“The person who labors, labors for himself, for his hungry mouth drives him on.”—Proverbs 16:26

“When you’re desperate for God, you become dependent upon the daily sustaining power of His word. Your source of survival is your daily manna—feeding on the word of God…One of the primary functions of the secret place is to be fed afresh each day in His word…It’s our hunger for the word that drives us into the secret place. When we are hungry spiritually, we are energized to labor in the word.

“Spiritual hunger is absolutely essential to spiritual health because without it we won’t be motivated to feed on the manna of God’s word.

“It’s vitally important that each one of us learn how to collect manna for himself. Those who view the Sunday morning sermon as their source of nutrition are certain to be spiritual skeletons. God never intended that we live off the secret life of our pastor; He wants us to uncover the life-giving thrill of feeding ourselves daily in His word.

“Just get out there and start working. Pick up your Bible, and begin to labor in it. At first you will feel clumsy, but keep persevering. The more you labor in the word, the more adept you’ll become at gathering the daily portion that will satisfy your soul. You learn to gather by getting out in the field and just doing it.

“God wants to lead you into a hidden place in Him where you develop your own unique connection with Him, and you come to know Him totally independently of everyone else. He wants you to develop your own secret history of communing with Him and knowing Him.

“No man is to teach you how to find this knowing relationship with God; the Holy Spirit Himself will be your teacher. All you must do is shut your door…Oh, the awesome depths of communion that we can find in the secret place—not to mention the ingesting of delightsome spirit food!

“Now, I read the Bible just for me. I’m so hungry for Him that every day I must be sustained by fresh manna from the word. If I don’t get my manna for the day, I get a little bit on the cranky side.

“So now I gather manna just for me. But here’s what I’ve found: When I share with others the manna that has nurtured me, it feeds them as well! In fact, I’ve discovered that others appear much more fed when I share with them that which first sustained me. The secret is: Learn to gather your own manna. Then you’ll have something to share.”—Bob Sorge

My Prayer

“Lord, I will gather first for myself. I will not go to the Word to gather for others, but first for myself. I will practice spiritual selfishness in this one thing. If I get it right by eating fresh manna from above every day, I know there will be an overflow that will bless others. Teach me Lord, the discipline of this spiritual selfishness—the discipline to daily seek God first for myself, before thinking of and seeking God for others. May I discover that inner hunger that will not release me until I have fed on Your Word every day. Deliver me from spiritual malnutrition Oh Lord. Deliver me from an epileptic spiritual feeding pattern. Please Lord. I need to feed on You every day, through meditating on Your Word. Amen.”

The Challenge

It’s tough but try not to skip a day without feeding on God’s Word. And just as going without physical meals will eventually make you uncomfortable, may you never be comfortable when you skip your time with God’s Word.