Sometimes when I preach about spiritual hunger, people get convicted about their lack of it and make a fleshly attempt to muster it up. They endeavor to act like they’re hungry even though they’re not.
I can tell you from experience that’s a mistake. There’s no use in pretending. It doesn’t do any good. We can’t get hungry by acting on the old saying, “Fake it till you make it.”
What can we do?
We can pray—not just for ourselves but for the whole body of Christ. We can get honest with God and confess our coldness and our shallowness of desire and ask Him to help us. After all, He is the one who grants spiritual hunger. It originates with Him just like every other blessing does, so we can ask for it in faith and expect to receive.
In addition to praying, we can also do something else that is often associated with hunger for God. We can fast. Fasting and strong spiritual desire are seen together throughout the Scriptures.
I was reminded of that fact one time when I was leading a corporate prayer meeting and we were asking God to move on us and speak to us as He did in Acts chapter 13. As we made the request, the Holy Spirit pointed out to me that the people in Acts chapter 13 were not only praying and ministering to the Lord, they were fasting. When I realized that I thought, Lord, we don’t even qualify to get the kind of answer they got. We want to have what they had but we haven’t been willing to do what they did.
I realize, of course, that fasting can be just an empty religious activity. And when it is, it’s ineffective. But it can also be an expression of the heart. If you’re fasting because your heart is crying out for more of God, if you’re fasting because you have a heartfelt desire to be hungrier for Him, it can bring powerful rewards.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 6:16 – 21
On the chilly March night in 1972 when Lynne Hammond took her first step into a life of Spirit-led prayer, she had no idea what was about to happen. All she knew was the hunger in her heart for God wouldn’t let her sleep. In the few short months she’d been born again, her desire to fellowship with Him had grown so strong she could hardly contain it. “Help me, God!” she cried. “I want to know you. I want to be able to talk to you. Please, teach me to pray!”
Suddenly, a heavenly presence flooded the room. Lynne sensed waves of spiritual fire sweeping over her and a beautiful language began to flow like a river from within her. Although she’d never heard of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, she knew instantly, without a doubt—this was God!
What began that night soon blossomed into a life of prayer that ultimately became a ministry of prayer when, in 1980, Lynne and her husband, Mac, founded Living Word Christian Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Under Lynne’s leadership, the prayer ministry at Living Word has become an internationally recognized model for developing effective pray-ers in the local church.
A teacher and an author, Lynne publishes a newsletter called Prayer Notes, has written numerous books, and currently serves as the national prayer director for Daughters for Zion. Her passion for inspiring and leading others into the life of Spirit-led prayer continues to take her around the world to minister to believers whose heart cry, like hers, is “Lord, teach me to pray!”