Hunger: The Endless Longing for More

Watch: Hunger as a Catalyst for More (9 minutes)

Discuss:

1. Lawrence begins this session by explaining that, because Christianity is anchored in a relationship with God through Jesus, it figures that we should be consistently, increasingly growing in our hunger to know Him better and to dwell in His presence. Do you agree? Looking back, is this a reality that has characterized your walk with God? How would you explain to a six-year-old what it means to “hunger for God”?
2. By coming into the world, Jesus pointed people back to God’s original priority of true fellowship with Him. From the beginning, God wanted a people whose hunger for Him and His Kingdom eclipsed everything else. How did Jesus demonstrate this kind of hunger, in His own life? What do you think Jesus meant when He said that His food was to do the will of His Father (John 4:34)?
3. Jesus said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (John 7:37–38) If you have a friend or co-worker who doesn’t yet know Jesus but expresses curiosity about your faith, how would you explain to that person the concept of “rivers of living water”?
4. Lawrence points out that any life lived devoid of hunger for God is doomed to revolve around self and the fading realities of this world. Such a life can’t participate in the wondrous fellowship with God that positions and empowers us to establish His Kingdom here on earth. Can you relate? How?
5. Lawrence explains that hunger has always been the catalyst that propels people into a deeper experience of God. Enoch exemplified this lifestyle. His experience of God was summed up in the clause, “and Enoch walked with God” (Genesis 5:24). What does it mean to you, practically, to “walk with God”? What inspired Enoch’s fellowship with God?
6. As we hunger for God more and more, we come to realize that there is no end to knowing Him. Does that confuse, frustrate, or excite you? Why? If any of your questions are left unanswered when you get to heaven, what would you love to ask Jesus when you meet Him face to face?

Watch: Hunger is the Davidic DNA (8 minutes)

Discuss:

1. Lawrence describes hunger for God as constantly longing for and seeking after God’s heart. He refers to this as the “Davidic DNA.” Do you find that your hunger for God comes and goes? If so, does this depend on your circumstances, or is it a result of decisions you make to pursue God more intentionally (or not)?
2. Lawrence explains that Jesus paid an unthinkable price – His life – to redeem humankind from eternal judgment and give us eternal life instead. And Jesus’ cosmic investment results in a heart cry expressed by David in Psalm 42:1–2: “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” Can you relate to David’s desperation to be in God’s presence? Are there times when your soul thirsts for something else more than for God?
3. Lawrence defines Davidic DNA as becoming someone who consistently hungers after God’s heart, or someone who relentlessly pursues God with all their heart, consumed with a passion for Him. What would it look like, practically, for you to pursue God in this way, in the week ahead?
4. A.W. Tozer said, “God is never found accidentally…” Do you agree? Why, or why not? How could you go about putting yourself in God’s pathway in order to experience the riches and glory of His presence?
5. When humankind fell into sin, we lost fellowship with God. We became hardened by sin and resistant to loving God and others. And yet, even though we were filthy and rebellious, God pursued us with His redeeming love. How might you explain to a teenager that what we lost in Adam was restored in Christ? How might you describe to someone the ways you’ve learned to love again, because of God’s work in your heart?
6. Lawrence says, “We must begin to be intentional about pursuing Him in the great romance, just as He pursued us. We must begin to desire Him above all things. We must seek Him first and spend all our waking moments with Him in true communion. It is the living consciousness of Him that helps us carry Him about in our thoughts…” Does living like this sound impossible, or farfetched, or exciting? Why? Would you agree that loving God with all we are and all we have is both simple and difficult? Why, or why not?

Watch: Hunger in a Fallen World (8 minutes)

Discuss:

1. Lawrence opens this session explaining that the church in our generation has been largely influenced by worldly mindsets. It’s not uncommon to find Christians who hunger for material wealth and comfort more than they hunger for Jesus. How does Matthew 6:19–21 indicate that Jesus understood that this issue would be a temptation for us? In what ways have you stored up treasures on earth? Have those treasures lasted, or been destroyed? How would you explain to a fifteen-year-old what it means to store up treasures in heaven?
2. In Matthew 6:31–34, Jesus explains to His followers that unbelievers (in His day, the Gentiles) obsess over what they’ll eat, drink, and wear. Lawrence makes the point that once people receive these things from God, their provider, their fervor for spiritual pursuits fades. Is there evidence in your church or wider community that worry and greed have replaced sincere hunger for God? What would it look like to model to the world a non-materialistic lifestyle?
3. Lawrence says, “Many worldly practices now find bold expression in church gatherings,” and that “the zeal and passion to advance God’s Kingdom has now been comfortably replaced with the lust to amass wealth and riches.” Do you agree? Why, or why not? Is there evidence of idolatry in your city or community?
4. We exist to know and glorify God. We must learn again to seek Him first with no ulterior expectation of reward apart from the joy of knowing Him and making Him known. Discuss how Jesus’ instruction to live this way (Matthew 6:33) plays out in your life.
5. In 2 Corinthians 6:16–18, Paul urges believers to be uncompromising in their beliefs and practices, separating themselves from worldly pursuits. How “separate” do you think the church needs to be from the world? Do you believe that the church is peripheral to the world, or that the world is peripheral to the church?
6. Revelation 4:11 paints a powerful picture of the glory of God and our response to it. How would living with an awareness of God’s unspeakable magnificence change your priorities and pursuits on any given day?

Watch: Hunger as the Hallmark of Our Faith (9 minutes)

Discuss:

1. At the start of this final session, Lawrence reminds us that God’s chief intention for creating us was fellowship. He wanted us to know Him, become like Him, and reveal His glory to the world. Does this align with what you believe about why you were created?
2. Lawrence says that hunger for God is expressed through devoting time to prayer and the reading of God’s Word. David wrote, “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.” (Psalm 27:4) How has your desire to spend time in God’s presence changed or grown in the weeks, months, or years you’ve known Him?
3. Every human has a natural hunger for food because it provides sustenance and nutrients that keep the body healthy. Spiritually, we have in us a natural hunger for God, satisfied by spending quality and quantity time in prayer and Bible study. Paraphrase Matthew 4:4 to explain how Jesus gave expression to this reality.
4. Lawrence encourages us with the truth that there’s no end to knowing God. We can always walk more closely with Him and discover more of Him. Is there someone in your life who needs to hear that?
5. Read 1 Corinthians 1:9. What does God call us into, before He calls us into a ministry, mission, or life’s work?
6. Read 1 John 1:3. What is the by-product of our fellowship with God?