The Seven Longings of the Human Heart

The Seven Longings of the Human Heart

Book Study on the book by Mike Bickle

March 2011

Summary:

1. The Longing to be Enjoyed by God.

We were created to be enjoyed in a personal way by our Creator.  When we believe this truth we are set free from accusation, rejection, and shame.  He doesn’t just love us, He likes us!  This revelation keeps us  running to Him and not from Him when we mess up.

2. The Longing for Fascination.

God invented the idea of pleasure.  He created us with the desire to be amazed in order to drive us to the Amazing One. Spiritual pleasure resonates at a deeper level than any other pleasure.  He wants us to experience “divine entertainment” and overcome spiritual boredom by plumbing the depths of God.

3. The Longing for Beauty.

We reflect God’s beauty, and we are moved by beauty.  We long to possess beauty, to be striking and engaging.  “We are meant to feel beautiful before God and there is something powerful about those who genuinely do.”  The Holy Spirit wants to show us what God looks like and then show us what we look like to God.   He is the Bridegroom and we are the Bride.  His beauty is transferable to humans though Jesus.

4. The Longing for Greatness.

There is something within the heart of man that yearns to be crowned with greatness.  God satisfies our longing to be great by granting us, His Bride, a position of authority surpassing even the highest ranking angels.  We will rule and reign with Him.  Our nobility is in the Kingdom of Heaven, not of this world.

5. The Longing for Intimacy Without Shame.  

God created us with a profound desire to fully know and to be known without shame.  Loneliness severely breaks and bruises us, and it is not God’s plan for us.  The Father has permitted Jesus to pour His glory out on us now in part, and in fullness in the age to come.  There is a difference between solitude and loneliness.  Worldly counterfeit intimacy is what brings shame.

6. The Longing to be Wholehearted.

You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart is not just a command, it is a prophetic statement.  The time is coming when followers of God will follow Him with wholehearted love, not mindless ritual.  The supernatural work of the Holy Spirit empowers us to walk out full obedience.  We were created for Holy Romance; people who are in love give up a lot less frequently than those who are not in love.  It reduces burnout and reduces temptation.

7. The Longing to make a deep and lasting Impact.

We long to share things with others that change them or bring them joy and goodness.  This is not innately self-serving or a sign of weakness or vanity; it’s an expression of being created in the likeness of God.  We are very important, but only have lasting significance as we walk in obedience to God’s will for our lives.

My Perspective:

The Longing for beauty and for intimacy without shame resonate with me the most.  I have spent a lot of time and effort trying to mask my loneliness and insecurities; trying not to be that cliché single woman in her thirties, desperate for a husband.  It has not been easy living alone and being in a community of friends who are all married.  Somewhere along the line I started to believe I not worthy of love and marriage, and that being single was somehow more holy or virtuous.  I’m not sure how one can hold both opinions at the same time, but I did.  My married friends were envious of me and the freedom I had and I was envious of them with their built in best friend and house full of people.  I wouldn’t even let myself pray for a husband because I was 1) afraid that He would say no, and 2) I was afraid it was a selfish request.  If He knows the true desire of my heart, why should I have to ask Him? I’ve come to the conclusion that I am pretty messed up in this department.  I had done the Song of Songs study and had come to the deepest revelation of God’s love and affection for me than I had ever known, but still felt like longing to be pursued and for a husband and family was wrong.   Hope deferred had truly made my heart sick. (Proverbs 13:12)

The first thing that I was faced with when I arrived and started the internship was loneliness.  I was confronted with the spirit of rejection 3 times in the first week as people prayed and spoke prophetically over me.  I was actually angry and questioning God as I was facing the reality and asked the Lord, “Really? Is this what I came all the way out here for?”  I felt like there were much more important things to focus on.  But finally the 3^rd person helped me pray through and come out of agreement with this spirit of rejection.  At that point I realized that I had developed a huge “back off” sign on my forehead.  I was rejecting people; warning them away from me by my demeanor before they would have a chance to reject me.  I found it really hard to trust new people and certain types of guys and even women.  I was holding on to the hurt and rejection from past encounters and I needed to let go of them and be healed. 

