The Subtle Art of Outlasting Adversity
April 1, 2025
The Subtle Art of Finding Magic
June 1, 2025The Subtle
of Wanting More
by Charles Efiong
"Finally, He taps me, and yes, He says something; but not exactly what I wanted to hear. He speaks through James 4: 8, “If you draw near to Me, I will draw near to you."
I want more of You,
I want more of You, Jesus.
The more I know You,
The more I want to know You,
Jesus, more of You...
I love this song. As a matter of fact, it goes way beyond a song. It’s a prayer in a song. It should be the honest heart cry of every true Christian. It’s what follows when your heart is burdened with hunger for the Lord. Oh, that I may have more of Him, see more of Him and touch more of Him. Ah! If possible, inhale more of Him. Paul sang this same song in Philippians 3:10, when he stated and I quote “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
I’ve sung this song with the highest degree of passion my heart could attain; with tears in my heart hoping for a closer walk with God. I’ve spoken the lyrics in prayer and meant every word of it; craved for a change in my spiritual life and longed for a closer walk/relationship with the master. As I knelt, I expected a hand on my shoulder, and a voice that would say, “Here I am… you asked for more of me!” well, that didn’t happen.
And it made me wonder. He’s answered all my prayers, He’s provided, aided, lifted, granted and so much more, but what was happening now? Maybe I wasn’t saying it hard enough or was it that I wasn’t meant to go beyond this level. Had I exhausted the privilege of how close I could get to God?
Finally, He taps me, and yes, He says something; but not exactly what I wanted to hear. He speaks through James 4: 8, “… If you draw near to Me, I will draw near to you…” At that moment, it dawned on me. Getting close to God or getting more of Him is a process that occurs in steps. If I take a step towards Him, He’ll take a step towards me. If I take a step away from Him, He’ll take a step away from me. How did I expect to get more, when my prayer life had not improved? I had not made any effort to improve it. I needed more of Him but I didn’t see it necessary to increase the time I spent at His feet in prayer. The word of God was still an issue I considered important in spiritual growth but I had not seen the need to improve on my one-chapter-a-day routine; a routine I started when I gave my life to Christ. Let’s face it: I needed more of Him, I desired a closer walk with Him; a closer view of Him and a deeper knowledge of Him, but for some reason I had not put my heart where my mouth was. I had not even considered the matter enough to go on a fast.
But then in my carnal, slow thinking, selfish mind, I thought, why should I take the first step? And knowing my thoughts, He asked, “Who do you think I was drawing close to when I took the leap from Heaven to Calvary? Whose attention do you think I was trying to get when I came to walk the earth with men?” He informs me, “what I went through sure wasn’t easy but if it will make you take these steps towards Me, then it was absolutely worth it.”
Then I realised that as I had spent time on my knees calling for more of Him, I had not listened to hear… that He had already been calling for more of me. He had been calling right from the day I was born, but I kept giving him excuses. I told him I was too young; I was too busy; I would answer the call later; let me get a little older… And even as a Christian, I felt all was too much to give. It took him over 20 years to get my attention. Year after year he sang, “I want more of you”, and all I did was ignore Him. But He didn’t stop.
Is he finding it hard to get your attention? Or are we satisfied with drawing close to Him with our mouths, leaving our hearts in apparently “more important issues”? 1 John 2: 4 says, you can’t know Him and not keep His commandments. Titus 1: 16 teaches that our works will show that we know Him, and how else will we know Him if we don’t answer the call to draw closer to Him.
Now we go back to the question that started this write-up, “More of Who?” This song is not a call to God to come down with a parcel labelled 20% more of Me. Rather it is a wake-up call to us who sing it, that we need to give up more and all of ourselves. In 2 Corinthians 8: 5, speaking of the Macedonians Paul said, “They gave themselves first to the Lord”. Now, you don’t need a pastor to tell you that from the way the Macedonians handled and supported the work of God in that chapter, they sure had a deep knowledge of God.
But this principle doesn’t stop at the church door. It flows into every corner of our lives. In friendships, marriages, partnerships, even in the pursuit of purpose. We cry out for more, more loyalty, more love, more commitment but rarely stop to ask, “Have I given more?” We expect vulnerability without offering trust. We desire depth but remain shallow. If we want stronger bonds, richer relationships, and deeper meaning, we must first give what we hope to receive. Sometimes, the miracle we seek in others begins with the sacrifice we make within. If we want more, we must be willing to become more.
Today, there’s a call to get closer to God; to attach more importance to issues of spiritual value; there’s a call to take steps towards the master; allowing His word to be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path; there’s a need to reduce the gap between us and the Almighty. There’s a need to sing that song with more understanding in our hearts:
I’ll give more of me
I’ll give more of me, Jesus
The more I know You,
The more I want to know You, Jesus
More of me…
