Reading: Joel 2:15-32
"Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly; summon the elders and inhabitants of the land, and cry out to the Lord" (Joel 1:14)
Fasting is one of the most unpopular spiritual exercises among modern Christians. Sermons and books on fasting are rare. But the Bible abounds with examples of men and women who practised this holy art.
Moses stayed on the mount forty days and forty nights without bread or water before he received the Ten Commandments. (Dt 9:9-11). Men throughout history have testified how fasting tremendously helped them as a preparation to receive revelations and instructions from God's Word. Fasting sharpens our spiritual faculties and sets us at the right wavelength to hear from God.
David wept and chastened his soul with fasting. He cried, "O God, You know my foolishness, and my sins are not hidden from You" (Psa 69:5,10). Fasting greatly aids to humble ourselves before God in repentance. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. In Christian life we never stop repenting. The closer we know God the more we will abhor ourselves. That was the experience of Job and scores of others whom God had already declared righteous (Job 42:5,6).
When Nehemiah heard that the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and its gates burned with fire, he sat down and wept, and mourned for many days. He says, "I was fasting and praying before the God of Heaven" (Neh 1:3,4). Here's a picture of the Church of Christ as it is today. Walls broken, gates burnt, and the enemy having a thoroughfare. Is there not an Ezra or a Nehemiah to cry, "Spare us, O Lord?"
While studying the prophecy of Jeremiah, Daniel understood the time of restoration. He immediately set his face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes (Dan 9:1-3). Then came to him the glorious vision.
We Christians want great blessings but without cost. We want everything free. No doubt we cannot merit the blessings of God. But where is birth without birth pain? Who has heard such a thing? And we are in great hurry. We want everything instant. "Has a country ever come forth in a mere moment?" (Isa 66:7,8).
Fasting cannot fast forward the programme of God, but fasting does forward us in the things of God!
"Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly; summon the elders and inhabitants of the land, and cry out to the Lord" (Joel 1:14)
Fasting is one of the most unpopular spiritual exercises among modern Christians. Sermons and books on fasting are rare. But the Bible abounds with examples of men and women who practised this holy art.
Moses stayed on the mount forty days and forty nights without bread or water before he received the Ten Commandments. (Dt 9:9-11). Men throughout history have testified how fasting tremendously helped them as a preparation to receive revelations and instructions from God's Word. Fasting sharpens our spiritual faculties and sets us at the right wavelength to hear from God.
David wept and chastened his soul with fasting. He cried, "O God, You know my foolishness, and my sins are not hidden from You" (Psa 69:5,10). Fasting greatly aids to humble ourselves before God in repentance. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. In Christian life we never stop repenting. The closer we know God the more we will abhor ourselves. That was the experience of Job and scores of others whom God had already declared righteous (Job 42:5,6).
When Nehemiah heard that the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and its gates burned with fire, he sat down and wept, and mourned for many days. He says, "I was fasting and praying before the God of Heaven" (Neh 1:3,4). Here's a picture of the Church of Christ as it is today. Walls broken, gates burnt, and the enemy having a thoroughfare. Is there not an Ezra or a Nehemiah to cry, "Spare us, O Lord?"
While studying the prophecy of Jeremiah, Daniel understood the time of restoration. He immediately set his face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes (Dan 9:1-3). Then came to him the glorious vision.
We Christians want great blessings but without cost. We want everything free. No doubt we cannot merit the blessings of God. But where is birth without birth pain? Who has heard such a thing? And we are in great hurry. We want everything instant. "Has a country ever come forth in a mere moment?" (Isa 66:7,8).
Fasting cannot fast forward the programme of God, but fasting does forward us in the things of God!
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