Do you dream of becoming a household name? Being a famous actor, musician or athlete may not bring the happiness you think because fame doesn’t satisfy your soul. Dr. Stanley explains that real satisfaction only comes when you spend regular time with the Lord. For more messages from Charles Stanley, including this week’s broadcast, go to www.intouch.org/watch
male announcer: “In Touch”
with Dr. Charles Stanley,
celebrating 45 years
of God’s faithfulness.
Next on “In Touch,” “Hungering
and Thirsting for God,”
part one.
Dr. Charles Stanley:
Have you ever stood in front
of the refrigerator–it could be
full or half full or maybe
a little less–and tried to
find something to eat?
Now sometime it’s full and you
just stand there with the door
open, and you just keep
lookin’ and looking and looking.
And it’s not that
there’s nothing there.
There’s just so much there
you can’t make up your mind.
And so, finally, you choose a
few things and since you don’t
really find anything you
really and truly think
will satisfy you.
You just pick up a little bit
of this that and the other.
And so, what do you do?
You spend the rest of the
evening snacking here and
snacking there getting
a little fatter here,
a little less
dissatisfied over here.
And what happens is
when the night’s over,
you’ve eaten a pile of junk but
you’re not happy about it
and you’re not satisfied.
It’s just what you chose.
Well, you know, that’s the
way a lot of people are living.
They’re looking around.
They’ll choose a little bit of
this and a little bit of that
and a little bit of the other,
a little bit of this and
a little bit of that.
And you know what’s happening?
What’s going on is simply
this: That while they may be
satisfying their
hungers temporarily,
it’s not satisfying them.
Because, you see, God
created us with hungers.
He created with us a
hunger, for example,
for many things in life.
And so, when you think
about hunger and thirst,
they certainly are
creations of God.
That’s the way our
body continues to live.
If there was no food, no
water, we couldn’t live long.
Especially with water.
And so, when you think about
what make what satisfies your
physical appetite,
a number of things.
What satisfies your
spiritual appetite?
And the question is: Do
you even really have
a spiritual appetite?
I want you to turn, if
you will, to Psalm 42.
And I just want us to
read two verses here.
Two verses in Psalm 42.
And listen to what David says
as he thought about his own life
and what was happening
at this particular time.
Let me give you a little
background.
He’s away from Jerusalem at this
point and may be the time when
Absalom had sort of won the
people over and he had driven
his own father away.
And no doubt he had seen this
and experienced this a number
of times because he starts this
chapter off by talking about
a deer panting.
And, you know,
when an animal pants,
if you’ve ridden a horse
or–none of us have ridden
any deer, but if you’ve
ridden a horse you can–
when he’s been running
you can seem him panting;
you can sort of feel
what he’s feeling.
And so, more than likely David
had seen this at some stream
or a pond somewhere.
And while he was watching that,
he probably thought about this
and later on to write it.
Here’s what he said in verse one
of Psalm forty-two: “As the deer
pants for the water brooks, So,
my soul pants for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.”
And more than likely when he saw
that at this particular time in
his life, he was thirsting
and hungering and yearning
for things to be right.
And knowing in his own heart
that there was great trouble
all around him.
And he knew within his own heart
that what he needed most of
all was his
relationship to the Lord.
And knowing in his heart that
that was the key to everything,
here’s what he said: Just
like the deer pants at the water
brook thirsty, exhaustive,
probably fleeing from something
that had tried to attack him
and now he finds a little rest.
And he says: So, Lord
my soul pants for You,
for the living God.
When shall I come
and appear before God?
And I want us to think about
this whole issue this morning
of hungering and
thirsting for God.
And if I should ask you
this morning: Do you have
a hunger for God?
Do you have a
real thirst for God?
Then if I ask you to sort of
give me a little idea of what
you do all day long,
seven days a week,
you could probably answer
that better than I could,
whether you do or
whether you do not.
Now listen–I’m never–it’s
never my purpose to be critical.
I just want to ask
you to be honest.
Because there’ve been some times
in my life when I’d have to
admit: No, God, my
heart’s not panting after You.
