A good friend asked me a deep question and it got me thinking: “Do you think there’s anything we can do as ministers to encourage or provoke [spiritual] hunger?”
My initial response was “Serve them in tangible ways and pray that the Holy Spirit draws them” but felt that the answer lacked something.
I wanted to dive a bit deeper and came across a blog by Hal Chaffee and he gave a great answer in his article, 4 Steps for Developing Spiritual Hunger, so I thought I would share excerpts here:
Here is the reason that so many do not hunger: they are filled. They are filled with all of the sparkly things of this world and have no room for God.
Hal Chaffee
Chaffee reminds us of the parable of the sower in Mark 4 and how the cares and temptations of this world choke out the Word of God.
“Three of the four types of soil were bad ground, with the third type being FULL of thorns. The seed was planted, and it started to grow, but it was choked to death. Why? Because the heart that it was sown into was filled up with junk. The seed was good, it was even starting to grow, but it was crowded out by the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desire for other things.”
Chaffee gives some practical steps to developing a hunger for God:
- Repent – anything that you love more than God is an idol. Do you desire it over God? Repent. Then destroy it, burn it, smash it – whatever you must do – do it.
- Replace – Don’t leave an empty void after smashing an idol. Replace your sin with service to God – service in prayer, reading the Word, reading good books, going to services, meeting with godly people, etc.
- Re-focus – Purposely set your mind on the things of God – do not let it wander. You will begin to feel passionately about whatever you direct your attention toward. Take control of your mind and put it on God. (Col 3)
- Rewind – go back to your first works, the ones you did when you first fell in love with Jesus. Do them again, even if you don’t feel as you did then. Doing them again will help to re-kindle the flame. (Rev 2:4-5).
These are very helpful suggestions for those who are believers and lack hunger, but what about those who lack hunger and have not heard the Good News?
When Jesus sent out the 72 disciples in Luke 10:8-11, He instructed them to go to go ahead to villages that He was planning on visiting, and if they were welcomed, to eat with the residents, heal the sick and call them to repentance. He also gave instructions to warn those that did not welcome them (in other words, were not spiritually hungry).
So, a more complete answer to my friend’s question is that ministers can encourage and provoke hunger by prayerfully serving others in tangible ways and calling them to repentance. If they turn from their sins, then the minister can, through the power of the Holy Spirit, help them to clear away the thorns in their life and nurture the seed of God’s word to bear fruit for His Kingdom.