Pause

Advent… hunger for the Bread of Life. Thirst for Living Water. The Savior comes and makes Himself known. We long for more — and in the longing, we are filled.

Quiet your heart and lift your gaze heavenward. Glory is at hand.

Ponder

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

“She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying… she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”

When I was 19, my Aunt Naomi challenged me to “fall in love with Jesus,” and began plying me with books by women who could teach me how. I discovered the wonder of waiting in God’s presence and beholding His face from Madame Guyon, a 17th-century French aristocrat who ended up in the infamous Bastille for her views.

I came to see my heart as a castle where God dwelt, as Teresa of Avila, a 17th century nun, encouraged me to press into intimate union with Jesus in the center. Much later, Mother Teresa would show me the simple beauty of prayer, describing it as: “I look at God and he looks at me.” These women and more have been my spiritual mentors, fueling my hunger for God for decades now.

This is why I love the story of Anna, a first-century Judean woman who practically lived at the Temple for as long as anyone could remember — praying and fasting, fasting and praying — seemingly oblivious to those who might have wagged their heads at her tenacity.

Anna’s story is told in only three short verses, but they are rich with joy and intrigue. A prophetess, she had given herself to Temple prayer and fasting after being widowed at a young age. By the time she encountered the infant Christ, she was likely well into her sixties or seventies.

Was her Temple service a way to walk through grief? If so, what kept her pressing in for decades? Her father’s name, Phanuel, may offer a clue. It comes from the altar Jacob built after wrestling all night with an angel — a name that means, “I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”

Can you imagine Phanuel holding little Anna and telling her the story of Jacob — how he refused to let go of God until he received a blessing? Perhaps those tales planted a seed in Anna’s young heart. In her quiet moments, maybe she longed for her own encounter, hoping and praying to see God in a way that would change everything.

When she lost her husband, grief may have become like oil thrown on the fire of desire, intensifying her hunger for God. Year after year, Anna kept showing up, fasting and praying, drawn to the presence of the One who alone could satisfy her soul. She had tasted God’s nearness in the shadow of the Temple — and once you have tasted His presence, nothing else will do.

On the day Mary and Joseph arrived to present Jesus, Anna’s decades of longing culminated in a single moment. She recognized the Redeemer she’d been waiting for and could not keep silent. Her life became a beautiful paradox: she was both deeply hungry for God and deeply satisfied in Him — all at once.

As we ponder this unique moment in the Christmas narrative, let us remember this woman and so many others who would not let go — whose hunger for God shaped their entire life. May their zeal stir our own desire to see God face to face. And with each taste of His presence, may we remember that our hunger for Him is itself a promise of greater fulfillment yet to come.

Pray

Jesus used hunger and thirst to describe the condition of our souls without Him. Why are these images so powerful for you?

Have you considered that your disappointment when God doesn’t feel as near as you long for might actually be a gift — a hunger He has given you for more of Himself?

Talk with Him about this paradox: that He can both fill you and leave you longing for more at the same time. What do you want to say to Him right now? Write a prayer in your journal.

Practice

As you snack on Christmas treats or prepare for special meals — planning, shopping, cooking — let each pang of physical hunger remind you of your deeper hunger for God. Use those small moments to whisper: “Lord, I hunger for You. Feed my soul.”

Holy hunger is a sign that more of God is on the way.