What do you do when you're thirsty? The God who quenches our thirst.

How many names can you think of for God? It may sound like an odd question since God's proper name in the Old Testament is YHWH -- but he is referred to by a great many other names and titles in both the Old and New Testament.

When I pray to God, I like to start out by worshiping Him as he taught us in the Lord's Prayer. I often recite several names and titles back to the Lord of who He is--such as "The Ancient of Days", "The Holy One of Israel", the "Sure Foundation", the "Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last", the God who is "Faithful and True." I could go on, but I think you get the point.

I want to introduce you today to the God who is "Living Water" (John 4:10). He is like "Rivers of Living Water in a Dry Place" (Isaiah 32:2). 

U.S.S. Indianapolis

How long can man go without water? On average, about 3 days. In the book, "Between a Rock and a Hard Place", climber Aron Ralston, pinned against a canyon wall by a giant boulder, went 5 days without water and was finally forced to drink his own urine. Ugh!!

Another example of deadly thirst occurred when the U.S.S. Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine on July 30, 1945 in the central Pacific. With 1,196 crewmen on board, the Indianapolis sank within 12 minutes in the worst sea disaster in naval history. Three hundred went down with the ship while 900 men faced exposure, dehydration, and shark attacks floating in a few lifeboats and rafts with almost no food or water. Only 317 sailors survived, clinging to life jackets and makeshift rafts. Floating in the hot sun, men became so thirsty, they refused to believe that you couldn't drink the crystal clear ocean water. The younger men would drink the ocean salt water, then get diarrhea, become more dehydrated and then go crazy and die. 

In Isaiah 32:2, we are told that our God is like a hiding place from the wind, a shelter from the storm, and like streams of water in a dry place. He is like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.

Several years ago, I was taken on a tour of the Judean Hills which go up from Jerusalem and down to the Dead Sea. It truly is dry, parched land with no apparent signs of water anywhere. But, an experienced shepherd knows where the pools of water are, and if you look carefully enough, you can spot cracks in the rocks where water is seeping forth. Even in a dry and parched land like the Judean wilderness, God provides water for those who are thirsty.

So often when I approach God, I feel dry as though I am walking through the desert with no water and as I come to God, I recognize how much I need His refreshing living water to be poured into my soul, to flood my being, to satisfy my thirst and my longing for Him.

Daily, you and I are walking through what seems like a desert--where ever you live or work, it's a dry and weary land in need of the rivers of living water that can come only from the Messiah Jesus Himself.

As you approach God in prayer, call upon Him as the God who is "Living Water" who can quench that thirst for meaning and purpose in our lives. He is the God who satisfies in all the ways that dead religion and good works cannot. He is the God who fills up the emptiness in our soul. He is also the God who is the "Rivers of Living Water in a Dry Place." He is the only one who can bring real refreshment to our weary souls and our mundane daily existence. So ask God to refresh you with Himself, to quench that thirst that only He can satisfy.