DeeperSample

Hunger

Spiritual hunger is the insatiable desire to know God more. Jesus said, “Ask. Seek. Knock.” The motivation for these actions is spiritual hunger. God is passionate about each of us, and He wants us to return His reaching love. Spiritual hunger returns His passion and drives us deeper into His heart.

Spiritual hunger behaves like physical hunger. It narrows our focus to one thing—satiation. It comes in waves. It can be painful. It is a strong motivator.

If you are still reading this description, you are spiritually hungry or want to be.

Let me parallel spiritual hunger to something observable in the natural for further understanding. On a hot summer afternoon, the heated earth releases water vapor into the atmosphere. The rising vapor creates clouds of increasing height and instability. A storm is brewing. The heated air rises rapidly, creating a vacuum or empty space, and heavier, cooler air rushes into the vacated space. The wind is rising.

Spiritual hunger is a stormy disruption in our spirits. As the Holy Spirit draws us, heated prayer rises to God in response, creating a vacuum that must be filled. The Holy Spirit’s presence then blows into our vacant, longing hearts, birthing personal revival.

In seasons of increasing spiritual hunger, the longer I am away from my daily personal time and place with the Lord, the more I long for Him. Yes, I fellowship with Him throughout the day, but by bedtime, I’m nearly sick with desire for the Holy Spirit’s call to fellowship with Him alone in the early morning. I sink gratefully to my knees beside my bed and whisper my final words of love to Him. Sometimes there are tears on my pillow. It’s like being in love, but better—He never stops reaching and never forsakes.

Casting off apathy, seeking repentance, longing for purity, reverencing God’s Word, and crying out in prayer, characterize spiritual hunger. Hunger demands space and time to know God deeply and will stop at nothing less.

Activate

· To increase spiritual hunger, simply ask for it. “Ask that you may receive that your joy may be full.”

· Make a formal decision to pursue God until You find Him deeply. Put it in writing. He wants this very much. He is passionately waiting for you.

· Open the written Word with the Holy Spirit as a guide and let what you read reveal the Author.

· Take time to meditate deeply on the attributes and names of God. Say these back to Him and thank Him for specific times when He revealed Himself in your life or the lives of those you love.

· Study revival. Read the testimonies of those who have experienced Him mightily. I recommend The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom, for starters.

· Have coffee with those you respect who are white-hot in their walk with God. Ask them to share about their quiet time, their favorite passages of Scripture, and their most significant experiences with God.