Five Ways to Develop a Hunger for God and His Word

1. Ask God to give you a hunger for Him.

The starting point in developing a hunger for God is to ask God to create in you what only he can create. David says in Psalm 51, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” When you lack a desire to pursue God, ask God to create in you a heart that desires Him.

2. Guard yourself from being satisfied by worthless things.

We can lack hunger for God when we become satisfied in the things of this world. John Piper wrote, “The greatest adversaries of love for God are not His enemies, but His gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth.” This is why we must continue to ask God to turn our eyes away from worthless things and preserve our life according to His Word.

3. Confess and turn from sin.

Nothing steals our love for God quicker than when we give our heart to sin. 1 John 2:15 says, “If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.” If you lack a hunger for God and His Word, examine your life and see if there is unrepentant sin, where you have given your heart to the world rather than to God.

4. Hang around hungry people.

If you want a hunger for God and His Word, spend time with people who hunger and thirst for God. Their lives will create a longing in your own life. Hebrews 10:24 tells us not to neglect meeting with other Christians so that we can spur each other on toward love for God and each other.

5. Finally, feast on the Word of God

Psalm 34:8 says, “taste and see that the Lord is good.” When we pursue God through His Word, we develop a growing desire for God and His Word.