Just like a deer that craves streams of water,
my whole being craves you, God.
My whole being thirsts for God, for the living God.
When will I come and see God’s face?
– Psalm 42:1

Hunger and thirst for the Living God have been occupying my thoughts the last several weeks. It is a hunger that is driving and relentless. It is a dissatisfaction with anything less than a filling of the overflowing goodness of a great Father.

Are You Hungry?

There are many things we can hunger after in this world—power, prestige, position, possessions. However, this is a question we must regularly ask ourselves to dig deeper into an encounter with God! It is in deeper encounters with God that we begin to discover and understand who we are as sons and daughters of the Father. When we begin to know who we are in Him, we are then able to begin moving in the power and authority of the Holy Spirit. This all springs from a place of hunger in our lives.

Hunger for God Changes You!

I met my wife over 20 years ago while we were both attending Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona. It was an incredible experience. Catherine and I met and married in nine months. We were engaged after dating for two months. Neither of which I would ever recommend to anyone else. It’s just that God was doing something amazing, and He was with us.

I wanted to be with her all the time. I wanted to sit in Denny’s drinking milkshakes and talking all night long. I couldn’t stand being apart from her.

The summer during our engagement I got a job in Seattle, Washington as a summer youth pastor. It was a short term, missionary-like position. It was tough being apart from Catherine. I called her on the phone every day, and we’d talk as long as possible.

I wound up finishing the job early and couldn’t wait to race back to her. I drove 22 hours straight from Seattle to Phoenix just to be with her again. Was that smart? No! But it was driven by an intense desire to see her, to hear her, to hold her. My “hunger” for her presence changed me.

Passion drives choices in our lives. It fuels our decisions and can direct the course of our lives. There is a connection between hunger for God and a changed life. Just like my desire for my wife changed the course of my life, a desire for an intimate relationship with God will change you.

A passionate pursuit of God leads you closer to Him and farther from the world. If you aren’t getting farther from the world, you aren’t getting closer to God. You can tell where your “hunger” is because that is where you place your time, energy, and money. Are you hungry for what the world has to tell you, or are you hungry to hear from God? Jesus is a passionate lover of our souls, and he wants to spend time with us!

Set me as a seal over your heart,
as a seal upon your arm,
for love is as strong as death,
passionate love unrelenting as the grave.
Its darts are darts of fire—
divine flame!
Rushing waters can’t quench love;
rivers can’t wash it away.
– Song of Solomon 8:6-7

For more of my thoughts on this topic, see the message I shared at Passion Church in the video below.

Are You Hungry? | J. ANDERSON from Passion Church on Vimeo.