For the past six and a half years, I witnessed immense situations come my way. As a young child, I came from being blessed in a big house to going back to a smaller house out of financial struggles in the family. I came from having a long-time step-dad to not having one at all. I had to step out from being the young kid to being the man of my home, providing for my mom and my two brothers. I had to push, fight, and pull through those struggles while going to school full-time, working full-time, and serving in my church full-time. Despite the confrontations that approached me, I never backed down from my service to God. You might say, "how can this be?" Or, "how have you managed to do all of these things?" I can tell you first is the grace of God, and next is passion and hunger to know him more everyday. Throughout my years serving in God, I have learned these things about having hunger for his presence:

1. It doesn't matter how much we know about God to hunger for him.

When a young kid is hungry and desperate to eat, they don't pay much attention to what they are being given. If their stomach begins to growl and they feel like their stomach is about to explode, they will eat the first thing that comes across their path. When I came to God, I didn't know the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. I didn't know how to evangelize or how to pray. I wasn't a great preacher; I was extremely shy, afraid, and fragile as a human being. But what made everything stand out was my passion and hunger to know the living God. This is what made me and pushed me to fulfill all of these tasks.

2. If I never commit to prayer or knowing God, I will never accomplish or fulfill it.

When I started, I would see young people pray earnestly. One of my first friends from church would get down on his knees during services and would cry out to Jesus for hours. Sometimes I would check myself and think that I have problems, or that I am living a lifestyle of sin when I wasn't. I would analyze myself because I wasn't crying, or I wasn't pushing after him like other people were. I had to make a decision to commit to praying like never before. From then on, I made a decision that everyday after school, I would lock myself in my bathroom for five-six hours alone with God. As I pushed and pulled, Jesus became my reality, and I started having my own encounters with him.

3. Being around hungry people will push and develop my own hunger for God.

The more I am around friends and family members that push after God's presence, the more I am compelled and challenged to seek him even more! I made a decision to remove myself from the worldly people and place myself around people that love him. I didn't want any mixtures, or any contamination in my heart for God. I just wanted him.

4. Situations only push me to hunger more for God.

There hasn't been a trial that hasn't pushed me to seek God at a greater level. As a matter of fact, the more circumstances that I face, the more mature I feel that I become in the spirit because of how I depend on him. I never face my trials on my own; I make sure that his Holy Spirit is protecting me every step of the way.

5. Hunger makes me more spiritual and opens the heavens for more blessings.

Hunger is evident in people. It causes God to move in our favor and gives us access to places we've never entered. It is necessary for us to advance in the kingdom, in our lives, and in our purpose. Without hunger, there isn't movement. The Holy Spirit is a movement, and he wants us to constantly be desiring and seeking more of him. If we are not after him, we are failing in the ultimate quest.

Jeremiah couldn't have said it any better when he stated that he didn't want to speak about God anymore. He was fed up because no one wanted to hear him. But the word of the Lord was like a fire in him that was shut up in his bones. It kept on filling him until he couldn't contain it anymore. This is what passion is. His presence is our everything; he ignites us and fills us so much that we just have to share it with the rest of the world. If we can't share it with the world, it isn't passion, it is a religion. Passion forces me to have a relationship with God. Passion forces me to go the extra mile, it pushes me to pay any price, and it pushes me to take people out of hell. I challenge you to increase in your passion to pursue God!