30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ – Mark 12:30

The word “strength” here is from the Hebrew word “me’od.” Me’od is the “umph” or the intensity you put into something. It is using all the energy you have to love God. 

One who has me’od doesn’t settle for just reading their Bible so they can mark off their spiritual checklist. They don’t simply give the bare minimum in their prayer time and obedience to the Lord. They don’t stop when they “feel” like it. The one who loves the Lord with all their strength (me’od) gets up and pursues the Lord even when they are tired. They give when it hurts. They pray until breakthrough. They go above and beyond their call of duty. They reach deep within and give everything they are to glorify  and love God with all they are. 

One of my favorite examples of this is David Brainerd. Brainerd was a missionary to the Native American Indians in the 18th century. Brainerd moved into the wilderness to reach the Indians. While dying of tuberculosis and living in extreme pain and suffering David spent the rest of his life in the wilderness pursuing the Lord in prayer and bringing the message of Jesus to the Indians. Even though he would sometimes spend long days in agony coughing up blood, he continued to do what he believed God had called him to do, to love Jesus with all the strength he had left by bringing the gospel to the Native Americans. Brainerd’s journal entry on February 21, 1746 sums up Brainerd’s life:  “Oh, how sweet it is to be spent and worn out for God.” Until he breathed his last breath on this earth when he died at 29 years old Brainerd gave every ounce of his strength to pursue God’s purposes.

Can you say with Brainerd, “Oh, how sweet it is to be spent and worn out for God?” Do you love the Lord with all your strength? How much effort do you exert each day to make Jesus  present in every area of your daily life? 

One way to increase your intensity in pursuing God is by changing your posture. When you pray, get on your knees. Or, you can stand up and go out into nature like Brainerd and cry out to God in desperation. I personally love going to parks and trails where no one is at so I can fervently call out to God. If you’ve never tried this, I encourage you to try it. And when you pray, pray out loud. Use your energy, put your emotions into it. 

Today in your prayer time focus on “me’od;” focusing on giving your best focus and intensity to press through and experience the presence of God in your life.