SPIRITUAL HUNGER

There’s a longing in the heart of every man (or woman) for God whether he acknowledges it or not. Also, deep down in the heart of every believer is a desire to know God the more. Man was created for God and he must only find full satisfaction in God. There is a place in the heart of every many that only God can fill – nothing else! When Jesus was teaching on the mount in Matthew 5, the first thing He said was “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
(Matthew 5:3). By the phrase ‘poor in spirit’ Jesus was referring to those who see or acknowledge their need for God. Everyone needs God but not everyone acknowledges their need for God. That’s why today we have Atheists and folks who tag themselves as ‘Godless’. Further in His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6). Righteousness means right standing with God. So Jesus was still dealing with the same issue but in a different dimension. When the Lord fills your present hunger and thirst for Him, it only means that you should step up into a higher level of hunger and thirst for Him. It is progressive. As long as you are on earth, you will never get to the point where you have it all.

I believe one of the worse things that can happen to a human being here on earth is to live a whole life time without the divine influence. Also, one of the worst things that can happen to a believer here on earth is for him to lose his hunger for God. We can never get to a place where we have enough of God. We just keep needing Him every single day we live and every single moment we breathe here on earth. The Psalmist says “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.” (Psalm 42:1-2,7). Spiritual hunger is the inspiration for spiritual advancement. Something’s got to keep you going! If a man is not hungry for something, there won’t be any form of urgency in his life or pursuit. It is hunger for accomplishment that drives a man to pursue his dreams. It’s a desire for success that causes a student burn the night candles. It’s a desire for money that causes a man to work so hard especially where there are incentives and a good reward system.

The Holy Spirit is the One who stirs up a spiritual hunger in the hearts of people. Even though this spiritual hunger is birthed by the Holy Ghost in the heart of every believer in Jesus Christ, it has to be nurtured by the believer. Smith Wigglesworth was a man who had a great understanding of what spiritual hunger was. I came across some of his sermons compiled in a book titled: ‘Cry of The Spirit’, and was so amazed at how deep this man was hungry for God and His manifestation. His major hunger was to know God in reality. His knowledge of God sparked up an unusual flow of the supernatural from His life. Spiritual hunger is the key to walking in the Supernatural. When you become so hungry for the Lord, it stirs up the manifestation of His personality in and through you. Your hunger for the Lord will spur you to seek for the Lord earnestly, not because He is missing but because you want to know more of Him. It’s just like the Psalmist says: “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.” Psalm 63:1-8.

A major indication of your hunger for God and the things of the Spirit is seen in the way you desire God’s Word and your response to what It says. What physical food means to a hunger body is exactly what the Word of God means to the human spirit. Your spiritual hunger is displayed by your ardent desire for the Word of God. I believe every real Word from the Lord must end up stirring an ardent desire or hunger for God in the hearts of the hearers. We can’t know enough of the Lord. Our desire to know Him more and more will spur us to price the knowledge of Him above all else. Paul says: “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:7,8,10-14

Spiritual hunger drives us to go the extra mile for the Lord. Spiritual hunger keeps us longing for more of the Lord every single moment of our lives. Spiritual hunger brings us to that point where nothing else can satisfy us but the ultimate – the Lord Himself. Spiritual hunger helps us activate the flow of the Supernatural in our lives. A man who is spiritually hungry never settles for anything spiritually substandard. One of the ways the devil successfully keeps a lot of believers in a state of lukewarmness is through quick satisfaction. He makes them believe that they have arrived. It is time to let go of anything that makes you let go of the Lord. We must keep laying hold of the Lord. If it means fasting and praying, if it means locking up yourself for days, if it means crying out loud to the Lord, what ever it is you can do to revive your hunger for the Lord, please do and the Lord will rain upon you afresh. The Holy Spirit brings revival to the life of the believer and helps him lives a revived life – always alive towards God. Spiritual hunger keeps a man humble before God, because he always sees his need for the Lord. I believe that one of the things that will sustain us and help us stay unadulterated with the filthiness of this world in these last days is spiritual hunger. I pray that the Lord will stir up in you a new and undying passion and desire for Him that will cause you to go deeper in the Lord and be useful for Him in His end-time harvest. Amen!