more than watchmen for the morning.” Psalm 130:6 (WEB)
“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” Philippians 2:13 (NLT)
“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God, “When I will send hunger over the land, Not hunger for bread or a thirst for water, But rather [a hunger] for hearing the words of the Lord.” Amos 8:11 (AMP)
A hunger and thirst for Jesus
Something is missing without Jesus. Deep down something inside of us feels incomplete without him. Only Jesus can complete us. We have a hunger or thirst for something inside of us, and Jesus is the only one that can satisfy that hunger/thirst.
“And in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.” Colossians 2:10 (NASB)
“Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. But the water that I give him will become in him a spring of water [satisfying his thirst for God] welling up [continually flowing, bubbling within him] to eternal life.” John 4:13-14 (AMP)
“Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35 (NLT)
“On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.” John 7:37 (NIV)
Emotions with music
In a previous post, “I Cry During Praise and Worship”, I describe my own tendency to cry during praise music, and I explain a bit about why I think I’m prone to do that (in addition to how my own soul longs for God). Praise invites God’s physical, tangible (where you can actually feel Him) presence into where we are. When we praise we can often FEEL God. His presence can be overwhelming, often making us emotional and bringing us to tears, sometimes taking us by surprise. We also draw near to God when we sing to him or about him, which in turn will cause him to draw near to us. So again, we can feel him or his presence.
“And thou art holy, thou that dwellest amid the praises of Israel.” Psalm 22:3 (DBT)
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you…” James 4:8a (ESV)
I also think that we when FEEL God we feel his pure, unconditional love because he IS love. That’s something we don’t feel anywhere else. This can often bring out emotions within us because a love like that can sometimes be overwhelming and incomprehensible.
“But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” 1 John 4:8 (NLT)
I love this quote by Sheila Walsh from this excellent article on the subject of longing for God:
“We are born with an innate longing deep inside to connect to something or someone who understands us completely.”[1]
When we experience God’s love, we can often be overcome with emotions because we do feel this kind of connection.
We are drawn to God and to Jesus
Sometimes it’s not our own souls reaching out. We may experience a pull or a draw because we are in fact being drawn!
“And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” John 12:32 (NLT)
“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him [giving him the desire to come to Me]; and I will raise him up [from the dead] on the last day.” John 6:44 (AMP)
“Long ago the LORD said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.” Jeremiah 31:3 (NLT)
The Holy Spirit draws us too
If we have drifted from God or are far from him relationally, our own spirit (our inner self) may be trying to guide us back to God, via promptings from God’s Holy Spirit. The pull we feel may be God speaking to us through the Holy Spirit to bring us back to him.
In this article Pastor Rick Renner explains how the Holy Spirit will gently tug at our hearts to draw us and lead us where we need to go…
“Today I want to encourage you to pay careful attention to the “tugging” and “pulling” of the Holy Spirit in your heart. He is a gentleman and does not force you to obey Him. He prompts you, tugs on your heart, and pulls on your spirit to get your attention. Sometimes His “tugs” may be so gentle that you almost miss them. But if you’ll develop your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, He will gently “lead” you exactly where He wants you to go with your life.”[2]
So then what are we to do with the pull, draw, or longing? What are we supposed to do if we are feeling that our soul longs for God?
Take a Practical Step if Feel That Your Soul Longs for God:
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First, if you feel something in you reaching for God, follow that and intentionally reach for him (not just internally). If you feel God reaching for you, reach back!
Start by communicating with him. Pray. Just talk to him (here’s a good way to start). If you are interested in some of the first steps back to God, here’s a post that might help get you started: First Steps to Ultimate Success. It will give you some steps on asking Jesus into your heart and confessing your faith, then follow-up steps like getting baptized, reading your Bible, finding and attending a church, etc.
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Then, when you seek God, you WILL find him.
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)
“But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Deuteronomy 4:29 (NIV)
“I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.” Jeremiah 27:4 (NIV)
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV) (see also Luke 9:9-10)
“I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.” Psalm 34:4 (NIV)
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Finally, listen to God, and do not harden your heart. Do not ignore that draw or pull.
“…Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” Hebrews 4:7b (ESV)
As you seek God and reach out to him, he will continue to lead you and prompt you to your next step and then the next step and so on.
If I can assist you with this in any way or if you have any questions, it would be my honor and pleasure to help you. 😊 My goal through this site is to help others along on their walk with God, wherever that may be…mature Christian, new/returning believer, or those just seeking answers. My hope is to love you and meet you where you are.
How have you experienced your soul longing for God? Tell us about it by leaving a comment below.
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If you know anyone that could benefit from this, please pay it forward! Share this post via the sharing links below. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)
- Walsh, Sheila. “The Longing for God Alone.” FaithGateway, 23 Mar. 2016, www.faithgateway.com/longing-god-alone/#.XkGYLmlKiUk. ↑
- Renner, Rick. “Is the Holy Spirit Tugging at Your Heart Today?” Rick Renner Ministries, renner.org/holy-spirit-tugging-on-your-heart/. ↑
