Hunger for God is powerful, but experience has taught me that it’s often absent when we need it most.
I discovered this the hard way—through a long season of burnout and recovery.
- God not only responds when we seek Him, but He also graciously restores our hunger for Him.
Hunger Stirs Us From Our Comfort
In Song of Solomon, the Beloved is knocking on the chamber door. The maiden resists getting up to answer. “I have taken off my robe—must I put it on again? I have washed my feet—must I soil them again?” (SOS 5:3)
She is in a state of repose, and for that moment, her comfort is more important than her relationship.
The maiden rises to open the door to her Beloved, but he has already left. Her hesitancy has cost her his presence. Now, her heart is stirred. Comfort is no longer an issue as she loses sleep and risks her safety to search for the one she loves.
Unable to reach him, she passes on a message, “Tell him I am faint with love.” (SOS 5:8)
Jesus’ Invitation to Those Who Hunger for God
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock,” Jesus calls to His church. “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Rev 3:20)
Jesus’ call to intimacy is a challenge to our comfort. To answer His knock, we must stir ourselves from our spiritual repose.
His promise: “I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
Jesus’ invitation is to Christians who are hungry.
Why Be Hungry For God?
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jer 29:13
Hunger: that gnawing ache deep inside of you; that sense of need that is not content until it is filled.
- Hunger is an active state, for it results in you seeking out the object of desire that will satisfy your need.
Hunger for God is the longing to encounter Him and for Him to fill us with His Spirit.
As prophetic people, we need to hunger and thirst after God.
When we are hungry for God and His Presence, we will do whatever it takes to get close to Him. In this place of intimacy, we will catch, not only the revelation He wants to give us, but we also His heart.
Many of us want to be filled with the Spirit, we long to be close to God and see miracles happen in people’s lives.
When we hunger and thirst for God, we seek Him, and as we do, He fills and empowers us.
6 Ways You Can Stir Up Hunger For God
1. Miss Your Hunger for God
A person who is fasting eventually loses their appetite as their body adjusts to the absence of food. Although in Christian leadership, I was spiritually famished for so long, I lost the ability to hunger after God.
My turning point came when I realized what I was missing.
I noted in my journal,
“I have come to realize that the real tragedy in the church is not spiritual famine: it is famine without hunger, dryness without thirst.”
2. Pray for Hunger to be Restored
Even the desire to seek God is a gift from Him (John 6:44).
When we pray for spiritual hunger, we are praying in accordance with God’s will. He wants us to be hungry for Him. (Matt 5:6). Hunger for God has its own language, and it is a prayer God loves to answer.
3. Recall Your Hunger for God
Jesus told the Ephesian church, “You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen” (Rev 2:4-5)
You can stir up a desire for God by remembering a time when you were pursuing God and experiencing intimacy in your life with Him.
Do you have books that you read at that time, worship you listened to, or letters or journals that you wrote in? These can be an aid to help you recall what it felt like during that season.
4. Catch Hunger for God from Others
Spiritual hunger is contagious. Get around hungry people, or people who are further on in the journey than you. Study their books, listen to their messages, and read their blogs.
A friend wrote a blog post about having an ache in his heart for God. When I read it, I felt the same hunger.
5. Listen to Worship That Stirs Your Hunger
A new sound of worship can help impart hunger to you. When was the last time you heard fresh worship music that stirred your soul to worship and spend time with God?
These days, it is easy to access worship music through platforms like YouTube. A couple of songs from Rick Pino, ‘Your Love is Like’ and ‘My Romance’ have stirred the hunger in me recently.
6. Acti on Your Hunger for God
“Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Ps 34:8
With the little sense of need that you have, pursue God. Like me, you will learn that the more you encounter His presence, the more you will hunger for more.
And most amazing of all, you will discover that no matter how much you long for God, and how much you hunger for Him, His desire for you is greater.
The maiden who sought her Beloved in Song of Solomon discovered this wonder:
“I am my beloved’s, And his desire is toward me.” (SOS 7:10)
Help for Prayer Warriors: Overcome Spiritual Dryness
If you have you can relate to having a hunger for God lately, the lessons in my Prophetic Prayer School will be of benefit to you.
You will find these in the class, “How to Prevent and Recover from Dryness in Prayer”:
- Causes of Dryness and Depletion in the Intercessor
- Ten Keys to Being Replenished as an Intercessor
- Receiving Prayer: How to Stay Filled with the Holy Spirit Through Soaking Prayer
This impacted me personally, and I’m sure it will benefit many of you! I warmly invite you to join me in the Enliven School of Prophetic Prayer
Alternatively, you can view all online courses, including the Prophetic School here.
