Reflect on what He has done with a thankful heart.
Recount the many ways He is for you!
Final Thoughts Today is the final day of the fast and my heart is full of gratitude for you. Thank you for taking your walk with God seriously. As the world spins into madness and chaos, it is good to know that we are not alone. I love loving God with you!
It hit me last night while laying in bed. There is only one letter that differentiates Feast from Fast. I know, I have the deepest, most profound thoughts while drifting off to sleep! It only takes one letter to change a Feast to a Fast.
Sunday we get to Feast. The Fast will be over. I suspect you have already been thinking about it. We will finally stop pushing that item or activity away and instead we will dive in! We can go back to normal. Watch for chocolate to disappear from store shelves in the area the way paper products raptured away last March!
Actually, Normal is somewhere in the middle of Feast and Fast. Normal. Neither deprivation nor gorging. Ordinary. A few years back I became much more acquainted with the concept of the Church Calendar. Our tradition is not high church. We are not liturgical, so the Church Calendar is a foreign concept. The Church Calendar plots out the year from the first Sunday of Advent to the next Advent. It walks us through rhythms of Feast (Christmas/Easter) and seasons of Fast (Advent/Lent). The Feasts have seasons of preparation that involve a Fast.
A good look at the Calendar reveals that the majority of the year is neither Feast nor Fast. It is referred to as Ordinary Time. The majority of church life is lived in Ordinary Time. The majority of our Spiritual Journey is traversed in the Ordinary. Ordinary actually makes Feast and Fast extraordinary! If every day was a Feast we would soon be bored with the excess. If ever day were a Fast we would whither away and starve. Feasts and Fasts teach us how to live out the Ordinary.
Our Fast has taught us some things about the Ordinary. Perhaps the strongest lesson is our definition of the word need. We say NEED when we mean WANT. Truthfully we need very little. In fact, all we really need is God! All else is a want.
We also learned the way our mindless reaching for food or media forms us. I have pushed away all "Social Media" except the picture app forever. I put "Social Media" in quotes because it is neither social nor media. I was talking with a friend after church who pushed away Twitter. He said something that I am finding true as well. His ability to think deeply and concentrate is increasing. The reflective activity of these apps fragments our thinking. Not a surprise. They are designed by sinister people who want to fragment society. This Fast taught us how we have been living in the Ordinary, and how to live better.
Sunday may be a Feast, but Monday, make way for the Ordinary. Take the lessons of Feast and Fast into Normal life, where the majority of life is lived.
Today's Prayer Yesterday Kim prayed a new prayer. It was simple but audaciously specific. This morning, she learned through a text the way God answered quite literally. It was small, but audacious! Right now, pray a specific prayer to God. Audaciously specific. He is listening!
Final Thoughts I want to encourage you again to think about greater intentionality in fasting and praying. How might you bring this spiritual practice into a space of greater regularity in your life?
A Song Feast, Fast and Ordinary. Each rhythm is lived out best when marked by Wonder!
Few people embrace the word discipline. It implies structure, rigidity, inflexibility and even legalism. Discipline in the minds of most is the opposite of freedom. We think that freedom means we can do whatever we want, and discipline is restrictive. Truthfully, the exact opposite is the case. The runner who has a strict workout regimen has the freedom to run a marathon. I have no such freedom! The person who has the discipline to pay off debt has far more freedom to make choices not dictated by creditors. I could go on. The point is made. Discipline is a pathway to freedom.
The Bible commends discipline as necessary for growth in godliness:
1 Timothy 4:7b-8 ...Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
Paul introduced an athletic image with the words train yourself. The term he uses gives us our word gymnasium. Paul is commending a spiritual workout program.
Titus 2:11-12 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age
God's grace helps us to say no. Fasting is, in part, NO training! It is the space in the gym where we work our resistance muscles. Saying no develops self-control and fosters godliness. During this nearly three weeks you have probably experienced many levels of saying no. Early on saying no brought awareness of the reflexive nature of our yes. We mindlessly say yes to more food, more media, more whatever we pushed away. As we progressed, we noticed an internal resistance. No felt frustrating. In time though, no gets easier. We even start to wonder why it was so easy to say yes just nineteen days ago.
With just a few days left in the fast, you might consider a maintenance routine. How can you bring the training of fasting to one day of your week? It might be a day without meals, a day without media, a day without whatever you pushed away. There is great freedom to be discovered in the practice of fasting. Spend time today thinking of ways to bring the fast forward with you.
