a quote from John Flavel worth pondering and praying over

Ecstasy and delight are essential to the believer’s soul and they promote sanctification. We are not meant to live without spiritual exhilaration, and the Christian who goes a long time without the experience of heart-warming will soon find himself tempted to have his emotions satisfied from earthly things and not, as he ought, from the Spirit of God. The soul is so constituted that it craves fulfillment from things outside itself and will embrace earthly joys for satisfaction when it cannot reach spiritual ones … The believer is in spiritual danger if he allows himself to go for any length of time without tasting the love of Christ and savoring the felt comforts of a Savior’s presence. When Christ ceases to fill the heart with satisfaction, our souls will go in silent search of other lovers … By the enjoyment of the love of Christ in the heart of a believer, we mean an experience of the ‘love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Ghost) which is given to us’ (Romans 5.5) … Because the Lord has made Himself accessible to us in the means of grace, it is our duty and privilege to seek this experience from Him in these means till we are made joyful partakers of it.

from Keeping the Heart by John Flavel (1630-91)