Prayer: Deep Calls Unto Deep
Psalms 42:7 Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; All Your waves and billows have gone over me.
I envision the depths of the ocean, which plunge deeper than the highest mountain. Mount Everest is 29,026 feet (5.5 miles) high. However, the deepest place on earth is the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean which is 36,070 feet (6.8 miles) deep. Just imagine being plunged into the fathomless depths of the ocean of God’s love!
Here is an old hymn from 1923 that describes the love of God:
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song.
Dear Heavenly Father, I acknowledge that I could not come to You by myself. I am here because You have drawn me with the cords of Your eternal love:
Jeremiah 31:3
The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying:
"Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
Hosea 11:4
I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love…
John 6:44
No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him…
Thank You, Father, for drawing me, for birthing me into Your family through Your Son, Jesus, and His work on the Cross. And I thank You for placing deep within me a longing and passion to know You more. I take the psalmist’s words as my prayer:
Psalms 42:1-2
As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God…
Lord Jesus, as I think of Your love so richly displayed by Your death on the Cross, the precious Blood You shed, and Your resurrection victory, I feel the billows and surges of Your mighty waves of love rushing over my entire being.
“Behold what manner of love…” (1 John 3:1).
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son…” (1 John 4:10).
And yet, there is longing for more – as the psalmist cried out:
“Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
All Your waves and billows have gone over me.”
Spirit of God, my Comforter, my Counselor, my Guide, and my Helper – You came to dwell within me to reveal more of Jesus to me. As Jesus explained to His disciples:
John 16:13-15 (Amplified Bible)
“...He [the Holy Spirit] will guide you into all truth... He will take of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you.”
The Word also tells me that You, Holy Spirit, will reveal the “deep things of God” to me:
1 Corinthians 2:9-10 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The THINGS which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the DEEP THINGS of GOD.
I can only imagine what those “deep things of God” could actually be!
I am thinking about what scientists refer to as “Deep Space” – the universe far beyond our galaxy. To reveal deep space, the Hubble Telescope’s Camera could not just click once to capture a single photo. It took 288 hours of continuous exposure for the details to be revealed.
Indeed, the “deep things” of God cannot be known in a quick “click” of devotions!
It may take 288 hours of prayer or 288 hours of Bible study to see just one small aspect of the “deep things” of God!
O Holy Spirit, I have no idea what these “deep things of God” are, but seeing this in the Word thrills my heart! Take me deeper, Holy Spirit! Sweep over me like mighty ocean waves and flood my being with the love of Jesus:
Let that fathomless love flood my soul – the love that “passes knowledge” (Eph 3:19) – such a deep love for Jesus which causes Him to become my chief distraction at all times!
O God, just as You did with Ezekiel (Eze 47:1-5), draw me out deeper beyond the ankles-deep waters – the shallow and noisy waters near the river’s banks. Draw me out into the quiet and powerful-flowing deep, where my feet can no longer touch the bottom – where Your currents carry me along. Bring me to the place where I am no longer in control, where my faith and trust are in You alone. Draw me into a deeper place of yieldedness and surrender to “the good pleasure of Your will” and Your eternal purpose:
Ephesians 1:5,9
Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.
Having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself.
“Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
All Your waves and billows have gone over me.”
This old hymn beautifully expresses this prayer in song:
- Deeper, deeper in the love of Jesus
Daily let me go;
Higher, higher in the school of wisdom,
More of grace to know.
Chorus
Oh, deeper yet, I pray,
And higher ev’ry day,
And wiser, blessed Lord,
In Thy precious, holy Word.
- Deeper, deeper! blessed Holy Spirit,
Take me deeper still,
Till my life is wholly lost in Jesus,
And His perfect will.
- Deeper, deeper! tho’ it cost hard trials,
Deeper let me go!
Rooted in the holy love of Jesus,
Let me fruitful grow.
- Deeper, higher, ev’ry day in Jesus,
Till all conflict past,
Finds me conqu’ror, and in His own image
Perfected at last.
“Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
All Your waves and billows have gone over me.”
Deeper! STILL DEEPER!
Do it, blessed Lord!
Amen.
Listen to “Deeper, Deeper“ (written in 1900 by Charles Price Jones):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOFk6niVqYs
“Deeper in Love“ (Don Moen):
https://youtu.be/O9Hoij2kXrU
“Draw Me Close” (Michael W. Smith)
https://youtu.be/EhKm-6G004k
