Digging Deep
- Joel Balin
- Aug 10
- 4 min read
"It's the pits."
At least that's what it looked like.
As I was driving to a prayer meeting, I had a vision of us digging a giant hole.
We just kept digging. Shovelful after shovelful. The hole grew deeper and wider, but it didn't seem like we were accomplishing anything. We were just...digging.
It felt mundane. Repetitive. Pointless. Like we were getting nowhere.
Then I heard the Lord say, "You're not digging a pit. You're digging a basin for the outpouring of My glory."
The digging hadn't been meaningless at all. We weren't wasting time. We were preparing a place.
The vision wasn't about a hole in the ground. It was a picture of what God has been calling us to do: dig deep into the wells of revival.
As we've celebrated America's 250th anniversary, we've looked back at the Great Awakenings and the revivals that shaped our nation. We've remembered those who humbled themselves before God and watched Him transform cities, communities, and even entire nations.
Behind every genuine move of God, someone dug.
They dug with worship, devotion, prayer, and repentance. They dug until there was room for God to move.
Before glory is poured out and revival overflows, someone digs a basin.
Our role isn't to manufacture an outpouring. Our role is to prepare a place for it.
We don't produce the rain. We dig the basin that can receive it.
But not every hole we dig becomes a basin for God's glory.
Some people dig a basin for God's glory. Others dig a pit for themselves.
The Scriptures warn that:
“Whoever digs a pit for others will fall into it. Whoever tries to roll a boulder down on others will be crushed by it.” — Proverbs 26:27
When people dig a pit through pride, greed, rebellion, and deception, they eventually fall into what they themselves prepared.
The Bible tells us not to dig up and move ancient boundary stones, but we have removed every moral and spiritual boundary that God has set, and we are reaping the consequences.
With the recent exposures of fraud, greed, theft, pride, and deception, we are watching what happens when the boundaries God established are dug up and discarded.
Everyone is digging a place for something. The question is: What are we preparing a place for? Are we preparing a place for God to move, or are we digging a pit for ourselves?
So what does it look like to dig deep into God?
We worship until our hearts are captivated by His greatness.
"I will praise you, LORD my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever." — Psalm 86:12
"Let all that I am praise the LORD; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name… I will tell of all your marvelous works." — Psalm 103:1, Psalm 9:1
Worship lifts our eyes from ourselves to God. Whatever occupies our hearts shapes our lives.
As our hearts become occupied with His greatness, our lives become occupied by His presence.
We pray until God's will becomes our will—and His Kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven.
“...tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a godly believer!” — James 5:16b TPT
"You will call on Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you." — Jeremiah 29:12
“Absolutely everything, ranging from small to large, as you make it a part of your believing prayer, gets included as you lay hold of God.” —Matthew 21:22 The Message
The apostle John gives us a glimpse into heaven, where there are...
"...golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God's people." — Revelation 5:8
Our prayers are not lost. They rise before God like incense, filling heaven's golden bowls until His purposes overflow to earth.
Prayer changes us, aligns us with God's heart, and prepares a place for Him to move in our families, our churches, our communities, and our world.
We repent quickly and return wholeheartedly.
"If My people... will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven...and will heal their land." — 2 Chronicles 7:14
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." — Matthew 4:17
“Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands…and purify your hearts” — James 4:8
Repentance is much simpler than we often make it. It isn't running back to an angry Father. It's turning toward the Father who has been waiting for us all along.
As we remove the barriers we've allowed to grow between us and God, we make room to receive what He has already promised and prepared for us.
We dig together.
"Then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the LORD and serve Him shoulder to shoulder." — Zephaniah 3:9
"Don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?" — 1 Corinthians 3:16
Before the outpouring at Pentecost, the believers were together in one place, praying, waiting on God, and digging deep. That's still how we dig today.
God awakens individual hearts to join with others to prepare for awakening. Together we become a dwelling place for His presence and a basin large enough to refresh many.
We keep being filled with the Holy Spirit.
"Be filled continually with the Holy Spirit." — Ephesians 5:18
"For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body... and were all given the one Spirit to drink." — 1 Corinthians 12:13
"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…" — Acts 1:8
The Holy Spirit forms Christ within us and continually fills the place we have prepared for Him. As we keep being filled, His life overflows through us to refresh a thirsty world.
Sometimes digging deep feels like we're getting nowhere.
But wells are dug before water refreshes.
Basins are prepared before they overflow.
Let's keep digging deep.
After all, we're not digging a pit. We're digging a basin for the outpouring of His glory.
Comments