Today's Prayer Thank God for the new freedoms you have discovered through saying no. Ask God to reveal a fasting plan that will continue your growth in godliness.
Final Thoughts Fasting is better with friends. Is there someone you might invite to train with you in the gym of fasting?
For some this is the second time you have joined us on this twenty-one day venture. For others, this is the first time. You do not have to have been with us last year to relate to today's post.
I suspect that many of us thought this year would be very similar to last year. We may have even committed to fasting and praying again because last year was a spiritual highpoint. We felt excitement about revisiting last year's mountaintop experience. As we think about this year, a word comes to mind--different. It's not the same. Some have expressed that they do not feel the intense connection they did the first time. Others wonder if the object of their fast was a big enough stretch.
It is said that comparison is the thief of joy. In this case, it is just a thief. It has the potential to rob us of the uniqueness of now. It is a spiritual trap, a real danger to the soul, to look to the past for what we desire today. The past is just that...past. Attempting to relive what was or capture a past moment keeps us from experiencing the freshness of now.
Isaiah has a word for us today:
Isaiah 46:18-19a Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
God wants to do a new thing in you, yet we delay the new thing by clinging to the past.
Around SouthField we refer to our walk with God quite often as a journey. My youngest son has provided us some family adventures. College in Texas and first job in Colorado Springs has led to many miles of driving across Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, Nebraska and Colorado. I've never driven a hundred miles and wished I could go back and do that same stretch all over again. I want to keep moving! I want to get to the destination. Nostalgia for the past keeps us from the destination God has in mind.
In Philippians 3 Paul writes, "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
God has a new thing for you. He has many more new things for you. Stop trying to relive yesterday. Yesterday's gone.
Different is a new thing, a good thing.
Today's Prayer Ask God to help you to embrace today! Ask Him to help you to appreciate the journey, and to delight in each unique step along the way. Thank Him for some of the fresh experiences He has given you over the past eighteen days.
Final Thought Recounting past spiritual mountaintops is not a bad thing. In fact, it is a really good thing. God commands us to remember. The problem is not recounting or remembering, it is falling for the temptation of reliving what was rather than reaching for what is to come and resting in today.
A Song There is irony in today's song choice. I have resisted the urge to post songs I know. My iPod does not need much space. I play the same few songs over and over year after year. I've been intentional about keeping these songs fresh. I cannot resist this one. It hits us right where we live:
Can't go back to the beginning Can't control what tomorrow will bring But I know here in the middle Is the place where You promise to be
Though it is not new, it is a fresh version. Let God use it to bring life to your dry bones!
In the fall Misty Host started a different kind of Journey Group. We never meet face to face, though we check in every Monday. Looking into our devices, we quote two memory verses into the Marco Polo app. I need to make an admission. I've been one of the least faithful participants. Others have been so good, week after week, quoting the two verses they learned. Two verses per week, sixty-six in all. A verse from every book in the Bible.
This week we learned verses from Obadiah and Jonah. Many of us have never even read Obadiah, let alone learned a verse from this single-chapter book. I learn my verses while walking. With use of the Dwell app I listen over and over. The first time through I am sure I will never get it. After a handful of listens, it starts to sink in.
I learned the Obadiah verse and said it into the app:
Obadiah 1:4 "Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord.
On to Jonah. As I worked on the verse, it worked on me.
Jonah 2:9 But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord.
What I have vowed I will make good. I will keep my promises. My word is good, count on it.
That line worked on me. I started to reflect on promises made and not kept. I thought about things I had started but had not finished. I considered expectations I had set but had not delivered. It was a convicting walk.
That is the way the Bible works. Hebrews 4:12-13 tells us that the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Everything is uncovered and laid bare. The Bible exposes us. In these final days of the fast, take some extra time to take in God's Word. It speaks. He speaks. Listen.
Today's Prayer
Quiet yourself in God's presence. Pray these verses. Let God speak.
Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Final Thoughts
It is way too easy to take the Bible in with an eye toward gathering information. The goal of Bible intake is transformation. Whether we are memorizing a verse or prepping a passage for a Journey Group, remember that the Bible is the Voice of God. He speaks. Listen.
Day sixteen. We've been praying and fasting for sixteen days. The goal is twenty-one, not sixteen, but twenty-one.
It is possible as this new week begins that our strength is fading. We are starting to have internal conversations about quitting. We do not call it quitting. We re-label it in a more positive fashion. One way we do this is to convince ourselves that we have accomplished what we hoped to get out of the fast. Maybe our long-held prayer has been answered. Maybe we've experienced a significant spiritual break-through. Maybe we have a sense of peace and satisfaction that has not been present for a long time, and we feel content.
