Where Is the Desire?
What David Teaches Us About Hijacked Longing & the Path Back to Holy Desire
I read Psalm 63 this morning, and it felt like I was in the cave with David. I wasn’t just reading—I was there. Surrounded by dry earth and desperate prayers. Fired up about the trillions of stars we just looked at. And I found myself reminiscing about the King of Kings… wondering how I could write this in a way that stirs up zeal in you for the Lord.
I wrote down two words:
Desire. Urgency.
At first, nothing came. So I shelved it for later.
Then I jumped on a 9 a.m. call with my mentor, Bob Day, and he shared a story I can’t stop thinking about. It was about a professor from Dallas Theological Seminary who attended a spiritual retreat with several high-powered executives in Kansas. These individuals had money, influence, and packed schedules—and they were hungry for something more profound.
The professor asked them a simple question:
“How much time do you spend with the Lord?”
One said 10 minutes. Another, 15. Some admitted—none. It didn’t surprise the professor. But then he asked a second question:
“What if you didn’t get up from your time with the Lord until He excused you?”
The room went silent.
You could almost hear their jaws hit the floor.
So I want to ask you the same thing:
What if you didn’t get up until God said you could?
First, pause and read Psalm 63:1–8.
David’s Words in the Wilderness
David is hiding out, likely in the Judean wilderness, running from enemies, uncertain of his future. And yet… he writes this:
“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
(Psalm 63:1)
He doesn’t cry out for safety first. He doesn’t beg for vindication.
He thirsts for God.
So I ask again… where is that kind of desire today?
What Christian Psychology & Neuroscience Say About Desire
According to Christian psychologists and neuroscientists like Dr. Curt Thompson, Dr. Caroline Leaf, and Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, desire and urgency aren’t random emotional sparks. They’re wired in us and can be nurtured.
✅ 1. Desire is deeply tied to attachment and imagination
Dr. Thompson teaches that secure attachment forms the root of healthy desire—when someone feels seen, soothed, safe, and secure.
The prefrontal cortex lights up when we imagine future joy or fulfillment. That’s why visualizing heaven, God’s face, or future joy in His presence strengthens spiritual longing over time.
✅ 2. Urgency arises from emotional meaning + perceived value
Urgency isn’t about time pressure. It’s about what the brain considers most vital to your identity or survival.
Dopamine plays a bigger role in anticipation than pleasure.
So if meeting with God is tied to joy and identity in your mind, urgency increases.
✅ 3. Desire grows when it’s activated, not just analyzed
Repeated focus on what we love rewires the brain to crave it more.
This is called neuroplasticity—and it’s one of the most hope-filled truths in psychology today.
Dr. Leaf says it this way:
“The more you think deeply on something of value—like God’s love—the stronger the neurological desire becomes.”
That’s why abiding matters.
We become what we behold.
What Scripture Says About Rebirthing Desire
The Bible teaches that desire for God is not self-manufactured. It is birthed by God through:
💨 1. Beholding His power and glory
“I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.” (Ps. 63:2)
Spiritual hunger often follows spiritual vision.
🔥 2. The Holy Spirit’s awakening
“For it is God who works in you to will and to act…” (Phil. 2:13)
It is God who creates the “want to.”
🌵 3. Wilderness seasons
David’s thirst came in a literal and spiritual desert.
Trials strip away distractions—and in that emptiness, desire is reborn.
🎵 4. Worship and remembering
“I will bless you… I remember you upon my bed.” (Ps. 63:4,6)
Desire grows in songs and silence, praise and meditation.
Why Desire Feels Missing Today
Desire hasn’t disappeared.
It’s been hijacked.
We’re full of lesser things:
Doom-scrolling
Entertainment
Noise
Busyness
Endless dopamine loops
We haven’t tasted the surpassing worth of knowing Christ (Phil. 3:8).
And we’re often spiritually dehydrated—but unaware of our thirst.
The Never Finished Challenge: Reignite Holy Desire
Let’s merge neuroscience and Scripture. Let’s awaken longing again:
1️⃣ Visualize God’s Presence
Try what we did in our men’s group:
Sit quietly with your feet in water for 15 minutes, eyes closed, and visualize Jesus kneeling to wash them. Nothing else. Just Him. Try to bring a small bucket for your feet and pick a place in the woods.
2️⃣ Declare Psalm 63:3
Say out loud—over and over:
“Your love is better than life.”
Add:
“I trust You.”
Say it first thing in the morning.
3️⃣ Fast
Skip a meal or fast for 24 hours. Or—abstain from distraction.
Cut out media for a day. Create space to feel thirst again.
You can’t thirst for God while sipping on every shallow thing the world offers.
4️⃣ Meditate
Choose one verse to read morning and night.
Try Psalm 27:4 or Psalm 63:6. Let it shape your inner world.
5️⃣ Ask God to stir desire
Pray:
“Lord, awaken my soul again. Fan the flame. Let me thirst for You like David did in the desert.”
What does today say about God?
Full.
Today, I say this about God:
He fills me.
Every single day.
Even when I fail, even when I sin, even when I stumble—He rises in me again. A word. A promise. A zeal.
And I don’t let that sin sit. I confess it. I ask forgiveness from Him and those I may have hurt.
But I’m amazed…
Amazed at the power, wonder, and love of a God who strips away the lesser things and fills me with something eternal.
Thank you, Jesus.