Tuesday, September 12, 2017 Fasting is Feasting…on the Word of God! (The Discipline of Fasting, Part 4) (Inspired by Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster)
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Fasting is Feasting…on the Word of God! (The Discipline of
Fasting, Part 4)
(Inspired by Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster)
Scripture:
Matthew 4:4
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on
bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Colossians 1:17
He is before all things, and in him all things hold
together.
John 4:32,34
32 But
he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
34 “My
food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to
finish his work.
Devotional:
I am deeply encouraged by today’s passage on the feast of
fasting on God’s Word! If I am not intentional, I can easily forget that my
sustenance comes from the Word of God. It occurs to me that I may not have shared
with you my journey with food. I come from a family of people who have
unhealthy relationships with food. It is something we all desire to change, and
no one of us has fully conquered. In January of 2015, God led me to attend a
Christian conference for people desiring to get to the bottom of their issues
with weight. At the time, I weighed my heaviest to date. I was broken, hurting,
struggling with my own inner wounds from childhood and in my marriage,
devastated from the realization of my feelings of inadequacy to be the parent
of a wonderful child with special needs, emerging with the awareness that my
one year old also came with her own set of challenges as a strong willed child,
and basically wrung dry. Food was my medication. This conference provided me a
short break from this whirlwind of overwhelm to focus in on the reality, that
below my weight was a list of things that I had not yet truly surrendered to
God. Food was my god….God was not my food.
Over the past almost three years, as I worked with the Lord’s
help and in a community of others struggling with the same coping
mechanism, I have actually lost a total
of 65 pounds. Instead of solidly obese, I am only overweight. I have lost the
weight in a healthy, steady way, but most importantly, I have learned that my
heart needs to remain open to the Lord and vulnerable to Him so that I do not
again turn to food as my god.
When I feast on God’s Word, when I fast and lift my heart to
Him, He truly does sustain me! He truly does fill my needs. I am so grateful
for this reminder. He is life, He is the One Who holds us together, friends. Let’s
not be afraid to surrender to Him, because He is for us and desires to sustain
us!
Prayer:
Thanksgiving:
Father, I thank You for Your sustenance and Your heart for
us! You are majestic, beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth. You
are mighty, You are gentle, You are glorious, You are kind.
Confession:
Lord, I come to You with my heart and confess (name area of
struggle or sin. Mine for today: I confess that I have harbored ill will toward
a certain person, and I desire to forgive and set them free and also be set free).
Take this dark place and fill it with Your light.
Supplication:
I ask that You will instill in my heart the understanding of
Your Word’s sustenance. I ask that You will transform my thinking to understand
that when I fast, I am sustained by You. Teach me to experience You fully in
this way.
Intercession:
I lift my children to You. I thank You for them, and ask
that You would heal them in any deep place in their heart that has struggle.
(Journal and name areas of challenge. Chloe: she struggles with selfishness,
and tries to control mommy. Undo that selfish area in her heart, and give me
patience in working with her. Show me how to communicate grace while setting
clear boundaries with her. Christian: we would like for him to be able to go to
church without an aid. He does not listen to teachers though he is perfectly
capable of doing so. Show me how to pray for him. Give him a desire to be
honoring of his boundaries and obedient to us, his teachers, and his leaders.)
Thanksgiving and Consecration:
Lord, thank You for this day! I ask for your total
protection over my family and home. You are worthy, and I honor You as king
among us! In Jesus’ Name I pray, amen.
Comments
Post a Comment