How to hunger for the Word of God?

The same way you hunger for your next meal. How many times have you said to your family or a friend on a girl’s trip or a day out shopping, “I’m sooooo hungry!” or “Hey, are you hungry? Wanta go grab a bite?” More times than we can count, right?!

How many times have you said to those same people you love and care about, “I’m sooooo hungry for the Word of God!” or “Hey, are you hungry for more of God’s Word in your life? What have you been studying lately? Wanta talk about what He has been saying to you lately through His Word?”

I love this question because it can turn a friendship, a marriage, a relationship with a son or daughter, brother or sister, or a work relationship into something of much more meaning than silly banter (which is also fun and necessary for our psyche, especially if we are built that way lol) but there is more to life than what we can see, silliness, and what’s weighing on our minds about the new house, the new school, the need for that bill to be paid, and the work piled on our desks.

If you find yourself feeling empty relationally or even just in your own soul and covering it up with laughter even, which I’m all about…I’m the Happy Girl as friends have nicknamed me. But even if we take the spiritual glp-1 of choice to curb our hunger for the Word by trying to laugh our way through life, or play our way through life, or overwork our way through life… Some medicate their way through or party their way through. Some in my field even lead, write and preach their way through surrounded by the Word but neglecting to take it in for themselves. That’s a super slippery slope because to everyone around it may look like like you are full of the Word but it’s different to be carrying a box of those yummy In-N-Out burgers to a friend vs eating them. Can you tell, I’m missing my Cali Cooley’s and In-N-Out. I’m hungry to see them and enjoy some In-N-Out with them. When we minister, even as I write this blog. This cannot substitute my own devotion that’s for me. This blog and many come out of my own time with God. But not the other way around.

Why? Because I stay hungry for God’s Word for me! I cook for my family and that’s great but I have to eat, too. Same spiritually. Also, while I’m here…let me meddle just a lil bit more…yesterday a friend and I drove home from a girl’s trip and we snacked the whole way home. It was so fun! That’s great to do occasionally but you can’t live on that. That would be like you going to Tik Tok and Insta and Facebook or even YouTube for the latest celebrity preacher you are in love with for nourishment. Nooooooooo! That’s snacking and you will never grow to be strong and mature that way. You need more. You need time with just you and God undistracted. Sit in His presence hungry for Him and His Word – no one else.

Matthew 4:4

“But He answered and said, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4 NKJV

We all know our bodies need food to stay strong, but so does our faith.

God’s Word is food for your spirit. When you feed your body, that food produces physical strength. When you feed your spirit with the Word of God, it produces spiritual strength and that strength is called faith.

You wouldn’t eat one good meal on Sunday and expect it to carry you through the entire week. And you certainly couldn’t live for weeks on the memory of a meal you once ate! In the same way, you can’t expect one sermon, one devotional even out of one of my books lol, or one powerful moment with God to keep your faith strong forever. You have to keep feeding your faith.

Try this little experiment: Close your eyes and picture yourself slicing a bright yellow lemon. Now imagine picking up one of those juicy slices and placing it between your teeth. When I count to three, bite down on it as hard as you can and imagine that sour lemon juice squirting into your mouth.

One…two…three…BITE!

Is your mouth watering yet? Your memory is so powerful that your body may actually respond as though you just bit into a real lemon. But here’s the question: Did imagining that lemon give your body any actual nourishment? Not one bit! And that’s the difference between remembering something and actually feeding on it. It’s wonderful to remember what God has spoken to you in the past. Those moments matter! But remembering yesterday’s Word cannot replace receiving fresh nourishment from God today.

So open your Bible and read it again. Go to church and hear the Word preached again. Read the verse you think you already know by heart again! You may have read it a hundred times, but on the hundred-and-first time, the Holy Spirit can suddenly turn on the light. The words you’ve seen over and over can come alive with fresh revelation and it may be exactly the Word you need for the situation you’re facing right now. Yes, the Word you have stored in your heart will strengthen and sustain you. But your faith was never meant to survive only on the memory of your last spiritual meal.

Keep coming back to the table. Keep spending time in prayer and in the Word. Keep allowing the Holy Spirit to nourish you through God’s Word every single day. Don’t just remember the last time you ate. Pull up a chair and feast on the Word today!

So, how to hunger for God’s Word? Notice the next time you feel anxious or sad or even just a tiny bit unsettled and ask God, “Am I hungry?” Go get in the Word and see if your heart doesn’t become just a little bit more satisfied.

Happy Monday!

XO,

A

PS…Hey!!!! Happy Girl 26 is coming up in about a month and I am ecstatic about it! I hope you plan to join me! Grab a girlfriend and some rain boots and come Sept. 25th!!!! Go to AdrienneCooley.com and get your tickets TODAY!!! We will be Singin’ in the rain!!! It just keeps getting better each year so don’t put it off. Can’t wait to see ya there!!!!!