Spiritual Thirst: I want to feel Jesus

We go to a little Spanish community church.

We are the only North American family in the place (by American — they mean me, the English speaker).

God has used this little church in ways to allow me to experience some healing and growth in my life, even though Spanish is not my first language.

The service is in Spanish: prayers, announcements, greetings, offering, Scripture reading, and preaching.

I understand maybe 70% of the spoken word at this point in my life.

Last night, one of our first-time visitors didn’t speak Spanish at all.

She stayed for the entire service, in spite of the language barrier.

During a time of “come forward for prayer for whatever” she came forward.

Pastor invited me to come and pray with our guest (as I’m the only attendee that speaks English as my first language).

Among other questions, I asked her, “What brought you here?”

“I want to feel Jesus.”

Reflections:

Some people experience spiritual thirst as a desire to experience the presence of God.

Some are drawn to the sacred experience that is found in worship. They seek Jesus by coming to church, drawn by the mystery of the sacred.

Our church’s music isn’t perfect.

We sing in various pitches (read — occasionally off-key).

We have typos in the words displayed on the screen.

But when we are lost in worship, these things do not matter.

As God inhabits the praises of his people, even when the words are unknown, God may make His presence tangible enough for those seeking Him to know his presence.

Let me ask you this:

Would you pray that people would be drawn to Jesus?