The Power of Hunger
by Brian Houston
Introduction: In Life, what you hunger for is what you tend to be filled with.
Who are you hungry for?
What are you hungry for? Matt 8:2
When did you last hunger for the things of God? For the will of God?
Vision keeps our hunger for God. Desiring Jesus helps us keep our hunger for righteousness.
Hunger -> desperation -> invention -> motivation -> action ->endurance ->fulfillment.
When you hunger for God, you’ll start to experience supernatural provision in your life. You’ll see more of the miraculous in your life.
One of the ways to stay hungry is to eat the word of God. If you don’t feed your hunger and passion to serve God, you will lose it!
Hunger brings dependence. A hunger person is a vulnerable person, because hunger brings dependence. Y
You need to hunger when you feel:
A. A constant pull to ease. Luke 12:17
B. Let’s not ease rob us of the desperation to see all that God has for you.
Is your hunger for God more than the obstacles in your way?
C. Relentless monotony of boredom. Familiarity will try to rob you of hunger to see God save the people.
Never lose your hunger.
D. Deceptive nature of temptation. Mt. 4:2 Temptation will try to rob you of hunger. Luke 4:2. The temptation to settle, to draw back.
E. Safe ground of open options.
Keeping your options like Peter did and Peter got discouraged and went back to fishing. Hunger and desperation means your have to shut down the options and step into what God has for you 100%.
F. Undermining tug of rationale.
Don’t put all your faith in rationale.
There are reasons beyond reason. If you think it all through, you can draw back from the desperation for God.
Loving the things of God is a hard issue. Reason doesn’t understand it.
3. Invention.
Necessity will cause people to live their lives creatively.
In other words, your life is exciting as you are living your life in a creative way (Luke 16:3-4).
If you live your life hungry, you’ll find the energy, the people, and you’ll find a way.
4. Motivation
Motivation is to bad, only selfish ambition is.
Other words for motivation include longing, drive, spirit, desire, passion, enthusiasm, warmth, zest, fire, yearning, aspiration, verve, get up and go!
If the enemy can rob you of ambition, and verve and get up and go, he will do it. Stay desperate!
5. Action
To be hungry for God? the action is seek God.
To see great things in your life? Serve.
If you really want to change, the action is discipline. And if you really want to change you’ll find the discipline.
TO help others, the action is selfishness.
6. Endurance.
Paul had exceptional endurance. To get to where God designed for you to go, you have to be patient.
Stay hungry, so that when life beats you down, you keep getting up.
7. Reward.
Endurance leads to fulfilment. Those that hunger for righteousness shall be filled. And you get to hear those words, Well done!
There is a sense of fulfilment in running the race and finishing your course.
You’ll see the fulfilment of the promises of God in your life in Jesus name.
Pray: God, keep me hungry for you. Rekindle the desperation for you, Lord.
Notes from a sermon by Brian Houston at Hillsong Church.