1.12.2010

Pray for Hunger

With the coming of the new year, has spending more time with God been a renewed desire of yours? Has reading your Bible and praying been put back on a list of things to do more of?

Perhaps you have been at this place before. The first few days, weeks and maybe even months go so well, and then life takes over... again!

At least that's how the struggle seems to play out for me.

I believe that the enemy knows the power and change that comes as we make time for God. I believe that the enemy fights it with everything he has.

There are numerous reasons why this desire in our heart tends to dwindle, fade, and disappear.

I have learned that when I begin to sense that the appetite and desire for the things of God is beginning to fade, I need to pray for hunger.

“Loss of appetite for the good things of God is a sign that some degree of spiritual death has set in.” -- Dee Duke
I ask God to give me a hunger... for Him.

The beauty of this prayer is that I can be confident that every time I pray this request, it is the will of God. He created me for a relationship with Him, and so asking for that very desire and His help must surely please His heart.

I have learned that as God answers my prayer for hunger and the stirring in my heart grows, I need to be ready and willing to take action. I need to already have time scheduled into my day to the satisfy the hunger.

Experience has also taught me that as I meet with Him, as I seek Him, as I call on Him... He will reveal Himself. In the revealing, He exposes those things in me that need to change. Things that need work. Things are not easy, comfortable or flattering.

Am I ready and willing to do the work of change? Am I really prepared to put forth the effort in the midst of the humility of who I am and who He is?

I find that as I pray this and become hungry, my choices and actions determine just how serious my desire for Him really is.

7 comments:

  1. What I love about spiritual hunger is that once you "taste and see that the Lord is good," you just want more. He is completely satisfying and yet you can never have enough of Him. It's another example of the holy tensions of the Kingdom. Love it! *;)

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  2. Great post, Donnetta. Your last sentence really hits the nail on the head. Sometimes I really have to step back and examine my choices and actions and see if they line up with what I'm seeking from God, in this case the desire for Him.

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  3. "Am I ready and willing to do the work of change? Am I really prepared to put forth the effort in the midst of the humility of who I am and who He is?"
    Such a good soul-searching question. I must admit I find myself in this place.
    Thanks for your encouraging words.

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  4. I know that the Devil likes to attack when we make time for God. I have found lately that the attacks seem not to be aimed at me, but at my loved ones. I know that I can't give in and can just give it over to God.

    Thank you for your words of encouragement to stay the course.

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  5. You are writing powerful posts these days Donnetta. I was thinking about the verse that promises if we seek Him we will find Him. The seeking is the secret. There is always a choice we need to make - and then He comes to us with such grace and love.
    Thank you for this.

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  6. Amen! I need this reminder! I definitely want a deeper hunger for Him.

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  7. I've found, too, that when I hunger for Him, as He fills me more and more with Himself, I only hunger more.

    Such a convicting post, friend.

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Thank you for taking a moment to stop and chat. I enjoy the presence of you!
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