And so, I think that
can happen to any of us.
And I want us to think about
this whole idea of hungering
and thirsting after God.
Do you remember when you were–
first met your husband or your
wife before you were married,
and you really did love
each other dearly?
And you knew you
were gonna get married,
and you couldn’t wait
for a telephone call?
Or you couldn’t wait to see
her or him when you were going
out on a date?
And there was a real longing in
your heart to see them and you
thought about them
all during the day.
And you just listened
for the phone to ring;
hoping it would ring.
And then Valentine’s came along,
and you were so excited because
you knew that he was going to
express his love towards you
in some fashion, and
because you loved him so much,
you just couldn’t wait?
You know what was happening?
There was something
going on inside of you.
That young–that man
had your attention.
Or she had your attention.
And I wonder how often we
can say that about God?
About our Heavenly Father?
About the Lord Jesus Christ?
And so, I want us to think about
this whole idea of hungering
and thirsting after God.
And this is the first of
two messages on this.
And I want us to think, first
of all: What do you mean by
hungering and
thirsting after God?
Well, when I read this passage
and listen to what he says,
he says like a deer
pants at the water brook.
And so, you say well what
is a hungering and thirsting
after God?
And what I want you to do
is to examine your heart.
Nobody’s being critical.
Examine your heart
to say: Lord, I do, or I don’t.
Because, you see, there’re a lot
of people who sit in church week
after week who
are very lukewarm.
They’re lukewarm.
In other words, they’ve decided
how much of their lives God’s
gonna get and how much they’re
gonna keep for themselves.
But listen.
When he says: As the
deer pants for the water brook,
so my soul does what?
Yearns for you, God.
Thirsts for you, Lord.
There’s a deep, abiding sense
of desire that’s so strong.
And it’s an insatiable desire.
It is that deep yearning and
desire that is so deep
and so strong it governs
your thinking.
You see, it’s a
holy kind of hunger.
It’s a divine kind of thirst.
It is something that God
places within our hearts.
And so, when you think
about it, it’s a–what it is,
it’s a passion for God.
Now you see people who have
passions for different things.
There are passions for people.
There are passions
for maybe some sport.
Or they have passions for, uh,
whatever their vocation may be.
But that is this deep,
yearning, hungering,
thirsting desire to accomplish
or to achieve or to become
something, whatever it might be.
In fact, it’s a feeling
that can sometimes be so
uncomfortable because
that desire is so strong.
You want to touch God.
You want to feel Him.
You want to see Him.
It’s almost a dissatisfaction
that comes in our life because
we can’t get enough.
We can’t see enough.
We can’t understand enough.
And a hungering and thirsting
for God is something inside
of us that God has placed there.
And, when you think about it,
it’s ever increasing.
That is, let’s put it this
way, when you have a hunger and
thirst for God, there is
something goes on inside of you
that cannot be set
aside for something else.
That is, it isn’t something
that’s sort of here today and
not there tomorrow.
A genuine hunger and
thirst for God is very evident.
And next week what I want to
talk about is the evidences
of when it’s there and when it’s
not there in our life so we can
be a little bit more sure.
But now I think about what he
said: As the deer pants for the
water book, so pants
my heart after you, dear God.
Now, what we’re saying is it’s
a desire to know Him on
a level that is deeply,
deeply intimate.
It’s a dissatisfaction
of what we do know,
and a longing to know more.
But it isn’t just
to know about God.
It’s to know Him personally.
I believe that God
wants to be loved.
He wants to be known.
He wants to give of Himself.
He wants to deal with us
in a very intimate way.
And far too many people are
just willing to have a shallow
understanding of who God is.
So, let’s think about this
matter for a moment and
think about the fact that this
hunger is a source–the source
of it’s from God.
Now I want you to
think about something.
When does this hunger
come into a person’s life?
We would normally say when
you trust Jesus as your Savior.
But I believe it’s before that.
I believe that when a
person is born into this world.
Remember there’s a state.
There’s a season of in a
young child’s life when
they’re absolutely innocent.
And nobody can tell when someone
else reaches past that stage.
