“Draw me, we will run after You: the king has brought me into His chambers….” Song of Solomon 1:4
This prayer has only two words, “Draw me.” Yet this is the most powerful prayer that we could ever pray - “Lord, if you will draw me (body, soul, and spirit), in the totality of my being (will, intellect, and emotions), I will run after you.”
The Lord creates spiritual hunger. Ministry can only feed the hunger that the Lord imparts within us. Therefore, when we come to the Lord, we must first acknowledge our need:
“Lord, I desire You to work within me, to draw me to Yourself, to cause me to become that which You would have me to be. Lord, wherever it may lead or whatever it may cost, draw me, and in every aspect of my being, I will run after you.”
The result of such a prayer, when prayed in heart sincerity, will result in intimacy of relationship with the Lord - “the King has brought me into His chambers.” Once our lives are yielded, and Jesus brings us to Himself as being His Bride, we become one with Him and now His life can be manifested and revealed through our lives.
There is a progression in the outworking of this, in which two basic confessions will result. Each of us begins with the first one – our being “self-centered.”
“Because of the savor of Your good ointments, Your name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love You.... My Beloved is mine and I am His….” Song of Solomon 1:3, 2:16
She is saying, “Lord, I love You because You bless me with so many good things.”
This is about to change, as she prayed, “draw me.” Now her relationship to Jesus is beginning to change. Something is different, as she is beginning to desire the Lord Himself, rather than all the things that He can give to her. She is seeing the Lord in His majesty and power and is falling in love with Him. His approbation, or favor is resting upon her life.
“I am (but) a rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.” Song of Solomon 2:1
“Lord, there are so many lilies, the hillsides are covered with them, but you are blessing me as if I am the only one.” The Lord responds and said:
“As a lily among thorns, so is My love among the daughters.” Song of Solomon 2:2
The contrast is powerful. The Bride’s response to His statement reveals her lack of spiritual perception:
“As the apple among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved among the sons….” Song of Solomon 2:3
Apple trees are not pretty, but they have something to eat that is very desirable.
“…I sat down under His shadow with great delight. His fruit was sweet to my taste.” Song of Solomon 2:3
She is sitting under His shadow. She was so taken up with being blessed that she did not notice Him. All she has is the shadow of His presence. He was there, but she only felt a touch of His presence.
“Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love. His left hand is under my head, and His right hand does embrace me.” Song of Solomon 2:5-6
She is beginning to realize that there is far more than all He can provide. She is beginning to respond to His expression of love toward her. Now, she is ready to pray the second most important prayer that we can pray.
“Tell me oh you whom my soul loves, where you feed, where you make your flock to rest at noon: For why should I be as one that turns aside by the flocks of your companions?” Song of Solomon 1:7
In effect, she is saying, “I can no longer be satisfied to simply go to church on Sunday morning, hear a message, go home and spend the rest of the week doing my own things, and then return the following Sunday to hear another message.”
“Why should I be among them? Lord, tell me where YOU are. I want to come beyond the shadow into the reality of Your presence. Tell me Lord, where are those who truly know You, who make room for You to move as you please? Lord, show me the way, as now I desire to go beyond my present spiritual experience.”
The Lord will respond to this desire, as we were created for communion and fellowship with Him, and nothing short of this will ever satisfy. She now realizes that it is not enough just to be continually blessed. There has to be something beyond His provision for us.
“My Beloved spoke, and said to me, Rise up My love My fair one and come away.” Song of Solomon 2:10
This is a call to rise above all the “things” that are less than His personal presence.
“For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth. The time of the singing of birds is come….” Song of Solomon 2:11-12
She is beginning to see into the realms of the spirit that will lead to the Lord Himself. She has been set free from her self-centered seeking. Now she can identify with His calling and purpose for her.
“I am my Beloved’s, and His desire is toward me.” Song of Solomon 7:10
Now with a single desire, she can enter into the harmony of Heaven and worship the Lord for who He is, and find the satisfaction she was created for – her life merged into His life, to become the expression of His life in all the earth.
May each of us enter into and experience all that she experienced, that we also might become the expression of His life at this present time.
