Are You Hungry? Hungry for God?
Posted: Monday, December 01, 2008
by Jean Purcell
OpineBooks.com
You love Him. You adore His ways. But you've been awfully busy lately.
There have been places to go, people to see, things to do. A long list of things.
You've been talking to Him on the run, that's for sure. You love Him, and you tell Him so, as you cry out for help with this or that that you are doing or must do.
Are you hungry for God yet?
You've thought, "I want to get back to longer time in morning prayer. I want to finish that chapter of Jeremiah," but you end up re-reading a familiar, favorite psalm.
"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name."
Yes, you think of Him, your soul remembers Him.
But prayer times have been brief. Often, but brief.
That's OK, isn't it?
You know you need more. You need a long talk with Jesus. You need a long time listening, too. Are you hungry for God yet?
I am hungry for God tonight. A few days of rest, work, and not enough time outdoors in fresh air, but a good Sunday morning yesterday.
Still, I'm hungry for God. For one of those special times with Him.
Lord, I am hungry now again for time in Your presence.
Lord, I am hungry. I am so hungry for time with You that I am willing to dump everything, if need be, to draw closer to You.
A man* said one time that for anything of any meaning to be accomplished there must be a relation, a communication opened between Heaven and the child of God.
Otherwise, nothing of importance will last, will really prove to be important.
I am hungry for you, Lord. My soul yearns for You. Time with You. Quiet time, sitting in Your presence. Listening for Your answers to my pleas and my cries for You.
You said, "Abide in Me." Here I am, Lord. Abiding in Thee.
Lord, I am hungry for You. I will wait before You, to be fed. To rest and abide. Now.
___________________
The Lord was waiting for them on the shore. They were pulling in after a time of fishing on the sea. One saw Him and said, "Look," and another said, "It is the Lord!" Peter dropped everything. Peter forgot everything and leaped from the boat. He jumped from the boat to rush to Jesus. There, the Lord had prepared for all of them a breakfast. It was after His resurrection, in the days when He appeared to them from time to time. He had a reason, and on that shore He gave Peter, who had thrice denied Him, a fresh start. "Do you love Me?" He asked three times. "Lord, You know everything. You know I love you," Peter emphasized the third time. "Feed My sheep," said the Lord.** God is waiting to feed us all the time. He has called us to live for Him and to help others in His ways. He has prepared the ways and the means. Jesus, we are waiting before Thee. Jesus, lover of our souls, feed us. We are here. Hungry.
*Charles Gutzlaff, missionary to China, 1831-1851.
**John 21:17
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Jane, you expressed accurately what I am guilty of at times. I call it talking to God on the fly. Flying here and there and 'chatting' with Him on the go. But so like Him to get my attention to spend time with me. He lets me know He misses me and our time together. I am more conscientious of this now and hunger for Him always.
I like how you wrote this, Jane. It's poetic. I didn't want it to end as I felt I was being fed. Thank you for simultaneously making me hungry and feeding me His word.
God bless you,
AvisHi, Avis,
I appreciate your comments so much. I especially appreciate what you wrote about identifying with the article, about it seeming poetic, and about feeling fed. I hoped for the identification, for I think everyone who loves the Lord has such times of hunger. I agree with you, that God calls us to pull ourselves aside for more time with Him. I appreciate what you said about the poetic feel of this, which just seemed to flow as I wrote, for I am not a poet. And what you said about being fed was unexpected and is a big blessing coming back to me from you! God has His ways, doesn't He? Thank you! May we both take more time in these days to be fed by the Bread of Life!
~Jane
Hi Jane,
Thanks for an article I definitely needed to read and really think about. Could it be that all too often we are so busy doing the Lord’s work and we have little time for Him?
God bless,
Joel
Hi,Joel,
I think all too often it is true, as you wrote, that "too often we are so busy doing the Lord’s work and we have little time for Him...."Or, we are just too busy, period. Some time ago an article which you may have seen, "The Tyranny of the Urgent," was circulating in churches. One does not have to read it to get the sense of the writer's message. I think this is also why too often we do not see the joy of Christ radiating from our lives and others in our fellowship, including those who preach. There are smiles, yes, but would one call it "the joy of the Lord," which can only emerge, truly and surprisingly as well, from time spent sincerely with Him? Yet, He wants us to have and live in that joy, regardless of the pressures and even the fearful things.
Time given over to Him, without a schedule or a list, is worth taking, and yet it takes resistance to refuse the prevailing view, which considers quietness and stillness as being suspicious or even lazy. That is a worldly view, but it touches many of us, and the church generally, sad to say. Yet, we can resist! Well, that is how I see it. Thanks for commenting!
~Jane
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