I love Philippians 1:6. It has been a guiding verse for me since I was in my teens.
Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. He, not me. We are not the primary workers in our fasting and prayer. Our Trinity God is the worker, and we are cooperating with His good work. He's not done yet. He has more work to do.
The biblical impetus for a twenty-one day fast is found in Daniel 10. Daniel receives a disturbing vision. To understand the vision, he fasted and prayed for three weeks.
Daniel 10:2 At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.
Three weeks into the fast an answer came through an angel. The angel reveals the activity of spiritual beings taking place beyond the veil:
Daniel 10:12-14 Then [the angel] continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”
His prayer was heard on day one, but the answer was held up by an evil being for twenty-one days. Is it possible that we still have a response from the heart of God on the way? How do we know what God plans to bring to pass on days nineteen, twenty and twenty-one.? We will only know if we stay strong.
Another verse that has guided me since I was young is found in Galatians.
Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
You have come so far. A little more than two-thirds of the fast is behind you. Stay strong!
Today's Prayer Fix your mind on a friend who you know is fasting and praying. Raise them before God today. Pray for their endurance. Pray that they will realize God's purpose for their twenty-one day experience. You can send them a quick text of encouragement or keep it between you and God.
Final Thoughts Read and/or listen to Daniel 10:1-21. Read Here. Listen Here. I hope you are as inspired by his story as I am.
A Song If you can, watch the lyrics while listening.
Jesus tells us to pray for our enemies. I wonder how many of us pray about our enemies, but do we really pray for them?
When I refer to our enemies, you may think, "Speak for yourself man, I am at peace with everyone." On the other extreme, some see everything that moves as opposition. I'll leave it to you to define the word. When I think enemy, I think of those who are opposed to God's ways and desires, those who actively work to do evil and harm in the world. They do not have to be people who directly oppose me or cause me some form of direct pain.
Enemy for me is defined by David in Psalm 139:21-22
Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies.
My enemies are those who stand in opposition to all that God is and desires to see happen in this world. For me, it includes many influential public figures who have an actively satanic agenda. They murder the innocent, they exploit people for sick sexual purposes and advance a form of morality that is opposed to all biblical standards. They are God's enemies, and so they are mine.
What does this have to do with audacious prayer? Personal admission, I pray about my enemies. I do not often pray for them.
I can have a Jonah heart.
Most people think of Jonah as the runaway-from-God's-will, big-fish guy. That is part of his story, no doubt. Why is he running? God called Jonah to share a message of repentance with His enemies. I capitalized His on purpose. By His, I mean God's enemies. He wanted Jonah to preach repentance to the most intensely wicked city on earth at that time, a city that murdered and tormented God's people.
Jonah saw God's enemies as his enemies, and he may have prayed about them, but he did not pray for them. A Jonah heart sees no reason to pray for wicked people. For one, they deserve the punishment soon to come their way. Further, it feels like a wasted prayer. Fix an enemy in your mind right now. Can you ever imagine that person turning to God, actually joining God's team and advancing God's desires? No way! We pray about them, but we do not pray for them. Why bother? Why waste the breath?
Jesus suggests an audacious prayer in Matthew 5:43-44
“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy.But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!
The book of Jonah ends with an object lesson from God. He lets a plant grow up quickly that provides shade for Jonah as he sulks. A worm kills the plant and Jonah becomes angry to the point of wishing to die. God then sheds light on Jonah's soul. In Jonah 4:10-11 God says:
“You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly.But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”
God, forgive my Jonah heart.
Today's Prayer
Think of an enemy. Pray for the person, not about them. Audaciously pray for their repentance. Pray that they would see the error of their ways before it is too late. Pray that the Spirit would send strong conviction of sin. Pray that they would abandon their evil ways and become a vital part of God's work in the world. Pray that they might even have the opportunity to undo the evil they have committed.
Final Thoughts
Think it cannot happen? I suspect there were people who saw Saul guarding the coats at Stephen's martyrdom in Acts 7 and refused to waste their prayers on him. Saul, you know, the Apostle Paul. Someone needs us to pray for their Damascus Road experience today.
A Song
Hear God's call to you today, the call he extended to Jonah. It's the call to extend the message of repentance to hardened hearts; the willingness to pray for hardened rebels. How will you respond to His call?
Do you want to pray a truly audacious prayer? Pray the words Jesus taught us to pray:
Your Kingdom Come, Your will be done.
