A Hungry Heart
He has filled the hungry with good things.
Luke 1:53
Edwin Hatch was an ordained priest in the Church of England, and in his day he was one of the foremost church historians in the world. His lectures forever established his name among the scholars of the world.
But when he left the lecture room and went into his prayer closet, his heart hungered for more than academic truth or inter-national fame. He prayed:
Breathe on me. Breath of God,
Until my heart is pure,
Until with thee I will one will
To do and to endure.
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
Til I am wholly thine,
Until this earthly part of me
Glows with thy fire divine.
Many of us expect God to work in other people in ways that are identical with the way he works in us. The reality is that God is not confined to our religious tradition or our language categories. He can take any hungry heart and breathe his Spirit upon it until that heart glows with his fire divine.
Edwin Hatch may never have heard the language about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but his heart cried out for God to do something more for him. Is your heart hungry for more? God does not have to work within the confines of our language or our categories.
—Dennis Kinlaw, This Day with the Master
God fills the hungry with good things—not just food for the body, but fire for the soul. Edwin Hatch, though a world-renowned scholar, knew that intellectual knowledge could never replace spiritual hunger. In his quiet prayers, he longed for purity, surrender, and divine fire. His heart cried out not for more facts, but for more of God. And in that hunger, he found what many of us deeply need: the breath of the Spirit, transforming the soul from the inside out.
God is not limited by our traditions, words, or categories. He sees the heart that longs for more—more intimacy, more holiness, more of Him. And He responds. If your heart is hungry today, don’t wait for the “right” language or setting. Just ask. Pray as Hatch did: “Breathe on me, Breath of God.” God delights to fill the hungry, and He will meet you where you are—with His presence, His power, and His purifying love. —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics