Coconut
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- Feb 17, 2005
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Hungry for God
Although we want to live by our own efforts, our insufficiency reveals our need for God and for focussing all our attention on listening to Him.
Have you ever tried to feed a very young child who isn't hungry? If you persist, the food will likely end up on you. On the other hand, have you ever fed a really hungry baby toddler?
Your degree of hunger for Him will determine how close to Him you become.
I remember my children looking into my eyes as I fed them. We shared precious moments together. Hunger does that. It compels us to turn our attention to the one who has the food we need. The more we will allow ourselves to be humbled, and the more we embrace hunger as a vital prerequisite to hearing God's voice, the more we will be deeply satisfied.
In God's kingdom spiritual hunger is highly valued. Jesus taught His disciples: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." Your degree of hunger for Him will determine how close to Him you become.
In a world full of distractions, busyness and countless activities that bring momentary satisfaction, the Lord uses hunger to draw us away from the mundane and into His presence.
Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." This "daily bread" is His words to us, both written and spoken. He wants you to live, not by your own strength and efforts, but by "every word that comes from the mouth of God." He wants to feed you every day with a healthy diet of words of encouragement and comfort, and words that convince you that He knows you and has a plan for your life. His words are spirit and life, and you must eat them just as surely as you must eat physical food to stay alive, strong and healthy. The Father's daily bread transforms you and empowers you to minister, with His ability, grace and enablement.
Our human nature hates to be hungry, otherwise we would all be great at fasting. Hunger is painful because it forces us to look outside of ourselves for relief. We realize we are insufficient in ourselves.
Moses speaking to the Israelites reminded them how God had fed them in the wilderness with manna. "He [God] humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."
The key ingredient is hunger! God "caused" them to hunger so that they would need Him to feed them. That is still God's strategy today.
Just as He led the Israelites into the wilderness so that they would hunger, He also leads us into situations and circumstances so that we might hunger.
We can thus regard hunger as a gift. How merciful of our Lord to allow circumstances that expose our insufficiency and reveal our great need of Him. This humbling takes place only because He wants to satisfy the longing of His heart to feed us with words from His very own mouth.
"Open wide your mouth and I will fill it!" He cries. He is waiting for us, eagerly desiring to share His love. He wants to speak to us throughout the day, but will we pay the price of developing our spiritual senses and learning to listen in regular, consistent times of prayer? Will we allow Him to create in us a deep hunger for His words? Will we learn to focus all our attention on Him? He wants us to live not by our own efforts and striving, but with our ears open, listening for every word that comes from His mouth.
-by Pam Wright as published in Spread the Fire
Although we want to live by our own efforts, our insufficiency reveals our need for God and for focussing all our attention on listening to Him.
Have you ever tried to feed a very young child who isn't hungry? If you persist, the food will likely end up on you. On the other hand, have you ever fed a really hungry baby toddler?
Your degree of hunger for Him will determine how close to Him you become.
I remember my children looking into my eyes as I fed them. We shared precious moments together. Hunger does that. It compels us to turn our attention to the one who has the food we need. The more we will allow ourselves to be humbled, and the more we embrace hunger as a vital prerequisite to hearing God's voice, the more we will be deeply satisfied.
In God's kingdom spiritual hunger is highly valued. Jesus taught His disciples: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." Your degree of hunger for Him will determine how close to Him you become.
In a world full of distractions, busyness and countless activities that bring momentary satisfaction, the Lord uses hunger to draw us away from the mundane and into His presence.
Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." This "daily bread" is His words to us, both written and spoken. He wants you to live, not by your own strength and efforts, but by "every word that comes from the mouth of God." He wants to feed you every day with a healthy diet of words of encouragement and comfort, and words that convince you that He knows you and has a plan for your life. His words are spirit and life, and you must eat them just as surely as you must eat physical food to stay alive, strong and healthy. The Father's daily bread transforms you and empowers you to minister, with His ability, grace and enablement.
Our human nature hates to be hungry, otherwise we would all be great at fasting. Hunger is painful because it forces us to look outside of ourselves for relief. We realize we are insufficient in ourselves.
Moses speaking to the Israelites reminded them how God had fed them in the wilderness with manna. "He [God] humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."
The key ingredient is hunger! God "caused" them to hunger so that they would need Him to feed them. That is still God's strategy today.
Just as He led the Israelites into the wilderness so that they would hunger, He also leads us into situations and circumstances so that we might hunger.
We can thus regard hunger as a gift. How merciful of our Lord to allow circumstances that expose our insufficiency and reveal our great need of Him. This humbling takes place only because He wants to satisfy the longing of His heart to feed us with words from His very own mouth.
"Open wide your mouth and I will fill it!" He cries. He is waiting for us, eagerly desiring to share His love. He wants to speak to us throughout the day, but will we pay the price of developing our spiritual senses and learning to listen in regular, consistent times of prayer? Will we allow Him to create in us a deep hunger for His words? Will we learn to focus all our attention on Him? He wants us to live not by our own efforts and striving, but with our ears open, listening for every word that comes from His mouth.
-by Pam Wright as published in Spread the Fire