But I do believe that God
places in every single
human being a
desire for Himself.
Now listen carefully.
You say, well if God creates
in a child’s heart a desire
for Him, then why don’t
we all feel that?
Here’s the reason.
There are probably
a couple of things.
For example, let’s say that a
child grows up in a home where
the parents are Christians.
They love the Lord.
The Bible’s on the table.
They see them read it.
They hear them
pray, and all the rest.
It doesn’t take very long for
that child to realize that God
is somebody real to
my parents, and so,
therefore, I want to know Him.
And so, what God
placed in that child,
listen carefully, is nurtured
very early–that you can know
this God and have a
relationship with Him.
Now let’s take a child who grows
up in a home where the parents
never think about God;
don’t talk about God.
No church.
No Bible.
No nothing.
They don’t want to watch
anything on TV or listen
to the radio.
Nothing that has to
with God whatsoever.
Does that child have a
hunger in their heart for God?
The hunger is there for God
because God placed it there,
but it is never, listen,
it is never identified.
And the child doesn’t know that.
And so, what happens?
That child grows up and what
happens is that child directs
their attention to the things
of the world because that’s
what their parents do.
That’s what other people do.
And so, therefore, the God-given
hunger placed in every heart
at some point in life,
a person chooses,
listen, having understand the
things of God to follow the
Lord, or they choose
to follow the world.
And so, this is why I say to
parents: Very important you
teach your children very
early in life by example,
first of all, and then
by precept and principle,
who God is; how He
works in our life,
and the fact that He
desires a personal,
intimate relationship with us.
And so, when you think about
what David said: My heart,
He says, “My heart pants
after You, O Lord my God.”
In fact in Isaiah
forty-three twenty-one,
he–Look at that
passage for a moment.
Isaiah forty-three, twenty-one.
And listen to what he
says about his people.
Forty-three, twenty-one.
And then I just want to give you
a little personal experience.
Forty-three, twenty-one.
And You’ll notice in the
twenty-first verse he says:
“The people whom I formed
for Will declare My praise.”
That is, God made you
and me for Himself.
Every single one of
us is created for God.
And because we are
created for Him,
He wants us for Himself to love
Him and to cherish Him and
to honor Him and to obey
Him and to serve Him.
That’s what we’re here for.
Why else did God create you?
Just to have a
good time in life?
No, can you have a good time
in life and be a Christian?
Absolutely.
Have the best time.
He created us for Himself.
And therefore, because
He created us for Himself,
what we have to
ask is this: Lord,
what are you doing in my life?
What part do you
play in my life?
In other words, is He really is
He really the central focus
of your thinking?
There’s somebody–
If you’d ask the
average parent,
what’s the most
important thing in your life?
My children.
I understand that.
It’s just not the right answer.
Or my husband.
Or my wife.
Not the right answer.
The most important thing in
every single one of our lives
is a personal
relationship to Jesus Christ.
God Himself.
And what we have to ask is:
Where does our interest lie?
That is, what
are our appetites for?
What is it that you want in
life above everything else?
He says, “As the deer
pants for the water brook,
so pants my soul
for you, dear Lord.”
Now God’s given us many, many
gifts in life and many things
that you and I can enjoy.
And there’s nothing wrong with
those desires and drives that
He’s given us in life as long
as they are kept in their
proper perspective.
But here’s what happens.
And you and I have seen this.
God begins to bless someone
financially, for example.
Before long, they’ve grown
totally lukewarm and drop out
of the church.
At one time they
had a real desire.
They loved God.
They desired Him.
They wanted to be what
God wanted Him to be,
and somehow, they
couldn’t handle the blessing.
And when you think about the
fact that God has made us
for Himself.
That the most important thing
in your life and my life today,
tomorrow, next week,
next month, next year,
the last day of our life, is our
personal relationship to Him.
He desires that you and I
hunger and thirst for Him.
So, let’s think about the whole
idea of what’s the nature what
is the real–what’s a little
bit comprehensive nature
of this idea?
Well, first of all, we said it’s
implanted in your heart by God.
It’s been there since
you came into this world.
