“A driving thirst for God is our starting point. Such thirst comes to all of us naturally, but because we are fallen and sick, we easily confuse our thirst for God with fleshly or psychological cravings. The Church Fathers speak of our unbridled physical passions, which lead us to seek short-lived gratification in flattery, vanity, pride, gossip, temporal goods, and material success. Any one of these passions can supplant our natural thirst for the living God.” (Dynamis 6/8/2014)
“Everyone thirsts for something, but only one thing will satisfy your heart. Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7.37-38) It is only when we thirst for God that our heart will be satisfied. If we thirst for wealth, it will never be enough. If we thirst for power and authority, it will never be enough. If we thirst for knowledge, it will never be enough. When enough isn’t enough, you’re probably thirsting for the wrong thing. Thirst after God, and you will never thirst again.” (Fr. Athanasios Haros)
“…despite the grave theological illiteracy of our era, very few would dispute that people in our present time are thirsty for the truth, for substantive knowledge, for an authentic relationship with God. They are seeking the "living water" much like the Samaritan woman to whom Jesus revealed His messianic divinity, saying, "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water than I shall give him will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life (John 4:14).” (Archbishop Demetrios of America)
“…wisdom is not found in much learning and many letters; rather, as the Holy Scriptures say, the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and prudence the desire of the Holy; indeed, it is good to know the law of the mind. This is correct, for faith in God engenders a good mind, and the good mind is a river of living water; he who has attained it will be filled with its beneficial and life-bearing waters.” (Saint Ephraim)
“…the Holy Spirit leads us to Christ by softening the heart with grace. The Holy Spirit heals the infirmities of our soul and heart so that our heart is ready to accept Christ and to be filled with the living water.” (Fr. Stavros N. Akrotirianakis)
"As we read in the Psalms, "My soul is thirsting for God, the living God." People all over the world hunger and thirst for God; many seek Him without even realizing that in their longing it is Him they seek." (Deacon and Fellow Pilgrim)
“Only the spirit and life of Christ Himself will satisfy a thirsting soul.” (W. Phillip Keller)
“…spiritual exercises and pious devotions cannot slake our deep thirst for God unless we practice them with the firm intention of receiving Christ.” (OCPM 6/4/2017)
“The person . . . who truly loves God and Christ, even though he may perform a thousand good works, considers himself as having done nothing because of his insatiable longing for the Lord…But daily he perseveres in prayer with a hungering and a thirst in faith and love. He has an insatiable desire for the mysteries of grace and for every virtue.” (Pseudo-Macarius)
"Let me not slip into self-contentment and imagined self-sufficiency, which is the kiss of death to spiritual growth and thirst." (Sr. Dr. Vassa Larin)