By Becca Rennaker

In the natural world, we become hungry by not eating. In the kingdom, we become hungry by eating. When we expose ourselves to the Word, testimonies of God’s faithfulness, His voice, or prayer through the Spirit, we find a welling up of appetite. Appetites are stirred through exposure to truth and yet, a loss of appetite signals that something needs attention. 

A Dulled Appetite

At the start of the year, I was quarantined in my bedroom for three days because I came down with Norovirus. At the time, I was a young mom of a two and a half year old and a three month old so the required isolation felt like a rare gift (if you have little ones, you get it). My brain space was filled with naps, bottles, baby grins, poopy diapers, and toys galore. Some days, I was in pure survival mode, while in others, I was graced with thriving. I embraced motherhood at 100 mph in my own strength, but I lacked the strength to endure it, and I battled thoughts of bitterness, resentment, and anger. 

This forced quiet provided space to acknowledge my fading appetite for the Lord, and secondly, the need for a divine shift in my interior life. I laughed at one point, realizing its odd symbolism as a true “purging and emptying” of the previous year because I was kicking off the new year alone in my room. 

What began as quarantine had become an invitation for a spiritual reset. 

What baffled me was that despite feeling so disconnected from the Lord, I could feel the eagerness of the Spirit toward me in the room. I could sense His desire to commune, revive, and wash me with the Word. The beauty of life with the Spirit is that He’s always there. God didn’t leave us with a tool; He left us with Himself—without condition or measure. My faithfulness, or lack thereof, never changes His disposition or proximity toward me, and that’s the same for you. Whether you’re new to faith or a seasoned saint, know that it’s the kindness of the Father that draws us back to Himself in seasons of dulled appetites. He will author the gift of hunger in us if we humble ourselves and ask. 

As I leaned in, the Holy Spirit awakened my hunger, but it first required a sacrifice of praise. 

Awakening My Hunger

Psalm 100:4 ESV 

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name!” 

It’s helpful to recognize that our emotions and feelings are strong indicators of underlying things that feel true but likely don’t reflect the truth. 

There is a difference between what feels true and the truth found in the Scriptures. 

I know that, for me, sitting in dysfunction, pain, or habits can be easier and, at times, more comfortable than actually doing the hard work to move through them. I could have continued in self-reliance, anger, and bitterness, but I would have missed the companionship and dependency I have on God. I would have forsaken the mind of Christ that Jesus paid a high price for me to claim. 

All of our senses are designed to behold God. We are invited to open up the gates of our hearts—our inner courts—to Him. The good news is, if we’re willing to come boldly into the throne room, we get to behold Him and receive! 

Step 1: Come Boldly to the Throne of Grace 

Hebrews 4:16 ESV 

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” 

Disciplining our thinking by drawing near to the throne of grace to gain a new perspective will have a massive eternal impact. I yearn for the Church to discover the weight and significance of being seated with Christ in the heavenly realm (Ephesians 2:6). Jesus is sitting high and exalted on the throne. Everything we’re experiencing has already been settled; the cross accomplished it and secured it. 

In my imagination, I saw myself walk into the throne of grace and kneel down as I  looked at Jesus’ feet. If all things are subject to the authority of Christ’s feet (Ephesians 1:22), then my self-reliance, anger, bitterness, and resentment could be released and left under His feet, where they would be covered by the blood of the Lamb. In prayer, I saw myself place it all under His feet, and then I took my seat with Christ. 

Step 2: Bring a Sacrifice of Praise 

It’s from this position that I can bring a sacrifice of praise to Jesus and enter into thanksgiving and praise.  This sounds like: 

As I was praying this, my appetite was stirring and hungering for more of the Lord! My gaze was falling off of me and back onto Him! Jesus was transitioning my emotions to truth. What I was experiencing authentically in my personal life felt true, but it was not THE truth. He began waking me up by renewing my mind with truth found in the Word. That Word kept coming to me in my spirit, and I responded to it. 

Step 3: Magnify Jesus by Putting Thanksgiving and Praise on Your Lips 

The Holy Spirit desires to author fresh faith in us, and we can receive it by placing thanksgiving and praise on our lips. If someone hands us a gift, we receive it by thanking them. Thanksgiving says, “I’m looking at what Jesus has done, at what He’s fulfilled and accomplished.” Praise says, “I’m looking at who Jesus is.” Thanksgiving and praise allow us to enter into the depths of who God is, but they also open us up to receive who He is. It is also the birthplace of discovering fresh revelation of our overcoming life in Christ. 

Step 4: Digest the Revelation of the Word and Embrace the Overcoming Power of the Spirit 

Something shifted in me during those three days of quarantine that is still having an effect on me now as I write this. It began a daily rhythm of returning my thoughts to Jesus so much so that  I can now tell when I’ve neglected the practice. My appetite for the Word has increased and my interior life has dramatically shifted. 

Are you in a season where you’re yearning for more of the Lord? 

My encouragement to you is to start praying. Come boldly to the throne of grace, bring a sacrifice of praise, magnify Jesus, and digest the revelation. Keep praying the Scriptures that declare who Jesus is. I’ve heard it said, “If you begin to pray the Bible, you’ll become pregnant with the Bible.” His Word plants seeds in our spirits and transforms us as He waters the soil of our hearts. 

My second piece of encouragement is to do this with other believers. Sometimes hunger is birthed when we smell another person’s meal or hear the testimony of what Jesus is doing in the lives of our sisters. We need one another to spur one another on, to digest what we’re hearing from God, and to remind us who we are in Christ. I carry so much hope that Jesus will not only meet you in this process but deeply minister to your mind, soul, body, and spirit. He is forever faithful! 

Questions for Reflection: 

-Is anything keeping you from coming boldly to the throne of grace?

 -What steps can you take to begin increasing your appetite for the Word and for prayer?