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Fast Day 9: Renewal
Sunrise is the herald of a new day. A day to freshly experience His compassion and faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22-23). Another day of life to experience His renewed physical creation. And a brand-new day to acknowledge His spiritual re-creation in us (2 Corinthians 5:17). And do not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but…
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Fast Day 8: Freedom
As citizens we stand for the freedom and rights of humans. As Christians we stand for a different kind of freedom and responsibility. This is not a freedom to do whatever we want within the law, but a freedom to live life in the light of Christ. We have a firm confidence that we are…
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Fast Day 7: Fast as a Delight
God promises to satisfy the desires of your heart. Really? But what if my desires are a little off His path? What if my desires are selfish? What if the desires of my heart are not clear to me? What if the desires of my heart aren’t necessarily good for other people in my life?…
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Fast Day 6: Soul Rest
Who doesn’t feel weary and overburdened, like these oxen, at times? Spending time fasting and praying can feel like a rest, a respite, an intimate sojourn with the Lord of the Universe. Come to Me, all who are weary and overburdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from…
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Fast Day 5: Don’t Fast Like This
Isaiah 58 outlines the kind of fast or response that God wants from us. He doesn’t want what the Israelites had been giving Him: a stolid, pious, self-righteous, cold, calculating, look-at-me, tit-for-tat, complaining, religious attitude. You say, “Why have we fasted and You have not been impressed? Why have we been hard on ourselves and…
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Fast Day 4: Pick It Up
Learning to cope with our circumstances sounds like the thing we should do. So we often rely on coping mechanisms to face the chains we feel because we CAN rely on them. Our favorite coping strategies feel constant, consistent and familiar. We always call our mom and she makes us feel good about whatever stumped…
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Fast Day 3: True Thirst
When we fast, we want to pay less attention to what we are giving up and more attention to God. We want our hunger and thirst for something physical to be replaced with a renewed hunger and thirst for something spiritual. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me…
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Fast Day 2: True Hunger
Fasting is a spiritual discipline that you might not have tried before. I have done a forty day sugar fast every January for three years. I can’t say it’s easy, but it does get easier. In this fast I still eat meat, fish, vegetables, fruit and nuts. I still eat. Whatever you decide to fast,…
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Fast Day 1: Fasting and Prayer
Because the Bible consistently connects spiritual fasting with prayer, we must, too. If we fast without praying, there is, of course, not really a spiritual element. Fasting without prayer is just a diet. Fasting is a discipline that people from many places have practiced over many generations and is connected to many different faiths. You…
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Fast Prep Day 5: Get Ready to Fast!
Know why you are fasting. See the post, What Am I Fasting For? Know what spiritual fasting looks like. See the post, What Could My Fast Look Like? Know why fasting is a spiritual discipline for all Christians. See the post, How Does Fasting Work? Know specifically why God is leading you to fast. See…
happy hunger
FIVE MARKS OF A DISCIPLE: OCTOBER 5 – NOVEMBER 2
Posts every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: Fasting builds intimacy with God, and encourages you to grow inwardly, upwardly, and outwardly. Explore five marks of a transformed disciple of Jesus and determine five actions that will allow God to change you. An action that applies to each mark is focus. Fasting and prayer is God’s way for us to find the kind of focus that builds intimacy within and actions without. Be with Him. Be like Him. Do what He wants.
COMING NEXT! MAKING SPACE: NOVEMBER 4 – NOVEMBER 27
Reflect on how to use fasting to make more space for God in your life. Make space in the moment and better reflect God to others. Make space in the morning and enjoy intimacy with Him. Make space in your conversations with others and learn how to listen like He does. Make space in your schedule to breathe and be refreshed by Him. Make space in your commitments so that you can say Yes! to the things He wants you to do. God made a space in this world for us. Let’s return the favor!
