Scripture indicates that believers, both as individuals and communities, may go through periods in which they fail to experience the refreshing and life-giving presence of God. One cause of such spiritual thirst is unbelief. Scripture also indicates ways in which this thirst may be relieved.
Spiritual drought in unbelievers
Psalm 68:6 See also Isaiah 29:7–8
God settles the lonely in families; He leads the prisoners out to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land.
The remedy for spiritual drought is to be found in Jesus Christ
John 7:37–39 See also Isaiah 45:8, Isaiah 55:1; John 4:13–14; Titus 3:5–7; Revelation 22:17
On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’” He was speaking about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
The experience of spiritual drought in believers
Psalm 63:1 See also Psalm 143:6; Ezekiel 19:10–14
A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.
The cause of spiritual drought in believers
Unconfessed sin
Psalm 32:3–4 See also Psalm 66:18; Isaiah 1:28–30
When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was drained as in the summer heat. Selah
Spiritual depression
For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and appear in God’s presence?
Self-reliance
Jeremiah 2:13 See also Jeremiah 17:5–6
“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns — broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
God's judgment
Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord GOD, when I will send a famine on the land — not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.
The remedy for spiritual drought in the lives of believers
Through confession
1 John 1:8–9 See also Psalm 32:5, Psalm 51:12; 1 John 3:19–22
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Through Scripture
Psalm 1:2–3 See also Deuteronomy 32:1–2; Isaiah 55:10–11
But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.
Through Jesus Christ
John 6:35 See also John 7:37–39; James 5:7–8
Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst.
Through the Holy Spirit
Isaiah 44:3 See also Isaiah 32:13–15; Romans 15:13
For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.
Finally in heaven
‘Never again will they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat down upon them, nor any scorching heat.’ For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.