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Key Bible Verses: "If you are thirsty, … come and drink! For the Scriptures declare that rivers of living water will flow out from within" (John 7:37–38). Bonus Reading: Isaiah 12:3; 44:1–5

Bill Leslie, a former pastor of LaSalle Street Church in Chicago, told about a time when he felt especially overloaded. He met the mother superior of a convent near his church, and told her he felt like a pump; people were constantly pumping him, and he was running dry.

"Let me get this straight," she responded. "Didn't you ask to be pumped, to be used of the Lord? Aren't they doing just what you asked them to do?"

"Yes," he said.

"Well, I don't think you need to ask them to quit pumping," she answered. "What you need to do is get your pipe down deeper. You're sucking air, and you need to get down to where you're in the water again."

Her analysis, Leslie said, was right on target. If we've let our spiritual life slip, we too need to make time to pray alone, meditate on Scripture, and just be with God, casting our cares on Him. We need to make sure our pipes are deep enough to draw the Living Water. That way, people aren't pumping us dry; we're merely the conduit as they tap into the resources of God Himself.

—Jay Kesler in Being Holy, Being Human

My Response: Do I feel like I'm "sucking air"? If so, what is the remedy?

Thought to Apply: The best definition of revival is—"times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord" [Acts 3:19/20]. —J Edwin Orr (historian of revival movements)

Adapted from Being Holy, Being Human (Bethany, 1988, 1994) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

Lord, help me to be there for other men, and to honestly admit I need them to be there for me.

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