HUNGRY FOR GOD

A true disciple is one who experiences a deep hunger. Not so much for food but having a deep longing for knowing God more and for His Word.

Hungry for God

We cannot be a true disciple without having a hunger to know God more. Because a critical part of being a disciple is the desire to be more like the One we follow.

Global Conference The Core 1 - Singapore Video

This hunger is reflected by the desire to meditate on God as He has revealed Himself, whether through His Word, through nature or even through our experiences. Just as the psalmist sought to express in

1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? Psalms 42:1 - 2 (NIV)

So are we hungry to know God more? To know His majesty, His power, His love, His holiness, His wisdom and so forth?

If we lack hunger, it is helpful to stimulate our appetite.

• Firstly, by choosing to be around those who hunger for God, it can help us catch their enthusiasm and the reasons for their enthusiasm.

• Secondly, read good Christian books that stir our hunger for God.

• Thirdly, try to identify some reasons why we might lack a hunger for God. Usually it is because other focuses have absorbed our attention.

• Fourthly, we probably need a fresh touch from God in our lives.

Having this hunger for God is critical as it will help us keep close to God and not wander away from Him.

Hungry for God's Word

A hunger for God’s Word usually reveals a desire for spiritual growth and increased knowledge of the things of God. Such a hungry disciple will not only read the Bible, but seek to study it, to dig deeper to better grasp the wonderful eternal truths that are contained in God’s Word and to know God more.

16 When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty. Jeremiah 15:16 (NIV)

My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times. Psalms 119:20 (NIV)

The passages above express the deep hunger and the passion that stirs in those who hunger for God’s Word. The heart is to truly understand what God requires, what God desires of us and how we may walk in it. Closely associated with that is the commitment to the authority of God’s Word. We realise that we cannot pick and choose what we believe or act upon. God’s Word must be the final authority in all things that it touches upon.

Do we hunger for God’s Word? Does it excite us to discover more of God’s Word? If not, we ought to ask ourselves why. Perhaps we do not appreciate enough the relevance of God’s Word to us? Perhaps we fail to understand what God’s Word is really saying to us?

My hunger for God’s Word is stirred by my realisation of a few facts.

• Firstly, that God’s Word is eternal. Jesus declared in Matthew 24:35 (NIV) Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. God’s Word will outlast even the heaven and earth. That is the extent of its permanence and authority.

• Secondly, God’s Word is truth (Jn 17:17, Eph 1:13). It is the objective and authoritative truth by which we can fully trust. It reveals to us the spiritual realities behind what we see with our natural eyes.

• Thirdly, it is food for our souls, which strengthens and nourishes us (Ps 119:103). It is food that enables us to grow spiritually (1 Pet 2:2).

How hungry are we today?

May we stir our hunger for God and His Word to a new level today. *

Dr Wilson Lim
Regional Mission Coordinator (Oceania)

* This article is taken from INSIDE HOPE e-newsletter