“Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart” (Jer 24:7).

 God does not respond merely to needs. He looks for passion. Even when we think we have the passion to press in, we are often disappointed because the passion has not reached its peak. God may measure what we thought to be an earnest prayer as being only a passing fancy. Good thoughts and warm feelings about God are not enough. There has to be the passion exuding from the heart whereas knowing God is desired more than any other thing. Whatever else may be there is in competition with the knowledge of God. It rises up as an idol to compete with what He wills to show us of Himself. These things must be rooted out of our lives and only God can do that. Israel was allowed to be placed in the land and under the government of the Chaldeans. It was their place of learning. But God was not through with them even though they were being chastened there. It was the place of purging, a place where they had to reassess their priorities in order to enter into true worship. Are there idols among us today that are yet to be removed? Maybe that is why deliverance is delayed. God wants us to return to Him with our whole hearts. God measures half-heartedness as using Him as an addendum to our lives and practice. Something else is keeping us preoccupied. He then allows whatever that something else is to be our deliverer. It is incapable of doing what He alone is able to do. He will be our God and we will be His people when we have given all to Him. It’s not too late to do it now!