Pray these words without reservation, hesitation or qualification.
Why does this qualify as an audacious prayer? For one, it is a prayer of complete surrender. Every time we pray these words with sincerity, we let go. We acknowledge the reality that God is God, and we are not. We own the truth that God is in control and we have no control. We join our hearts with His heart and express our desire for Him to have His way, and we agree that His way is best.
It is also audacious because we are in no way expressing the way we think it should be done. Have you ever been given total freedom on a project, only to be given a ton of suggestions on how to do it right or better? God wants to hear our desires, but sometimes our desires feel more like instructions. What trust and surrender we express when we say, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done." Period.
Prayers of surrender are not easy prayers. They may be easy words to mouth, but they are not easy words to mean. Imagine some of the most difficult, frustrating, maybe heartbreaking issues you face in this season. How easy is it to say, "God, whatever You want. Whatever You think is best, do it." Whatever includes many things we do not want. Can we really say, "Even that God. Even the thing I don't want...you know best."
Such a prayer reminds me of Paul's landing place in 2 Corinthians 9:
So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
God thought it was best for Paul to receive a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass him, to keep him from becoming conceited. Read those words again. A messenger from Satan! God thought this was best for Paul. Paul did not at first pray, "Your will be done." No, he prayed to God to take it away, three times. Ultimately He arrives at the place of surrender: For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.
Whatever you You think is best God, do it. That's audacious.
Today's Prayer
Fix in your mind a situation or two over which you have clear thoughts on the best possible outcome. Choose an area where three times or more you have asked God to take it away, to change it, to do it this way instead. With stedfast resolve and complete surrender, say it: Your Kingdom come, Your will be done.
Final Thoughts
Surrender. Let Go. Give it all to Him. He can loves you and can be completely trusted.
This season of prayer is guided by three words: Bold, Humble, Audacious Prayers. This week we will think about the last word, audacious. Do you pray audacious prayers? Some will say, "Yes." Others, "No." Still others might say, "I used too, but not as much any more." Still others might want to know what we mean by audacious before answering.
Joshua provides a great example for us. In front of all of Israel, in a very public moment, he prayed that the sun would stand still. That's audacious! The dictionary defines the word this way: showing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks. Risky prayers. Prayers requiring big faith. Audacious praying believes only God can do this!
Why don't we pray audaciously? For many of us, our audacious spirit grew silent when prayers went unanswered. We prayed with intensity and sincerity, yet no answer unfolded. We came back, prayed it again. Nothing. Again and again we repeated the request. Silence. A long wait. In time, the lack of an answer took a toll.
The Bible gives us many examples of professional wait-ers. Anna and Simeon from Luke 2 waited for a lifetime for the Messiah. Years, literally decades of prayers went unanswered. Hear Anna's backstory from Luke 2:26-27
She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
Can you imagine? Anna devoted her widowed years to worshiping, praying, fasting and waiting. I wonder, did she ever question if it was worth the wait? Did she grow tired of bringing the same prayer to God day after day? Did she doubt? Was she tempted to downsize her prayers? Worshiping, fasting, praying and waiting. A long wait.
Proverbs 13:12 makes a profound observation: Hope deferred makes the heart sick. A sick heart finds it hard to hope. It grows hard to ask. The deferment of hope entices us to shelve our audacious spirit. We find ourselves saying, "I've been here before. What's the use?"
I think Anna teaches us something valuable. Anna's focus was not only on her request. The Bible tells us that she fasted and prayed. It also says she worshiped. What can we take from this? Anna had her eyes fixed on God. We get weary because we have our eyes fixed on our unanswered requests. Audacious prayer is not based on the size of our request. It is grounded in our view of God. The request is not what it audacious. Our believe in God is audacious! We know that only He can do this, and so we will ask and ask and ask. We'll keep knocking as long as it takes.
Today's Prayer
JB Phillips wrote a great little book years ago entitled, "Your God is Too Small." For this prayer time, set aside your request and think about the size of your God. How big is your God?
Final Thoughts
Last night at our Overseer Meeting we were checking in on the fast. I was pretty honest about my struggle with the long wait. Rod Carlson shared the parable about the woman who kept knocking until she got an answer. Luke 11 describes this as shameless persistence. Sounds audacious, doesn't it? Luke 18 shares a similar story of prayerful persistence in the face of a long wait. The story starts by saying, "One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up." Always pray and never give up. Audacious! I'm grateful for Rod's words. I really needed them. No answer yet? Keep knocking.