The 2^nd step was confronting my thoughts on desiring a husband and family.  God encountered me through a very wise and Godly couple and showed me that I needed to be praying specifically for my future partner.  Through this encounter I realized that I had believed something about myself and about God that was not true.  He had never called me to be single, but I had projected that fear on Him due to my insecurities about being beautiful and lovable, and due to misguided words of others about being called to singleness.  He began to restore my hope in marriage and I have begun to pray for the one He will send to me. 

The 3^rd step was restoring a right perspective about the goodness of marriage and partnership and raising a family, which He started through a couple of Craig Cook’s sessions.  Further encounter and confirmation came through the “True Feminine” session of Pure Heart.  I have gone through quite a lot emotionally the past couple of weeks trying to get rid of the garbage and believe the truth about how God views me.  I need healing and to come out of agreement with what the world calls beautiful and see myself and others as He sees us.

God has called me to be a Forerunner.  Hi is placing a message inside of me that is busting at the seams to get out of me. I cannot afford a “back off” sign on my spiritual forehead or a fear of rejection that will keep me from speaking truth.  I cannot afford to judge others; appearances the way I have judged my own.  I need God’s perspective  on myself, to truly love myself and see myself as He sees me so that it’s possible to see and love others the same way  So the answer to my own question is “Yes, really.  This is what you came here for.”

I am learning that the longings in my heart are not sinful or selfish; they are part of God’s design to draw us to Him.  While we will never be fully satisfied until we see Him face to face, we can be satisfied in part here on earth if we seek His face and allow the Holy Spirit to transform our desires into the holy desires of God’s will for us.  He created the concept of unity in marriage and raising families.  It is a prophetic picture of our salvation relationship with Jesus.  He has awakened a desire in me for adoption through this whole experience as well.  Especially for crisis pregnancy situations; providing a home for babies saved from planned abortions.  Coming into agreement with how He loves me frees up my heart to receive love from others and to move more freely in the calling He has placed on my life.  It makes me more approachable and makes me more willing to approach others.  A heart free of the clutches of fear of rejection is a heart that can be used for the glory of God and the Harvest of souls.

Fast Forward: February 2013

Since moving to Michigan and pursuing the dreams of God’s heart for my life, I have seen a huge difference in my everyday life.  The healing that I received during my time at IHOP-KC from the Lord has been a gift and has led to an ongoing transformation of my soul.  There is a new found confidence that allows me to look people in the eye, to have the courage to give a ready answer for the hope that lies within me, and to testify to the goodness of His healing Hand.  The Lord has been opening doors for me to be light and to bloom where He has planted me. Situations that I would have shied away from, conversations that I would never have imagined, answers and wisdom that I could never have come to on my own, have become the norm in my life.  I have been able to embrace the fact that I am introverted but not be shy, and not to use it as a reason to isolate myself from the unknown.  I have come to trust the Spirit that lives within me to give me the words to say (and NOT to say) in any and all given situations.  He is faithful and true.  He is Healer.  And He uses weak and broke people to declare these truths.

healing

A few months before I left for Kansas City, I started having pretty intense headaches every day. While I am used to tension headaches in the back of my head and neck/shoulders, these headaches were more in my face and jaw. So while I still had insurance, I decided to see the eye doctor and get a check up in case I needed new glasses. I also made an appointment with the dentist for the first time in like 18 years. (I know, it sounds totally gross and irresponsible, but I had some bad experiences with dentists as an adolescent and I have spent most of my adult life without insurance.) So I got new glasses first, but the headaches continued, so I went to the dentist. Fortunately I only had one cavity and the dentist was shocked at how healthy my mouth and teeth were. Thank the Lord for good genes! I was worried that something was wrong with my wisdom teeth, because I had never had them removed. But I did mention the headaches to the dentist, and she said that she would guess that it was due to sensitivity. My roots were exposed because my gums were recessed in some areas due to brushing too hard. She said it would bring sensitivity to temperature and sweets. This she says to the girl who has to have ice cold drinks, chews on ice, and has a major sweet tooth!

This revelation led me to do some experiments with different things to see if they brought on the pain and headaches, and it seemed to be true. So I bought some Sensydine toothpaste and tried to watch the temperature of my drinks. It didn't make too much difference. Something as simple as breathing in cold air outside caused me pain, so there was not a lot I could do to keep the headaches from happening.

