Deep Hunger for God Leads to Spiritual Growth

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” Psalm 42: 1-2

Last week, we discussed the topic: Community as an ingredient for spiritual growth. Other ingredients discussed prior include: “Action (making a move)” and “Having an open heart”. This week we are discussing HUNGER as another ingredient. We are not talking about physical hunger, but a deep, spiritual hunger for God, for His Word, and for His righteousness. Jesus, speaking to the multitudes in His famous “Sermon on the Mount” also called “The Beatitudes”, in Matthew 5: 6 said: “ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

This hunger and thirst for righteousness is a recognition of our need for God, it is a prerequisite for receiving His blessings. Just as physical hunger drives us to seek food, spiritual hunger drives us to seek God. It ensures that we don’t become complacent or lukewarm about God, but drives us to seek a deep and lasting relationship with Him.

It is easy to understand physical hunger, which we can easily satisfy with food or other things we put into our stomachs. We know how to satiate this type of hunger and we do everything we can to fill it. The meaning becomes more elusive when we talk about Spiritual Hunger which is a deep longing for more of God in our lives. This kind of hunger is essential for spiritual growth, just like food is essential for the growth of our physical bodies.

Spiritual growth which is the process of becoming more and more like Jesus Christ, is a lifelong journey and we must never become tired of seeking a deeper connection with God with our whole heart, through prayer and daily living out our lives in conformity and in obedience to the word of God. When we place our faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit begins the process of making us more like Him, conforming us to His image and likeness. Spiritual growth is as important as physical growth, if not more. Physical growth is for our temporal bodies which in the end will go to dust, but spiritual growth which is important for our spirit man , is what will endure now and throughout to eternity.

Even the Apostle Paul, with all his zeal for God, writing to the Philippians in Philippians 3:13-14 expresses this perspective. He says: “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

We learn from this that we must never allow our hunger to diminish. We must never settle for where we are spiritually because there is always more to discover and experience in God. Hallelujah!

1 Peter 2: 1-3 says (NLT) 1. “So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. 2. Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, 3. Now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.”

Peter shares with us three ways that you stay hungry and so grow in our relationship with Christ.

I. WHEN YOU DEAL WITH SIN (VS.1) What sins do you need to deal with today? In verse one of our above text, Peter makes reference to some sins that maybe some that are here today need to deal with: eg. Malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and all evil speaking. Confess them to God, ask for forgiveness and live for Christ alone.

II. WHEN YOU BECOME PASSIONATE FOR HIS WORD (VS.2) What are you passionate about? Here in vs. 2 Peter says if you are going to grow in your walk with Christ then you have got to become passionate for His Word. You need to Read it, Study it, Meditate on it and ask that the Holy Spirit will help you daily grow by it.

III. WHEN YOU ACKNOWLEDGE HIS GOODNESS (VS.3) Note that the more you taste of the goodness of the Lord, the easier it becomes to get rid of the sins in your life and become passionate for His Word.

Let us ask ourselves today: Are we hungry for God? Are we longing for His presence, His Word, and His righteousness? If we find that our hunger has diminished, let us pray that God would rekindle that desire within us. Let us rid ourselves of anything that hinders our appetite for Him, and instead, feed on His Word, knowing that as we do, He will fill us and cause us to grow in our faith. May the Lord grant us the grace to do this. Amen.

Barr. (Mrs.) Ijeoma Chuks-Okoye.

Your Vicar & Friend The Ven. Folorunso OreOluwa Agbelusi