Daily Devotional

Hunger is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as: “A craving or urgent need for food or a specific nutrient. An uneasy sensation occasioned by the lack of food. It is a weakened condition brought about by prolonged lack of food.”

It is easy to recognize when I need food, but do I know when I am hungry for God’s Word?
When being tempted, Jesus quoted in Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4 the later part of the Old Testament verse in Deuteronomy 8:3...” man does not live on bread alone, but on every word, that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

Throughout my Christian life there have been times I have been hungry for the Word of the Lord.  I recognize this hunger by:

1. Loneliness that cannot be filled by my friends and family.
 
2. Sin in my life that temporarily separates me from awareness of God’s presence.

4. Unsettled, uneasiness in general in my spirit.

3. A weakness to the temptation to sin.

Sometimes, I ignore the symptoms and let it go.  The result is, I am more and more miserable!
When I finally acknowledge I am hungry for the Word of the Lord, what do I do?

1. First of all, I pray and ask the Lord for forgiveness for ignoring Him and his Word.

2. I thank the Lord He is always ready to receive me.  I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

3. I make myself sit down and chew on a passage of Scripture!  i.e. Psalms, the book of John.
 
4. I pray and ask God to help me pray and read again tomorrow.  One day at a time.

MY HUNGER IS SATISFIED!

My prayer: “Dear God please help me recognize when I am hungry for you!  Help me see that my loneliness, or sin, or uneasiness or weakness is because I need your Word to feed my soul!

FOR PARENTS:

• Share with your kids that like their bodies can get hungry—their spirit can be hungry for God too.
• Share a time when you were hungry for God and what you did to satisfy your spirit.
• Teach your kids how to recognize they are hungry for God and His Word.

Pray with your kids and help them re-establish a routine in God’s Word.