As we come to the end of Lesson 3 in the HEAL book, there are a couple of activities that we would do together if we were together in a group in someone’s living room. So, I hope you are hungry…get your favorite beverage, snuggle up in your favorite throw and settle in with the rest of us.
Lord, please guide and direct our time in this “virtual living room” as we study and pray “together.” Though we may not be near in proximity, I trust you will bind our hearts in your Spirit. Most of all, draw us closer to you. Help us to see what we truly hunger for and what will truly satisfy. Thank you, in Jesus’ Name…Amen.
Even if you don’t have the book and even if we aren’t face to face, we can enjoy what the Lord may have for us in similar activities:
- Return to John 4 in your bible — the story of the woman at the well–prayerfully put yourself in the story as the woman. Imagine the sights, smells, feelings of being the woman at the well. How do you feel being there in the heat of the day, trying to avoid all the other women? What inner heart aches do you have? What types of heart hunger or head hunger are you likely to experience? How have you been trying to meet that need? Has it been working? How do you feel about this? It is really preposterous that a man–any man, let alone a Jewish man–would speak to you, given the “type” of woman you are. And what is he doing here at the well in the heat of the day when *no* one comes? What do you think as Jesus speaks to you? What does he say to you specifically relative to YOUR heart and head hunger? What does he invite YOU to do? How does he personally meet YOUR need? What do you think and feel as he reaches out to you in tenderness? Try to immerse yourself in the passage and imagine truly being there. Feel the heat of the hot sun and the dryness all around. Feel the sand beneath your feet. Hear the sounds of the desert…the quiet of a world without modern conveniences.
Close this meditation with a time of prayer and praise to him that he has chosen to meet you at your “well.” If you are like the rest of us, we continue to try to draw from a well, assuming it has what we need, wishing we could be done with it forever…only HE can meet the need once and for all…he alone is our living water.
- For the second activity, evaluate each type of hunger specifically. For each of the three types of hunger, heart hunger, head hunger, and stomach hunger, answer these three questions:
1. What emotions or feelings do you experience when you have this type of hunger?
2. What thoughts do you experience?
3. How do you respond to this type of hunger?
Heart hunger is often the most difficult to take to the Lord. Prayerfully evaluate what types of heartaches you face most frequently and note if this has been the case for you. When you feel wounded, empty, in pain in the deep places, do you turn to the Lord to meet that need? If not, why not?
When are you most likely to feel heart hunger? Consider what you usually do about it and what can you do instead. What would the Lord most likely want you to do about it instead? Can you look up verses in the bible that will encourage you in this? If you like you can select two of the following scriptures and journal how they encourage you regarding your heart hunger:
Psalm 73:25,26
Psalm 42
Psalm 63
Psalm 103
Psalm 107 (Note especially the phrase “Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. “)
Psalm 145
Isaiah 55
Isaiah 58:11-12
Ephesians 1:3-14
Philippians 3:7-14
Finally, take time to praise the Lord for His character and his actions on your behalf based on what these verses (and others you can find) tell you. What can you do to begin to experience him as your satisfaction when heart hunger rages? Are you willing?
Lord, thank you that you want to send forth your word and heal me…you have done this, Lord. I pray that I might respond by believing you, what you have said, what you have done…and truly turn to you when I feel deep emptiness–hunger–in my heart. Thank you that you are sufficient. Lord, help me not to turn to food to meet the emptiness of my heart. Instead, I pray that I would respond to you and your love and allow you to truly satisfy. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.