“Lord, What Do You Want?”
Most people don’t realize what God is actually looking for. We spend a lot of time asking what we want from Him—like clarity, breakthrough, healing, or help. But rarely do we stop and ask Him the reverse: “Lord, what do You want?”
In the middle of an ordinary conversation at a well, Jesus gave a direct answer: “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him” (John 4:23 ESV).
God is actively looking for something. Not talent. Not activity. Not even consistency on its own. He wants people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth.
That tension matters more than we think because it’s possible to have truth without spirit—clear theology, right language, and yet no life. Paul warned about this when he said, “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6 ESV).
And it’s just as possible to have spirit without truth—passion, emotion, even powerful moments but nothing anchoring it. Yet Jesus doesn’t separate the two. He holds them together. Truth that grounds us. Spirit that awakens us. Not one or the other but both.
I’ve noticed this is where a lot of leaders quietly drift. We build systems that work. We get sharper. More efficient. More structured. But over time, it’s easy to replace dependence with control, to keep the form yet lose the fire.
Paul’s words to Timothy feel uncomfortably relevant: “Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:5 ESV). It doesn’t say there’s no appearance. It says the power is missing. That’s the danger. We can build something that looks right and still be disconnected from what makes it alive.
There’s a difference between carrying truth and being shaped by it. Proverbs 14:12 (ESV) warns us, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” And there’s a difference between experiencing moments with God and actually living in step with His Spirit. Galatians 5:25 (ESV) admonishes us, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
So, this isn’t about doing more. It’s about returning to a life that is rooted and alive. It’s about returning to where the Word isn’t just something we preach—but where the Word forms us. And the Spirit isn’t just something we talk about; rather the Spirit is the One we depend on. Because in the end, God isn’t searching for better strategies. He’s searching for people. He’s actively looking for people who carry truth deeply enough to stay grounded and whose spirit is in hot pursuit of His Presence. He still recognizes the ones who burn.
