Book Review: A Hunger for God by John Piper

This year I have set a goal for myself of reading one spiritually enriching book per month. For the month of January, my choice was A Hunger for God by John Piper. I chose this book because the topic of fasting is a big deal among the religious people here in Cameroon, both in evangelical and denominational churches, so I wanted to get a good perspective on it. I was also interested in what the Bible says about it because fasting is difficult for me, and not just because I love food too much (although, sadly, that is the case many times). If I don’t eat regularly my blood sugar level drops and my body responds by hitting me with a migraine, which for me is accompanied by loss of/blurry vision, sensitivity to light and sound, and an extreme headache which, if not treated, brings on nausea. Because of this I have never really thought much about fasting because I thought that I couldn’t really do it – physically that is.

Also, a big part of my “problem” with fasting was that I really only ever heard about people fasting when they really wanted something to happen. Not that they would say it this way, but it almost had the feeling of, “If I show God how serious I really am by fasting then He will surely act on my behalf to bring about what I want to happen.” And I know that we can’t twist God’s arm like that just to get what we want. After all, God is sovereign and does what He pleases, that is, what is best. So then what is the purpose of fasting?

I knew that Piper would provide a good, Christ centered teaching on this topic, and I was not disappointed. He challenged my thinking specifically on the purpose of fasting, not because we want something, but because we treasure Christ – even above food. Consider the following paragraph from his introduction:

Which means that bread magnifies Christ in two ways: by being eaten with gratitude for his goodness, and by being forfeited out of hunger for God himself. When we eat, we taste the emblem of our heavenly food—the Bread of Life. And when we fast we say, “I love the Reality above the emblem.” In the heart of the saint both eating and fasting are worship. Both magnify Christ. Both send the heart—grateful and yearning—to the Giver. Each has its appointed place, and each has its danger. The danger of eating is that we fall in love with the gift; the danger of fasting is that we belittle the gift and glory in our willpower.

Or, as he says in the first chapter…

Fasting is not a “no” to the goodness of food or the generosity of God in providing it. Rather, it is a way of saying, from time to time, that having more of the Giver surpasses having the gift… Food is good. But God is better. Normally we meet God in his good gifts and turn every enjoyment into worship with thanksgiving. But from time to time we need to test ourselves to see if we have begun to love his gifts in place of God.

The overall thrust of A Hunger For God was to help us see that fasting, while not necessarily prescribed as a requirement for Christians in this age, helps to reveal what is truly important in our lives and where our love and loyalty lies.  And while there can be many different types of fasting (not simply abstaining from food for a time), participating in any type of fasting forces us to ask ourselves the question, “Where do we find our deepest satisfaction – in God or in His gifts?” (p. 58).

Piper also touches on the motivation for fasting, noting that it should neither be to receive the praise of men nor gifts from God.  In contrast to these motivations, he says, “No, the reward we are to seek from the Father in fasting is not first or mainly the gifts of God, but God himself.”  When we fast in the biblical manner and with the biblical attitudes, it will be so that we can draw closer to God, experience more of Him, and fall deeper in love with Him – not so that we can in some way manipulate Him or “butter Him up” in order to get something out of Him (p. 78).  Instead fasting should indicate our longing for the Savior and our desire to be with Him – to experience His presence.

The thing that I appreciated most about the book, which I fully anticipated when I picked it up, was the interaction with and treatment of the Biblical text.  This was not simply a treatise on what John Piper thinks about fasting, but an honest and faithful interaction with the Scriptures on the subject of fasting.  In all, it was a very enjoyable and enlightening read – a book I would definitely recommend for your perusal.

If you’re interested in reading this book for yourself, you can find a free .pdf download of this and other books from Desiring God by clicking here. (Oops – I guess I just gave away one half of my answer to one of my earlier posts!)