Pastor, are you hungry for God?

 

It may sound like a strange question to ask a pastor, but all of us struggle with our spiritual appetite from time to time. It’s easy for the demands of ministry to crowd out our hunger for God.

 

But it is possible to maintain a spiritual hunger for God for the rest of your life. Here are five ways to keep a spiritual appetite.

 

1. Remind yourself how much God loves you.

The more you understand how much God loves you, the more you’re going to love him. The Bible says in Ephesians 3:18-19, “May you have the power to understand … how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God” (NLT).

 

2. Stop filling your mind with junk food.

You are a spiritual being with a God-shaped hole in your heart that only God can fill. 

When you try to fill it with salary, status, ministry success, passion, possessions, power, prestige, or anything other than God, it’s not going to be fulfilled.

Proverbs 15:14 says, “A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash” (NLT).

 

3. Make knowing God your number one goal.

Happiness is a byproduct of knowing God. Jesus says in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first God’s kingdom and what God wants. Then all your other needs will be met as well” (NCV).

 

4. Get into God’s Word every day.

The Bible is food for your soul. Eating a meal once a week won’t keep you healthy. In the same way, you need to feed on God’s Word every day.

 

“You must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment” (1 Peter 2:2 NLT).

 

5. Spend time with people who love Jesus.

If you hang out with people who only care about politics, that’s all you’re going to care about. 

If you hang out with people who only care about sports, that’s what you’re going to care about most.

 

Make sure you’re spending time with people who love Jesus. 

Whatever you talk about when you’re with others is what you’re going to be hungry for. 

Proverbs 2:20 says, ”Join the company of good men and women, and stay on the paths of the righteous” (MSG/NLT).