Intimacy With God Through Prayer and Fasting.

Memory Verse: "O God, You are my God; with deepest longing I will seek You; My soul [my life, my very self] thirsts for You, my flesh longs and sighs for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water." (Ps.63:1, AMP)

Scripture Reading: Joel 2:12-32.

What has prayer and fasting got to do with achieving intimacy with the Father? Let's find out.

Some people associate fasting with dieting. But the self-control in an effective weight-loss program is not God's idea of fasting. To be sure, He wants us to avoid gluttony and other physical excesses, but He also wants something deeper from us, something infinitely more precious and spiritual- a disciplined and a  holy lifestyle that gets us close to Him as we can get: into His mind, conformed to His will, and after His heart and Fasting is a critical element of this discipline.

How well are you acquainted with the spiritual discipline of fasting? 

God's Word declares fasting and prayer as a powerful means for causing the fire of God to fall again in a person's life as fasting and prayer brings [total] surrender of body, soul, and spirit to our Lord Jesus Christ. It also generates a heightened sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit. It creates a fresh, clean joy and a determination to serve God. And most importantly, just as prayer and fasting brings about revival in the Church, it also brings personal revival to you and I. If there is a time the Church needs a revival, it is now: and we are the Church. Oh how we need a revival!

As long as the earth remains, seed time and harvest will always remain (see Gen.8:22). What a man sows is what he reaps. "He that sows to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlating" (Gal.6:8). And most assuredly, fasting and prayer is one way to sow to the Spirit. 

Personally, I do not think much of a (wo)man who has made the belly a god; no matter how 'anointed' that fellow may appear. The point is, if you're not the kind of believer that subscribes heartily to the demands of this spiritual discipline, your walk with God might not be a stable one as you'll keep struggling with the 'rise and fall' syndrome. And definitely, this syndrome will affect your level of intimacy with God. And we dare not question Him: if you were to be God, which believer will be closest to you- the one lives to eat or the one who eats to live for the sole purpose of experiencing a [personal] revival in his or her life? 

Ponder Point: The focus of prayer and fasting is intimacy with God. It is not about deprivation of food but seeking the Giver of food.

Action Point: Live a fasted life. 

Prayer Point: O Lord, I ask for the release of spiritual grace to engage the spiritual discipline of fasting and prayer. As I do, deepen my intimacy level with You and cause me to experience a revival in my life in Jesus name, Amen.