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When these things happen, we often turn our back on Christ, lumping him in with the cause of our dissatisfaction, when he is our only source of satisfaction. Until we can separate these peripheral things from Christ himself, we will become disillusioned. We will never be able to sustain our passion for people and things. Only when we make Christ himself our passion, will we have the energy for the Christian life.

Jesus said in John 6:56, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life." He wasn't talking about communion in this passage. He was talking about making him our passion in life. When he said this, many turned away from following him. He asked the twelve if they were going to leave too. Peter said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6:68). Having Jesus as our passion means that we know there is no other place to go for our satisfaction.

The trouble with passion is that we too often try to manufacture it. An athlete who must constantly manufacture passion is never going to make it to the Olympics. It must be an integral part of his or her life.

We seek the next great experience that will take us to a higher spiritual level. We search for the teacher that will unlock all mysteries to us. We throw ourselves into service, expecting the passion to follow along like a puppy. Sometimes those things work—for a while. But rarely do we keep the passion for long.

Only when we realize that God wants to create a passion in us, will we be able to avail ourselves of it. We can't manufacture it; we can only admit we need it. As we confess our shortcomings, we find joy in the fact that he will fill those gaps with his all-sufficiency.

Making Christ my passion is a mysterious melding of self with Christ. I do my part in consciously surrendering to him, and he does his part in transforming me with his passion—the very passion that allowed him to faithfully represent his father to the bitter end of the cross.

Prayer becomes flat and insipid when it becomes an endless list of needs we parade before God. In such prayer, instead of seeing a holy, magnificent God, we see an eternity of problems piling up. Our prayers can become so burdened that we leave prayer heavier instead of lighter.

If Olympians only focused on the problems, they would never overcome their obstacles. They have to have their eyes on the greater goal.

Prayer that is vital is God-focused. My prayer life was revived when I learned to focus on God instead of my need. So instead of praying, "Lord, heal Aunt Judy of her illness," I pray, "Lord, help Aunt Judy to see your glory, power, and might. No matter what's going on in her body, let her know your goodness and greatness." Such a prayer not only transforms Aunt Judy, it transforms me. I leave such a time of prayer encouraged in my relationship with God rather than devastated by Aunt Judy's troubles.

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