How to Hunger for Him

My stomach often seems to be unsatisfied. It rumbles and gurgles begging for more. Sometimes I cannot trust it’s appetite. There are times I cannot seem to be filled no matter how much I eat. Those are the days that I feel like I could cut off my own arm and eat it if nothing else was available.

That is when it hits me. If my physical body can hunger that much for physical sustenance, do I spiritually hunger for God with the same intensity? Do I begin to shake and quiver when I haven’t spent time with Him? Do I miss feasting on His word the same way I miss a meal? Or am I over my love affair with my Savior? Have I lost my first love and become satisfied with chewing on leftovers of yesterdays scripture readings?

How do we hunger more for Him?

1. Pray for a deeper love for Him. The better we understand how desperately we need a Savior, the more deeply we will love Him.

2. Read God’s word to better understand who you are and who God is, was, and always will be. The more we understand our nature and His nature the more deeply we love Him.

3. Pray before reading God’s word that we will not walk away from His word unchanged, but that we will be transformed. When we read His word searching for Him to speak to us, we will inevitably hear Him. When we hear Him, we know Him better, love Him more, and hunger for Him more deeply.

4. Unlike physical hunger, spiritual hunger only increases the more we chew on His truth. The more we obey His commands and take steps of faith the deeper and more desperate our hunger for Him grows. Then we can live out, rather than just know, that “apart from [Him we] can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

5. Memorize God’s word. When we have His word pressed into our hearts and minds, we have our hearts and minds anchored to Him. As we cling to the anchor we desire more and more of Him.

What are you doing to stay hungry for God? Please share!