A Hunger for God

Thank God this book is available as an online resource... now all of you can read it (or parts of it) anytime for free (click the title of this entry to go to the link). When I get some cash I'd like to contribute to DG Ministries so they can continue making these resources available for free for all.

This book's good for people who want to know what the Bible says about fasting, and want to awaken their deep desires for the good and gracious God. Though fasting usually refers to abstinence from food and/or drink, in this book it also means refraining from anything that keeps us from hungering for God and enjoying Him fully.

Here are the contents of the book:

Introduction: A Homesickness for God

Chapters:

1 I S FASTING CHRISTIAN?
New Fasting for the New Wine

2 MAN SHALL NOT L I V E B Y BREAD ALONE
The Desert Feast of Fasting

3 FASTING FOR THE REWARD OF THE FATHER
Jesus’ Radical God-Orientation in Fasting

4 FASTING FOR THE KING’ S COMING
How Much Do We Miss Him?

5 FASTING AND THE COURSE OF HISTORY
A Call for Discernment and Desire

6 FINDING GOD IN THE GARDEN OF PAIN
A Different Fast for the Sake of the Poor

7 FASTING FOR THE LITTLE ONES
Abortion and the Sovereignty of God Over False Worldviews

8 Conclusion: Why Does God Reward Fasting?

Appendix: Quotes and Experiences
Bibliography
Notes
Note on Resources: Desiring God Ministries

Since it's been quite a few months since I started (and stopped) reading this gem, I've decided to rewind to the very beginning, rereading and ruminating and highlighting every single striking/edifying statement with umatched zeal. Here are some of my favorite lines from the preface and the first few pages of the introduction. Though not quite complete without their context, perhaps these will entice you to read the actual thing:

"The discipline of self-denial is fraught with dangers - perhaps only surpassed by the dangers of indulgence."

"The weakness of our hunger for God is not because He is unsavory, but because we keep ourselves stuffed with "other things". Perhaps, then, the denial of our stomach's appetite for food might express, or even increase, our soul's appetite for God."

"What we hunger for most, we worship."

"Between the dangers of self-denial and self-indulgence there is a path of pleasant pain. It is not the pathological pleasure of a masochist, but the passion of a lover's quest..."

"That I could even attempt the journey is owing to God's grace, which I live on everyday."

-- I just love comments like these that reflect John Piper's absolute dependence on and love for God. I like humble people (and God loves 'em), and 'humble before God and before men' is what I want to be. Not having attained it yet, I aim for it and delight in finding role models.

"... my hunger for food was silenced by the hunger of my heart."

-- Piper 's account of his feelings as he skipped lunch to sneak off for a few moments and read his (future) wife's letters , drinking in "the color, the smell, the script, the message, the signature..."

"God's greatest adversaries are His gifts"

"For all the ill that Satan could do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of His love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18-20). The greatest adversary of love to God is not His enemies but His gifts... For when these replace an appetite for God Himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable."

"The pleasures of this life... are not evil in themselves... These are gifts of God."

"Therefore, when I say that the root of Christian fasting is the hunger of homesickness for God, I mean that we will do anything and go without anything, if, by any means, we might protect ourselves from the deadening effects of innocent delights and preserve the sweet longings of our homesickness for God."

And at this point I stopped to think about what I'd do with everything I had just fed my mind with. I decided to list down the 'good' and 'bad' things which kept me from much prayer and devotion to God, the objects of affection that served to fill me temporarily and made me forget my everlasting thirst for the Divine, the tasks and distractions that prevented me from coming before the throne of Jesus and abiding in His love... these are some of the things on my 'good' list:

1. SLEEP
2. Surfing the net, looking for (free) downloads, blogging
3. Household chores, personal tasks
4. Reading books other than the Bible
   
5. TV (is this any good? haha!)

Sleep is my biggest problem. Though certainly not bad in itself, excessive and unecessary sleep is what people on vacation (like me) are prone to having - and that's bad, physical and spiritual health-wise. While I have as much sleep as I need, I forget that I am still wholly dependent on God's grace for (physical) strength and for rest. When I am not weary, memories of Jesus as source of peace and rest for the heavily-burdened fade. But thanks be to God, I may be "on vacation" but my unfailingly busy schedule (self-inflicted this time) does still cause me to have those tired-and-drained, physically fatigued moments when work insists on being done even while the beguiling bed beckons and my roommate's heavenly snores make my eyes droop in submission. Yes, I still get less than 7-8 hours of sleep sometimes (but as seldom as I can help it). Life isn't as toxic as it was when I was in college (I can't believe I just said that!- WAS in college! I'm actually over that phase in life!), but time still passes me by like it used to; life is still, all in all, tiring, and that reminds me to look to Jesus and remember the hope which I have in Him. And I got a chance to "fast" a little on sleep today. I spent last night reading Christian lit and reminding myself of God's goodness, then I woke up early today for Sunday morning mass. I didn't wake up as early as I wanted, but I wasn't late to the service and was aptly prepared to worship God. (Much room for improvement, but God is faithful; I will improve!)

Finally, a few more words from the book:

"Half of Christian fasting is that our physical appetite is lost because our homesickness for God is so intense. The other half is that our homesickness for God is threatened because our physical appetites are so intense. In the first half, appetite is lost. In the second half, appetite is resisted. In the first, we yield to the higher hunger that is. In the second, we fight for the higher hunger that isn't. Christian fasting is not only the spontaneous effect of a superior satisfaction in God; it is also a chosen weapon against every force in the world that would take that satisfaction away."

Fasting isn't always easy. Sometimes it comes naturally, sometimes it goes against all our instincts. The teachings in this book will not always be easy to accept, but I look forward to the enabling that comes through the Holy Spirit who teaches all truth, to the day(s) when I fast and glorify God as I proclaim with arms outstretched, "This much, O God, I want You."

"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him."