Passage of the Day:
“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” 13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. 14 Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing—grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God.15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly.16 Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber.17 Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the portico and the altar. Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’” – Joel 2:12-17
Refection:
I recently worked a news documentary about Israel. Before the Coronavirus pandemic, Israel was in the middle of a drought during their rainy season. Rather than blame God for this crisis, priests and rabbis called their followers to fast and pray for rain. Thousands came to the weeping wall in Jerusalem to cry out to the Lord daily. While this event didn’t receive much worldwide attention, a few weeks after the call to wrestle with God through fasting and prayer rain fell upon Israel. This is a modern-day example of how the Lord responds to believers who take their faith seriously.
Prayerful Action:
They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. 23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders[a] for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust, Acts 14:21-23.
Retracing Your Steps:
Before any decision was made in the first century church, leaders spent time fasting and praying until a clear answer was received or revealed. Unfortunately, most Christians use prayer as a last second Hail Mary, always playing defense, trying not to fall prey to the same sin over and over again. The last Bible Study I attended in Delaware before moving emphasized the importance of creating a hedge of protection around your family using prayer. Imagine how powerful prayer could become in your life if you added fasting to this spiritual discipline? This is what it means to wrestle with God like the Persistent Widow in Luke 18:1-8, not giving up until she received the verdict she desired.
Song of the Day:
Don’t wait for a State of Emergency before you start fasting and prayer. Go on the offensive by being proactive with fasting and prayer, wrestling with God as you seek God’s will and purpose for your life.
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 