The Hungry Heart
By: Pastors Rodney & Adonica Howard-BrownePublish date: 01/18/2020
Foundations of My Heart—The Hungry Heart
Foundation Scriptures:
As the hart pants and longs for the water brooks, so I pant and long for You, O God. 2 My inner self thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? Psalm 42:1-2 AMPC
And He [further] said to me, It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I [Myself] will give water without price from the fountain (springs) of the water of Life. Revelation 21:6 AMPC
The [Holy] Spirit and the bride (the church, the true Christians) say, Come! And let him who is listening say, Come! And let everyone come who is thirsty [who is painfully conscious of his need of those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported, and strengthened]; and whoever [earnestly] desires to do it, let him come, take, appropriate, and drink the water of Life without cost. Revelation 22:17 AMPC
1. Spiritual Hunger.
a. Spiritual hunger is the number one ingredient for revival and the only way to receive anything from God.
b. Psalm 63:1 AMPC — O God, You are my God, earnestly will I seek You; my inner self thirsts for You, my flesh longs and is faint for You, in a dry and weary land where no water is.
c. Spiritual appetite is something that needs to be developed, cultivated, and protected.
d. It determines how hungry you are for the things of God.
e. As with natural things, your diet—what you put in your mouth—dictates what you will be, so it is with spiritual things.
f. You are what you eat!
g. If you eat junk food, that is what you will be hungry for—that is what you will crave.
h. You will not have an appetite for the things that are good for you and nourishing to your body.
i. As a result, you will be sick, have health problems, and die prematurely.
j. If you make a habit of eating good, healthy, wholesome food, you will have an appetite for more good food and your body will be healthy and strong and resistant to disease.
k. You will live longer and will have a good quality of life.
l. Body: A healthy body: healthy heart; strong constitution; no health problems; etc.
m. An unhealthy body: sickly; anemic; high cholesterol; heart conditions; cancer, pain; etc.
n. Spirit: Eating good spiritual food will produce a healthy heart—free, filled with joy and peace and all of the nine fruit of the Spirit.
o. Eating spiritual junk food—giving in to the appetites and lusts of the flesh—will produce a sickly heart, filled with anger, bitterness, covetousness, strife, and all the 17 works of the flesh.
2. What Must You Do to Develop A Hungry Heart?
a. Strip away everything that would clog up your heart, hinder you, and cause you to lose your hunger for God and for what is good.
b. Take a critical look at how you use your time.
c. What is your daily routine?
d. How much time is wasted time: TV; movies; sports; social events; restaurants; Internet; computer games; etc.?
e. Get rid of spiritual junk food, too.
f. False doctrines.
g. Wrong associations; bad influences.
h. Wrong choices; wrong living.
i. Rather, fill yourself up with the presence of God.
j. Pray; spend time in the Word of God; meditate on the Word; be filled with the Spirit; be led by the Spirit.
k. Isaiah 55:1-2 AMPC — Wait and listen, everyone who is thirsty! Come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Yes, come, buy [priceless, spiritual] wine and milk without money and without price [simply for the self-surrender that accepts the blessing]. 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your earnings for what does not satisfy? hearken diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness [the profuseness of spiritual joy].
3. Are You Hungry for God?
a. Psalm 36:7-9 AMPC — How precious is Your steadfast love, O God! The children of men take refuge and put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. 8 They relish and feast on the abundance of Your house; and You cause them to drink of the stream of Your pleasures. 9 For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light.
b. Ask yourself: Am I hungry for God with a passion?
c. If Yes: protect your heart and your mind so you stay that way.
d. If No: ask yourself what you must do to cut the spiritual junk food out of your life.
e. Pursue and desire righteousness.
f. Matthew 5:6 NKJV — Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
4. Open Your Heart.
a. Open your heart to the Word of God and the correction of the Holy Spirit.
b. Psalm 34:8 AMPC — O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good! Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts and takes refuge in Him.
c. Always: be humble; be readily repentant.
d. Allow God’s Word to correct you; make straight paths for your feet.
e. God’s Word is a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path (Psalm 119:105).
f. John 7:37-38 AMPC — Now on the final and most important day of the Feast, Jesus stood, and He cried in a loud voice, If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink! 38 He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water.