And some of us were godly enough
and our parents were godly
enough, and my mother–very,
very early in my life
before I can ever
remember–she had the Bible out,
and she was praying, and she was
talking to me and talking to God
in front of me.
So, it was very early in my life
I didn’t have to figure that out
later on in life
and I was fortunate.
And by the age of
twelve–in fact,
I can’t even remember when I did
not want to do what God
wanted me to do.
Now I wasn’t saved
till I was twelve,
but there was something there.
You know what was there?
What He’s placed in
every person’s heart.
I just happened to have a mother
who was directing that yearning
in the right direction.
And I think about it,
as we’ve said before,
millions of kids whose parents
never even think about it.
So, they come along and they
try to spend their whole lives
trying to fill it up with
something that’ll satisfy.
Only God, through
His Son Jesus Christ,
is gonna satisfy us.
So, it is a God-given gift.
It’s the work of the
Holy Spirit in our hearts.
He’s the one who
creates this desire for God.
You and I can’t boast of that.
It’s a God-given desire, the
work of the Holy Spirit
in our life.
Then when I think
about, for example,
what happens when the
Holy Spirit begins to work
and He creates this desire
in the life of a believer,
here’s what you’ll do:
You’ll either ignore that and go
after some more of this or more
of him or more of her when God’s
trying to direct your life
to Him.
When you start hungering
and thirsting for God,
I guarantee you this,
now I’ve lived long enough, and
I’ve lived through enough to say
to you by personal experience
when you have Jesus Christ and
you have a hunger and
thirst in your heart for Him,
you can be happy; you can
be content with or without.
You can have a joy
that’s indescribable.
You can have a sense of peace
for which you cannot explain.
You are no longer lonely.
There’s a sense of fullness
and completeness and joy
in your heart, why?
Because you have a hunger and
a thirst for the God Who
created you with that in you
so that you’d live your life
hungering and thirsting
and yearning after Him.
And I have never met anybody in
my entire life who did not want
peace; who did not want joy;
who didn’t want to be happy.
All of those are
desires of our hearts.
They don’t come by having this
and having that and having him
and having her.
They come by, listen, falling in
love with the Lord God Himself
through His Son Jesus Christ
and allowing Him to pour
into us Himself.
When you have a
desire to know Him,
a hunger and thirst to know Him.
When God is
working in your life,
there is a tranquility and a
contentment no matter what kind
of a situation you’re in.
You may be in a bad marriage
or a bad relationship in your
business and so forth.
And you think, well, how can I
be–how can I be content
with this going on?
I’ll tell you how.
When you have a hunger and
thirst for God that brings you
to His Word; brings
you to talk to Him;
brings you to share your heart,
you’re gonna have a contentment
and a peace that this
world can’t understand.
Why?
Because our Father–Who said He
created us for Himself–is there
to fill you up, no matter
what you’re facing in life.
So, as you think
about it, I think about,
for example, that it’s certainly
not–this is not a once
and for all experience.
Well, I’m now hungering
and thirsting for God.
No, because the truth is
God is absolutely, listen,
He’s phathomless.
He’s infinite.
There will never come a time in
your life and mine when we would
not be hungering and
thirsting after Him if we
are walking in His will.
How much will we ever begin
to understand about God
in this life?
Who knows?
And probably you understand a
lot more than you thought
you would at some
point in your life.
But you know what?
There’s so much more
to learn about Him.
The experience of being
loved by Him and coming
to that conclusion.
The experience of knowing Him.
And not just knowing Him,
but experiencing Him.
And I look back and sometimes I
go back and read my diaries
and I think about Lord, is
that as far along as I was
in those days.
And I think about how I thought
and the things that I prayed for
that I don’t even pray for those
things anymore or even about
them anymore.
And I can also read my
struggles to trust Him.
And think about when I write and
when I wrote what I was delving
into and what I was struggling
with and could I trust Him and
I was saying, God, please, and
I’m just gonna trust You and on
and on and on things that never
even cross my mind today.
Because a hungering,
thirsting, yearning for God
is a progressive thing.