Related posts:
Hunger: How to Pursue God and See His Power
4 Powerful Benefits of Hunger for God
© Helen Calder – Enliven Ministries: Prophetic Ministry for a Revival Generation
Helen Calder is a prophetic minister and writer, and founder of Enliven Ministries. Helen has a unique gift of equipping in prophetic ministry and prayer. She is known for Enliven Blog (est. 2009), an online resource that reaches thousands of people globally.
Dear Helen,
Iam so glad i found your site. I was wandering, thirsty, graving and longing deeply for Him, my friend, the Holy Spirit. I needed help on how to grow this relationship further. It certainly is one invaluable relationship that I cannot replace with any other or anything. But you know, there comes a time in everyone’s life when you lose that notch, that leaves you wailing and wandering about without a clear direction.
Thank you. Please teach us more on how deeper we can cultivate this more than this world and everything in it relationship.
Thank you
Hi Enliven
Thank you for the encouragement and inspiration. I’m at a place in my spiritual walk where I need to get out of the ‘norm’ and doing things out of habit. I’m longing for more of God but find myself far from him. I also long to hear God’s voice.
Hi Adele,
Sounds like you are on the launching pad ready to take off again! May you be blessed and encouraged today
For so long I prayed for spiritual revival, for God to help me restore my relationship with him but totally failed, I cried out to God to come to my rescue because on my own I couldn’t, with each passing day I felt my self become more distant. I felt empty, broken, and helpless. Slowly I started feeling the urge to pray return, I did not only think of going to church but made an effort to attend service. Last week as I prayed, the spirit led me to fast and pray for 21 days. This is only my second day, what God has done is amazing. He has led me to resources that have truly blessed me, as I searched for articles on revival and restoration, I came across this article. As I read, I felt my spirit stir, I felt an overwhelming sense of release, like something that has been binding me has broken lose, that barrier that has been keeping me away from God broken, I can’t find the right words to describe what I am feeling, but something truly special has happened as I read this piece, and I thank God for hearing my cries and drawing me closer, how I missed being here, wrapped in his embrace. THANK YOU JESUS, THANK YOU.
Dear Helene,
I can’t begin to tell you how much this message has blessed me, I thank God for you, thank you so much. May the most high continue to use you mightily to touch many more lives. Be blessed.
I’m so glad to hear that Favor, may the glorious encounter with God’s Presence continue to touch your life and overflow! May you and others be richly blessed by what Jesus is doing in your life!
Thanks a lot Natasha. God bless you. This is so inspiring
Dear Pastor Helen,
I have a great desire for the Holy Spirit.
my spirit Life started last year December 2015. up till now Sept 2016 I’m still burning and shinning for the lord. but the challenge I had to Eat
[Callenges are bread for us beleivers to chew] through my spiritual walk was the ability to overcome fear. I had it like thorns of weed sown among fruits in my mind that gave me heavy burden while I fellowship with the Holy ghost. but I got free from those fears when I found out that he loved me more than heaven and earth and all the creatures ever made (James 1:18). So I just wanted to share my contributions from my own experience with God.
A deep affiliation with God can only come, through an in depth study of the Word no matter how long we tend to pray for the bible says in psalms 119:130 that the entrance of the word Gives light…
when the word gains dominion over one’s mind through deep meditation Joshua 1:8. a hunger for the lord would be manifested. God wants to set his kingdom in every man’s heart. for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. he wants to control the world through us believers and we can only do that through the renewal of our mind Romans12:2 be not conformed to these world but be yea transformed by the renewal of your mind, when your mind is renewed Romans 12:3 takes its place… that yea may prove(launch into these world) what is that good, acceptable, and perfect Will of God here on earth. remember though we are in this world we are not of the world, we are ambassadors here on earth 2Corinthians 5:20. and we are to establish the heaven in our heart here on earth so a major step to spiritual hunger Is through the word of God john17:17. Paul commended us also to the word of God’s Grace (Jesus) in acts 20:32 .for the more we look at Jesus through his word we are changed into him (Glory) 2Corinthians 3:18. ref:Colossians 3:10.
when we eat the word faith is active thereby causing growth in our spiritual life.
God loves us so much that he wants to demonstrate his kingdom, power and glory through us Romans 8:19
(john 15:7)
thanks a lot I love you all so much.
God bless You!!!
Those are great thoughts on God’s Word, Christian. I really appreciate that, because I have been thinking on the very same points lately.
Thank you!