Linda Dillow - Satisfy My Thirsty Soul: For I Am Desperate for Your Presence

For many years I have been on a quest to draw near to God, who seemed distant and illusive to me. Much to my surprise, He condescended and met me as I took Lindas challenge to seek Him daily in worship. As I slowly bowed my hopes and dreams before the Lord, I was dazzled by His love and filled with awe and delightful expectation.

BEV DESALVO, pastors wife from Texas

Satisfy My Thirsty Soul is the beautiful depiction of the lifelong pursuit of true intimacy with Christ. Linda Dillows words and soul-provoking study questions made their way into my life and left me thirsting for nothing more than more of Him.

KATHY CORDELL, Cheyenne, Wyoming

Satisfy My Thirsty Soul has opened a doorway to worship that is transforming my drab, daily life from the grind to His Glory. I will read (and need) this book again and again.

SANDI FUNKHAUSER, Boise, Idaho

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ISBN-10: 1-57683-390-9

ISBN-13: 978-1-57683-390-2

Cover Design: studiogearbox.com

Cover Illustrator: Allen Garn

Creative Team: Liz Heaney, Darla Hightower, Arvid Wallen, Kathy Guist

Some of the anecdotal illustrations in this book are true to life and are included with the permission of the persons involved. All other illustrations are composites of real situations, and any resemblance to people living or dead is coincidental.

Unless otherwise identified, all Scripture quotations in this publication are taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB), The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Other versions used include: THE MESSAGE (MSG). Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group; the Amplified New Testament (AMP), The Lockman Foundation 1954, 1958; the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV), Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House, all rights reserved; the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT), copyright 1996, 2000. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved; and the King James Version (KJV).

Dillow, Linda.

Satisfy my thirsty soul : for I am desperate for Your presence / Linda

Dillow.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p. ).

ISBN 978-1-57683-390-2

1. Christian womenReligious life. 2. Spiritual lifeChristianity.

3. Worship. I. Title.

BV4527.D55 2007

248.843dc22

2007004620

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To my Beloved,
Thank you for drawing me into deep, private worship and into your
presence. This book is my offering to you.

ALSO AVAILABLE FROM NAVPRESS

My Worship Journey

LINDA DILLOW

Map your progress as you write personal reflections and comments from the book Satisfy My Thirsty Soul.

To order your copy of My Worship Journey, visit our website at www.navpress.com or call (800) 366-7788.

acknowledgments

A special thanks to

My wonderful husband, Jody. Thank you for teaching me how to study Gods Word.

My special friend, Lorraine Pintus. Thank you for your expert counsel and editing. You have walked through every page with me.

My super editor, Liz Heaney. Thank you for your excellent skills as an editor and your encouragement as a friend.

Terry MacAlmon. Thank you for teaching me the joy of corporate worship.

The wonderful team at NavPress. Special thanks to Kent Wilson, Kris Wallen, and Darla Hightower. It is a priviledge to work with you!

Many thanks to the dear women who were in the pilot Bible study: Darlene Kordic, Judy Dunagan, Valerie Cox, Chee-Hwa Tan, and Jodi Nunn. And thanks too to the three women who took the Bible study over the Internet: Bev De Salvo, Kathy Cordell, and Sandi Funkhauser.

Chapter 1

My Thirsty Soul

O God, you are my God,

earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you,

my body longs for you,

in a dry and weary land

where there is no water.

PSALM 63:1, NIV

The setting was ideal for a twenty-first century fairy tale. Hidden away from the main road in a quaint Austrian village, the four-hundred-year-old church stood next to a farmhouse with window boxes filled with geraniums. Wheat stalks swayed in the fields and cows lowed in the barn, creating an intoxicating old-world charm.

I was in this delightful setting for a family celebration, the marriage of my son Nicolai to his beloved, Christina. The wedding ceremony would take place here, in this picture-perfect stone church, and the dinner and reception would be in a castle. Definitely fairy tale material.

As I sat in the first row of the church, I looked behind me at Christina, who was waiting to come down the aisle. Such exquisite joy illumined her face that I gasped out loud. Then I gazed at my son, waiting at the front of the sanctuary for his bride. He was taking such delight in her that his face shown as if a neon light blinked inside him.

Of course, I cried as the bride came face-to-face with her bridegroom. I watched my son drink her in with his eyes as she proclaimed, I love you so much, Nic! They were oblivious of their audience, oblivious of the flickering candles casting a glow on their faces. Only the two of them existed. Their faces expressed the sentiment of their hearts: We have found what we were looking for.

Dont all women hope to feel this same way? Dont our hearts clamor for deep soul satisfaction, for a oneness that quenches our thirst for closeness and satisfies our empty places?