It’s something that
begins and then you move on.
You say well, what makes
it–what makes it grow?
Here’s what makes it grow.
When you begin to
hunger for God,
and it begins to
affect the way you live,
you know what God does?
He just creates a deeper hunger.
It’s an insatiable hunger.
It’s, listen, ultimately,
it’s never satisfied.
What a spiritual paradox.
We say if you hunger
and thirst after God,
it’ll satisfy every
desire of your heart.
And on the other hand, we say
but you’re never satisfied.
But here’s the difference.
You’re satisfied with Him.
You’re never satisfied
with enough of Him.
It’s this insatiable hunger for
Him that you want to know more,
experience more.
And if I should say to you this
morning: How many of you would
like to have a
real, strong, genuine,
undeniable,
inescapable, overwhelming,
powerful awareness of the
presence of God in your life?
Why, every single
one of us would.
Well, let me ask you a question.
How badly do you want it?
Do you want it strongly enough
to lie down at nighttime
and say, Lord,
speak to my heart?
Lord, do whatever’s necessary
so that you really and truly are
the most important
person and thing in my life.
He may have to take
something away from you.
You have to ask yourself the
question: What am I clinging to?
What am I holding onto?
What’s more important than
that relationship with Him?
Hungering and thirsting after
God means you have a yearning,
a deep, abiding desire, listen,
that can’t really be fulfilled.
And on the other hand, it can.
It’s progressive.
It keeps moving.
And you see, what is
spiritual maturity?
Spiritual maturity is
growing in our relationship.
And so, if I should say
to you are you are you
a mature Christian?
I wouldn’t tell
anybody I was mature,
that I’m a mature Christian.
Because, you see, I’m not too
sure I know exactly what that
would involve.
From my viewpoint I may
think, well I’m pretty mature.
But if I saw–if I looked at
it from God’s perspective,
He’d say, man,
you’re just a child.
Here’s what you need.
You need a–here’s what
you need in your life.
So, I would never say that.
But this much I do know.
I’m making progress.
You can make progress.
But to make progress, you’ve got
to deal with those things that
clutter for up your life.
For example, one thing about
having a hunger and thirst
for God is, you know
what’s happening?
He’s central in your
life all day long.
You don’t–in other words, if
you have a hunger and thirst for
Him, there’s no point
during the day you say,
I need to go somewhere
and pray because–
there’s nothing
wrong with praying.
I’m all for that.
Because if you have a
hunger and thirst for God,
you’re gonna wanna pray.
But here’s what happens.
You’re not gonna
limit it to some point,
some time, or some incident.
In other words, praying no
longer becomes what happens in
your life because
you have a need.
Prayer is just what you do.
It’s who you are.
It’s like you live with
your husband or wife.
You don’t have to make a
big concerted effort to say:
Tonight, I love you, dear.
No, because, you know what?
You’re always expressing it.
You express it in
different ways.
The way you touch him or her.
The way you speak to them.
Or the things you remember.
The things you do.
And so it is with God.
We don’t have to make
a big issue out of it.
It’s just the fact that
when we have a hungering,
thirsting,
yearning desire for Him,
He’s always central in our life.
Now there’s lots of
competition in our lives.
And I simply want to ask you
to start thinking in your life
about this: You get up
tomorrow morning,
and the world begins again,
but what happens if you stop
and say, Lord, today I want
you to draw me to Yourself.
I want to experience an
intimacy with you that I’ve not
experienced before.
Lord, here’s what I have to do.
These are things that I
see that I have to do today.
I want you to be
so real to me that,
while I’m doing these,
I’m aware of Your presence.
Stir up that hunger within me.
Create a deeper desire
for you in my heart.
And Lord, when you
see me being attracted,
or something appealing to me
that would draw me away
from You, draw me back.
Help me to understand.
Draw me back.
Draw me close to Yourself.
Draw me back to Yourself.
Don’t let me waiver.
Don’t let me wander.
But create within me such
a desire for You that it
absolutely controls my
conversation and my conduct
all day long.
You think He won’t
answer that prayer?
He will answer that prayer.
♪♪♪