I spend a lot of time in the prayer room and in worship services that are as loud as being at a rock concert. 32 hours a week to be exact. These headaches brought on by cold air or cold water, or sugar or whatever were only intensified in these worship settings. It was like my teeth were sensitive to the sound too. There were seriously certain guitar strummings and noises that set my teeth on edge like nails on a blackboard. You can imagine what this did for my focus. I started wearing ear plugs in these services, which a lot of people in this community do, for protection of my ears and to keep the noise from intensifying these headaches. The ear plugs, while helpful and a good idea for people who are consistently exposed to these decibels, made me feel even more disconnected with what was going on around me. I could still hear everything but in a muffled way that made it possible for me to totally disengage with what was going on and just read or study. Needless to say I was getting very frustrated. I knew in my heart that this was not God's will for me to come all this way to focus on Him and then not be able to focus on Him!

We spend a lot of time everyday praying for the healing of the sickness in our bodies. I sometimes struggle with asking for healing because I have the "there is always someone worse off than me" syndrome. But I have seen more people healed in the short times I have been at IHOP than I have ever seen in my whole life so I KNOW that Jesus is healing. One morning during the worship and ministry time before class, the leadership asked for anyone who needed healing in their bodies to raise their hands. I was finally done with struggling, so I raised my hands. This was the first week of February. One of my fellow interns came to pray for me. When I opened my eyes, I knew who it was and it was significant who God brought to pray with me. (I will share more about that in a minute.) So she asked me what I was praying for and I said that I have sensitive teeth that cause headaches. She asked if it hurt to even breath in through my mouth and I said yes. She prayed over me for healing for several minutes, and I felt the Lord telling me that he was going to heal me. I felt a peace. When she was finished praying for me, I looked at her and told her why God had led her to pray with me...

One morning early in the internship I had sat next to this same girl, Kelli, during class. During prayer time, we broke into to small groups to pray for a specific thing. About 5 of us sitting there together stood up in a circle and held hands to pray. While we were praying I felt my right hand get really hot as I was holding Kelli's hand. It was just my right hand so I knew it was significant. I heard the Lord telling me that there was healing in her hands. After we sat down and I thought about how I was going to tell her about it, the Lord even told me that she was going to say that her hands were always cold. I wanted so much to share this word of encouragement with her. But I didn't even know her! I was so afraid that I was hearing wrong or that she wouldn't receive the word that I completely chickened out and didn't tell her.

So now, here we are 2-3 weeks later and she is standing in front of me praying for MY healing. The unmistakable Sovereignty of God was staring me right in the face. So I told her what I had heard from the Lord about her and the gift of healing that was in her hands, and it was a very moving moment and a huge source of encouragement for her. I even told her "Your hands are usually always cold, aren't they?" and she said yes. I told her that the Lord had revealed that to me too. It was confirmation of her faithfulness to believe in praying for healing, and confirmation for me that I can hear the word of the Lord and that it will be received. Kelli told me that she wanted to pray for me again the next morning and I told her that would be awesome. Since I didn't have a headache right then it was not evident if the healing had taken place yet.

So I felt better that day in the prayer room, and didn't have a headache, but still noticed sensitivity and occasional pain. So Kelli prayed for me the next morning, and after she prayed she told me a story about someone else's testimony that God healed a women's sensitivity. She said that the problem with her was that her gums had receded and God grew her gums back. I laughed out loud because I had not told Kelli that this was the reason my teeth were sensitive. At that point we were both convinced that God was moving! She encouraged me to praise God with my mouth every time I brushed my teeth and just ask Him to fill my mouth with His praises and His words. I found this to be such a blessing and actually remembered to do it every time. When I shared with Kelli a couple of times about my progress she told me that ever since I had shared with her about the heat in her hands, she had noticed that her hands had been warm more often than cold.

I received more prayer about it later in the week, and God actually removed pain while I was standing in His presence and had people laying hands on me. From that night on, for about 3 weeks now, I have not had any pain at all due to sensitivity or tension, and have not had a single headache in the prayer room or evening services! If that is not enough, I fully believe that God is growing my gums back into a healthy place, because I can see a difference in them. PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW! He has defeated the Enemy who would have me distracted and incapable of hearing the Lord speak into my life! Lord, you are good and your mercies endureth forever. I am looking forward to testifying of the healing power of Jehovah Rapha, our Healer God, to my dentist when I go in for a check-up in a few months!