How was Day One of your fast? I am truly wondering and would love to hear from you about it. Also, share those prayer requests.
Are you ready? Today we will focus on drawing near to God.
Jesus’ brother, James, shared this thought when he said,
[8] Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. [9] Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. [10] Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:8-10 ESV)
I am SO double-minded: I want one thing yet often do another.
Humility, the act of being humble, is such a huge part of fasting. In the verse above we are told to “cleanse our hands and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Does that describe you like it does me? I am SO double-minded: I want one thing yet often do another. During this time of fasting, look at it as a time to be purified of the junk that so easily slows us down spiritually.
One way to purify our hearts is to prayerfully ask God to reveal any sin that would keep you from being able to experience His presence. Pray for the ability to see your sin as He does. Don’t rush this time – allow God to thoroughly examine your heart and show you your attitude and hidden things. As things surface, confess that sin, ask Him to break your heart about this as His is broken. Ask for His forgiveness and the ability to turn in the opposite direction of that sin.
[5] I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
(Psalm 32:5 ESV)
Now, draw near to God with boldness because of what HE has done, not yourself:
[16] Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
(Hebrews 4:16 ESV)
I may draw near because of God’s love for me. He forgave me even though I wasn’t worthy of His forgiveness. (Romans 5:8 ESV) tells us this when it says, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Hallelujah! Even though my sin should disqualify me He proves His love by forgiving and loving us anyway. I can trust God’s love for me.
So, confess your sin…
[8] If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. [9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. [10] If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
(1 John 1:8-10 ESV)
Thank You, God, for showing me that You love me and for giving me a hope to change.
I’m praying for a breakthrough for our family and Steve’s job. I trust God has a plan and pray for His revelation!
Joining you in that prayer Brenda – In the name of Jesus, He is able.
Praying for healing for Lee and for silent prayer requests.
Praying with you for Lee as well – in Jesus Name.
Ok, so the hardest thing so far for me has been not chewing gum. I never realized how much I chew it. The second thing is I had a rough start with picking out foods to eat that are in the guidelines of the Daniel fast, granted the Internet helped, but I have a new respect for those who have food allergies or follow the vegan lifestyle. The last thing I want to share is this, we are allowing our son to participate in the fast with us at dinner time only. Mainly, because he needs to focus and stuff at school. But tonight God brought the words from this page alive. My son had some free time and I asked him if he had prayed today. He said no, and so I handed him his prayer prompts and told him to go and do. He did, but rather quickly. I then asked him he had any sins that he needed to confess and ask forgiveness for. He said I think so. As I passed his room on my way to the kitchen, I saw him knelt by his bed praying. I heard him say, “and God please forgive me for . . . . ” I am not sure what it was, because at that moment he just broke down crying and began to plead with God to forgive him. I continued on into the kitchen and when he came out, he had red blotchy eyes and told me he had finished. I asked him if he felt better and he said yes mom I do. God spoke to my heart and said, that is what it looks like to be broken over your sin.
That is AWESOME! Thank you so much for sharing this… very, VERY, encouraging. Thankful that the devotionals have been helpful for your journey. Believing with you for all that you are fasting for.