{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"West Side Church of Christ - Elkton Ky","title":"Hunger for Righteousness (From out 7-19-26 Worship)","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1831,"description":"Watch the video version here: https://youtu.be/rlEePrBb40E\nI pulled the English composition from the July 19, 2026 Descript project and based this directly on the full transcript. Here’s a YouTube-ready version comfortably under 4,800 characters:\nWhat does it really mean to hunger for God?\nFasting was practiced by Moses, Ezra, the Ninevites, Jesus, and the early church—but for many Christians today, it has become an almost forgotten spiritual discipline.\nIn Matthew 6:16–18, Jesus does not say, “If you fast.” He says, “When you fast.” In the same chapter, Jesus uses the same language about giving, praying, and fasting, presenting all three as natural parts of a life devoted to God.\nThis sermon examines what biblical fasting is, why Christians should consider practicing it, and how it can help awaken a deeper hunger for God.\nIn this sermon:\nFasting is giving up something necessary to seek something greater.\nBiblical fasting is not simply dieting or going without something you enjoy. It is temporarily giving up food so that physical hunger becomes an expression of—and reminder of—our greater need for God.\nHunger can become a spiritual alarm clock.\nEvery hunger pang during a fast can remind us why we are fasting: to pray, open Scripture, seek God's help, or intercede for someone else. Fasting does not create our weakness; it reminds us how dependent we already are upon God.\nJesus expected His followers to fast.\nMatthew 6 repeatedly says:\n“When you give…” — Matthew 6:2\n“When you pray…” — Matthew 6:5\n“When you fast…” — Matthew 6:16\nJesus places fasting alongside giving and prayer as part of ordinary devotion to God.\nFasting reveals whether we truly hunger for God.\nPsalm 42 pictures a deer desperately longing for water. Do we have that same desperation for God—or have comfort, abundance, and convenience made us spiritually complacent?\nFasting must be joined with prayer and Scripture.\nGoing without food by itself accomplishes little spiritually. Use the time normally...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/lvjrvJQzIzEamCIrdKMIrIgeJhJiQm_6B3NGmBkvnkU/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8yMTFj/NDA4ZDU1M2YyMDdj/ZWFiZjA0MDU1MDE2/NWNmNS5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}