Get hungry for God-message I preached 5/27/08

Actually the message is a message the Lord gave me a few years ago and I preached and when I was praying about what to speak on, He brought this message to my mind. Of course, it was not the exact same message, because the Holy Spirit moves like He wants to move, to minister to each one for that day. The Lord said, "Tell my people to get hungry". He showed me a poverty stricken villiage, where there was no food and the people were so hungry, and would do just about anything to get food. All they could think about was getting something to eat. That is how we need to be with the Lord, so hungry for Him. Desperate just like those people were. We need to be so hungry and desperate for the Lord, that is all we can think about! (Jesus I need you, I need more of you! I have to have more of you!!) He is the bread of life, He is available to all who hunger. Now, the enemy doesn't want us to get hungry, because he is afraid of how we will be. he will send distractions of all kinds to get our attention off the Lord. (when you have a person on fire for the Lord and so hungry for Him, it's no telling what will happen, and what the Lord will do!!)
If we want to see God move in power in our lives, WE NEED TO GET HUNGRY. We need to get DESPERATE for Him. We need to make Him our main concern, not the things of the world. He needs to be our concern, not us. His will, not ours. His desires, not ours. As we hunger more and more for Him, we want more and more of Him and we want Him to live and us to die (to self). If we truly want to see revival come, we need to get hungry, we need to get desperate. Nothing moves the heart of God than people who are desperate for Him. If we want more of the Lord in our lives, then we must hunger after Him. Matthew 5:6
How hungry are you? Are you seeking after Him with "all" your heart? Are you doing everything possible to get more of Him in your life?
We need to seek His face and not just His hand. The blessings He gives us are wonderful don't get me wrong, but we need to not just seek his blessings, so we can feel good. We need to seek his face, so we get to know Him better and better, so we can have that intimate relationship with Him. The Lord is not just pouring out His Spirit so we can have fun, yes, it is fun and more wonderful than anything out there imaginable, however, He is doing all this to change us and make us more like Him because He has a work for us. He has a work for everyone of us, no matter who you are, He has a plan that only we can accomplish, if we will allow Him to do the work in us. Time is short, the kingdom of God is at hand. We must stop playing games and allow the Lord to do a work in us and to use us.
We see the Lord moving so powerful in other countries, because the people are so hungry. They don't have all the luxuries that we have in the US, in alot of places all they have is Jesus and all they have is the hope that Jesus will change their situation, no matter what it is. They will walk miles through bad weather through the jungle to get to meetings. They are willing to do whatever it takes to get there. They are willing to lay everything aside. Oh, that we would have this same mindset. Jesus forgive us, for putting so many meaningless things ahead of you. In revivals past, meetings went to all hours of the night, people had to go to work the next day, but they didn't care. They were so hungry, they were willing to pay the cost. They said, "Lord I need you" more than anything else, I need you! I have to have you, I won't be denied, or let anything get in my way! We need not let the things of the world side-track us from the things of God. Lord help us! We need to make the Lord our main focus, we need to be more concerned about what He cares about. Last time I preached this similar message I offended people, because I stepped on some toes. So if I step on your toes, I'm sorry, but I must speak the truth. One thing that grieves my heart, is that people are in such a hurry to leave church services and get out of the presence of God. If we would just wait on the Holy Spirit and allow Him to have full control and when He starts moving, and the glory falls, then we need to stand in His glory (linger in his glory, in His presence). We get in a hurry to go home, or get distracted by other things and don't go to the meetings at all. We come up with excuses, such as I need to go get some lunch, or I'm too tired to go, or I have to much laundry, etc. Come on now, you know I'm right, I've done these same things myself. So many times we miss out on awesome encounters with God because we are too busy being busy or because we are in such a hurry and don't allow time to soak in His presence. He has so much more He wants to give us and do in us, if we would allow Him. Let me ask you, where's your heart at? Where's your focus at? Is it on the Lord or things of the world? (I know most of us have other responsibilities like jobs or kids or something, and we must take care of those things, but we must still keep our focus on Jesus!) Sometimes, we must lay everything aside , some things can wait, but will God wait? If He wants to do a work in you now, and we are too busy doing things that are meaningless, then He might pass us by and use another person instead of us. It is a privelege to be used of God for His purposes, and it is very humbling, because we know it is not because of us, it's all about Him, we are just a willing vessell.
I don't know about you, but I'm hungry, but I can still be more hungry, I pray Lord make me more hungry for you, I want to know you more and more, I want to have that intimate relationship with you and I want to see and live in the supernatural and see your glory!
If we want more of the Lord, if we want to see revival, we must get hungry and desperate! A quote for Rick Joyner's book, "World Aflame" says, "Deep spiritual awakenings begin with desperate people, and that holy desperation seems to be a prerequisite for revival"
We need to keep ourselves stirred up and sometimes we get weary of doing this, but we must keep ourselves on fire for God and hungry for His presence. We need not allow ourselves get weary! Galatians 6:9 We must keep pressing in until we capture the heart of God! Here is a good quote from the book "God Catcher's by Tommy Tenney, "Don't get weary in your waiting. You are too close and too far along to back out now. Don't stop-maybe this is what it looks like right before the heavens break and He emerges through the matrix of time to manifest His glory among us. If you are waiting on a promise from God, fan the flames of your desperation and put it on display. Make that nagging call to heaven and tell Him, "Daddy I want you!" Forget your dignity so you can have an encounter with His deity. Your desperation can cut through every obstacle and objection. Once the Father hears a true cry of desperation from His children, He rushes to meet them in their pain with such speed and violence that the "closet door" of His veiled hiding place is ripped in half and left behind. The most desperate and heartsick among us will instanstly embrace this message because it speaks to the pain and frustration of their "addiction" for God's presence." Hallejuah! Let's be addicted to His presence!!
In conclusion, just keep pressing in and don't grow weary and ask the Lord to give you more hunger for Him, cry out to Him in your desperation, put Him first in your life and don't put Him in a box of how and when He can move, allow Him to mess up your routines and say, "not my way Lord, but your way!" because your ways are so much higher than my ways! Linger in His presence and allow Him to change you from glory to glory!