Articles – Page 13 – Yeshuah Boyton

Do you feel a need to be more hungry for God? Yet, you feel oversaturated with today’s information input? I certainly feel like that sometimes. Maybe you feel being bombarded with “stuff” too, feeling oversaturated with today’s information flood ... But if we are honest we have this still small voice in us (the Holy Spirit) that convicts us to be more hungry and thirsty for God. So here I want to give you some tips that might help you to not resist that voice but actually rekindle the fire for God within your heart. 1. Practice Humility & Repent I found James 4:6 to be a good reminder of THE foundation of reigniting a passion for God. (...) “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” Humility & humbleness is everything. It’s the essence of a lifestyle and relationship with Him. We have to acknowledge that we are nothing, and He is everything. We need Him! (Even if we don’t feel like it.) If we are in a place where we feel dry and not hungry (but wanting to be hungry) some kind of sin might be involved. Even if it is not obvious, at least pride was probably involved. In one way, shape or form there probably was something like “I don’t need/want God (right now).” Otherwise, we would’ve not ended up in a “spiritual starvation city”. It might differ in the detail in your case because pride manifests in different ways. It’s there though... trust me. So... the Bible says, therefore, if we are in pride and stay in that pride that God resists us... Whoops! Maybe that’s why we are hungry?! Like plugging out the power cable of a laptop. It has juice for some time, but eventually, there will be a popup saying “5% left”... or something like that... Often times I push it to the last little 1%. But, boy do I run when it hits that 1% mark. ‘Cause I know it can really damage the machine if there is no juice anymore. This is similar to how we feel when we are unplugged from God for a longer time. We grow dryer, hungrier, eventually filling ourselves with something other than God. BTW Did you know that we are always consuming? Anything we expose ourselves to comes in… into our soul… What are you letting in? I got sidetracked… Where was I? Oh yes, James 4:6 - Pride and Grace! So, even though God resists the proud, he gives GRACE to the HUMBLE. So, wherever we are let’s humble ourselves before God. Let’s repent and turn away from our sin and pride completely, renewing our commitment and covenant with Jesus. Entering into a totally surrendered life in Jesus. Pushing an honest, spiritual, reset button with God. I tell you this because it will bring you into a freedom like you have never known, and it will most likely give you a different perspective on the topic of hungering after God. 2. Seek God In Prayer It is actually already included in the upper point, but truly seeking God in prayer will just change your whole situation. Lay all cards on the table with God! Be honest. (He knows what’s up anyways ;) ) Tell Him how you feel. Tell Him that you don’t even feel hungry for him. That’s okay… Ask Him to give you a hunger or the desire to be more hungry. Separate yourself from anything that steals, kills and destroys the hunger for God! (That might even mean shutting off some of your social media time ;) ) If there are spiritual issues, take your spiritual authority in Christ and tell anything that's stealing your hunger to go. Talk to Jesus. Shout at Him if you need to (He can take it. But remember it's in humility and repentance!). Ask Him all your questions. ... and take your time! Like literally! Set a regular time where you talk to your Savior! A regular time where it is just you and the King of Kings! Just visualize this truth for a second: The creator of the whole universe – always available, always willing, always loving – spending time with you! ... Or with me... I mean... Who can compare to HIM?! Just imagine… so awesome! And He wants to make us hungry, passionate, on fire and burning for him, and then through us help others find the fire. He wants to set us free and give us what we need! And if we are honest with one another... Whenever we come out of such a prayer time of REAL TALK with Jesus things change... At least I always come out feeling better than before. That leads me to the next point... 3. Enjoy His Presence Do you take time to enjoy His presence? Do you even know His presence? If not – get to know it by spending time with Him. Turn on some worship music through which you can truly connect with Him. Worship Him and sing or pray words right from your heart! The Bible says in Psalm 22:3 that God inhabits the praises of His people... If you draw near to God, He will draw near to you. He’ll be right there with You! THAT, my friend, will stir a new hunger in you! The more you expose yourself to God, and the more you truly humble yourself before God, the more He will take out what kills, steals and destroys your passion for him. 4. Read & Study His Word God is THE WORD. Jesus. Read it. Study it. Dig deep into it. Meditate on it. Ask God to reveal Himself to you through His word. Ask questions about it. While reading a certain book of the Bible, read a commentary also that will help explain what you are reading, or do some research on the history on that book, or read other books that offer further explanation and clarity about what you are reading, or listen to sermons about that specific topic. The word of God is Gods truth, His love letter to you in black and white. Not given to us by some pastor, but by God himself. BTW I wrote a more in-depth blog article about God's Word. You can click the link here to find out more about that. I will wait here until you read it. I mean it’s not like I am going anywhere anyways… lol Read it? Awesome! Let’s talk about our next Tip. 5. Fasting (& Prayer) While prayer alone is effective already, adding fasting can just amplify the whole process. Fasting is basically humbling yourself, deliberately making yourself physically hungry, and telling God to fulfill that hunger or stir a new hunger in you and meet you in your deliberate weakness! Point that hunger to Him – not to the next treat in sight! ;) Of course, you can also fast other things like Social Media, TV, extra Hobbies, or just certain foods (if you fasting food doesn't work for you). It's about deliberately becoming weak, surrendering that area to God and letting Him become strong in you! 6. Got The Right People Around You? Surround yourself with people that are committed to Jesus! People that pursue Him and want to share with you their walk with God. Primarily that would, of course, mean your direct friends. But maybe you should consider joining a cell group and of course don’t forget to go to the right church! ;D (If you haven’t already…) You will find out that, not only will the company benefit you, but you will be of blessing to them with your Holy Spirit advice as well! Then you will see that the more you give the more God will entrust you too. Like with pumping water - the more that goes out the more that needs to come in. When you are at home, surround yourself with the right, influential people - bringing them into your living room, your bedroom (or even with you under the shower lol) by listening to sermons, watching Youtube videos and/or reading books! The last you probably should not do under the shower… that probably wouldn't work out very well lol. I want to list some bible verses here though that just shows how important it is to surround yourself with the right people. Proverbs 27:17 (NKJV)"As iron sharpens iron,So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend." Proverbs 13:20 (NKJV)"He who walks with wise men will be wise,But the companion of fools will be destroyed." Proverbs 17:17 (NKJV)"A friend loves at all times,And a brother is born for adversity." Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NKJV)9" Two are better than one,Because they have a good reward for their labor.10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.But woe to him who is alone when he falls,For he has no one to help him up." Proverbs 24:6 (NKJV)"For by wise counsel you will wage your own war,And in a multitude of counselors there is safety." So, in conclusion: Hunger for God is like a fire. It might need a jumpstart, but as soon as it has caught fire it desires more and if you give it more, it will burn more, and higher, and brighter, and stronger. So... Feed the fire! Repent, Seek God in Prayer, fast, read His word, invite His presence into your life and surround yourself with people that will help you along the way. ‘till next time Yeshuah “The Hungry” Boyton PS: If you haven’t read the other blog post I mentioned How To Have A Deeper Hunger For God. You should check it out now. ;)