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A Hunger for God applied fasting to my everyday life. Its not just for mystics and the monastics, but for every Christian. Fasting is not about us, nor is it about our devotion to God, as so many prescribe. We are a culture of abundance that indulges and abusesfasting is a means of Gods grace to embrace someone greater than our appetites. This book radically changed, simplified, and drew me nearer to Christ.
Keyan Soltani
A Hunger for God came to me in a time in my life when pain and heartache brought about a thirst that only our Savior can fill! I am always hungry and thirsty for more of him. In these pages I felt Gods extravagant love at each turn. What a treasure!
Amy Kneen
Few books have had such an impact on my life as A Hunger for God . While trying to understand how God could use fasting in my life, I was overwhelmed by my need for Christ, homesickness for heaven, and longing to take the light of Christ to the world. John Piper shows clearly with Scripture Gods purpose and view of our fasting for the joy of our soul and the glory of his name. This book has helped me cherish the Giver rather than the gift.
Octavio Snchez
In the most desperate time of my Christian life, this book taught me to see God as all fulfilling. As I turned to God, I found joy in the midst of suffering. No longer did I see this season in my life as destruction but as a time of providential guidance toward seeing God as the longed-for object and fulfillment of my soul. A Hunger for God helped turn my desperation into affection.
Rudy Rackley
I came to the United States hungry for money, success, and the American dream. I did not know that God was going to chase me away from worshiping these and draw me to worship him. The Spirit used A Hunger for God mightily in my life. I came to grasp with what it means to renounce all things for the sake of Christ, to tear down strongholds in obedience to him, and to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Bread was made so that I can worship God through my enjoyment of him in eating itnot by glorifying it or by glorifying myself for providing it. Im encouraged that this book is being rereleased, and may God use it to show himself greater than all gifts to a whole new generation of men and women throughout the world.
Victor Chininin Buele
A SELECTION OF CROSSWAY TITLES
BY JOHN PIPER
Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian , 2011
Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God , 2010
A Sweet and Bitter Providence:
Sex, Race, and the Sovereignty of God , 2010
Spectacular Sins:
And Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ , 2008
When the Darkness Will Not Lift:
Doing What We Can While We Wait for Godand Joy , 2007
What Jesus Demands from the World , 2006
Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die , 2006
Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ , 2004
When I Dont Desire God: How to Fight for Joy , 2004
Dont Waste Your Life , 2003
A Hunger for God: Desiring God through Fasting and Prayer
Copyright 1997, 2013 by Desiring God Foundation
Published by Crossway
1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinois 60187
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.
Cover design: Erik Maldre
First printing 1997
First printing redesign 2013
Printed in the United States of America
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible ( The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway. 2011 Text Edition. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked AT are the authors translation.
Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.
Scripture references marked RSV are from The Revised Standard Version . Copyright 1946, 1952, 1971, 1973 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Piper, John, 1946
A hunger for God : desiring God through fasting and prayer / John Piper ; foreword by David Platt and Francis Chan.
p. cm
Originally published: Wheaton, Ill. : Crossway Books, c1997. Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4335-3726-4
1. FastingReligious aspectsChristianity. 2. PrayerChristianity.
3. Desire for God. I. Title.
BV5055.P57 2013
248.4'7dc23 2012043970
Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
VP 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13
15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To the elders
of Bethlehem Baptist Church,
with whom I hungered
for the fullness of God,
and feasted at the table of grace.
CONTENTS
As we look out at the church today, there is so much that encourages us and fills us with gratitude. There is renewed zeal among Gods people for the spread of Gods glory across the earth. Like never before we hear brothers and sisters in different circles and different streams of contemporary Christianity talking about the gospel and mission, about transforming cities and reaching unreached people groups. These conversations are essential, and we hope they will continue with even greater intensity and intentionality in the days ahead.
But sometimes what we are not hearing can be as illuminating as what we do hear. It reminds us of an exchange in an old Sherlock Holmes mystery, where Holmes refers to the curious incident of the dog in the night-time during a robbery. A fellow detective, confused at Holmess comment, responds that the dog did nothing in the night-timeto which Holmes responds: That was the curious incident. Despite the proliferation of Christian publishing and Christian conferences, J. I. Packers observation of our own curious incident still rings true:
When Christians meet, they talk to each other about their Christian work and Christian interests, their Christian acquaintances, the state of the churches, and the problems of theologybut rarely of their daily experience of God.
Modern Christian books and magazines contain much about Christian doctrine, Christian standards, problems of Christian conduct, techniques of Christian servicebut little about the inner realities of fellowship with God.
Our sermons contain much sound doctrinebut little relating to the converse between the soul and the Saviour.
We do not spend much time, alone or together, in dwelling on the wonder of the fact that God and sinners have communion at all; no, we just take that for granted, and give our minds to other matters .
