Day 1 - A Hunger for God

Read: Psalm 42, 63; Philippians 3:1-11

In his book A Hunger for God: Desiring God Through Fasting and Prayer, John Piper lays out a few different reasons we fast:

• We fast because we’re hungry for God’s Word and God’s Spirit in our lives. 

• We fast because we long for God’s glory to resound in the church and God’s praise to resound among the nations.

• We fast because we yearn for God’s Son to return and God’s kingdom to come.

• Ultimately we fast simply because we want God more than we want anything this world has to offer us.

At the outset of these 7 Days of Prayer and Fasting, we want our focus to be solely on God in all of His glory and splendor. We want to turn our minds to who He is and what He has done for us. We want to express our desire for Him above all other things. In doing so, we likely need to confess our frequent placement of other things above Him. Like the Psalmist, our cry is, “earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you.” (Ps 63:1). Do the words of Psalm 42:1 reflect the desire of your heart? “As a dear pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God?” (Ps 42:1). It is easy to be consumed with other things and misplace our affections in the midst of our daily lives. Submit this week to the Lord and ask Him to renew and reset your focus on Him. Ask Him to increase your hunger for Him. Express your need for Him and desire for Him to work in and through you. Ask for His help to see Him for who He is. Make Philippians 3:8 your prayer, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Prayer Points: 

• Praise God for who He is—focus on His attributes

• Pray that God would give you a greater sense of who He is and desire to walk in His ways

• Pray that God would be preeminent in your everyday life

Question: What one thing are you going to do to continue growing in your hunger for God?