One of the great things I find when fasting is that my focus and attention doesn't go further than getting through the next mealtime without eating. I find I concentrate so hard on praying through my hunger and whatever I'm fasting for, that I'm not too concerned about the next meal. And that's the thing I love most about fasting - that my focus turns completely to either a spiritual need or the physical need of asking God to help me overcome my hunger, instead of my normal prayers that focus mostly on the stuff I want!
Now, be honest - how often do you pray for what you need... as opposed to what you want?
READ AND FEED: Read Matthew 6: 9-13 and take special note of verse 11.
11 Give us this day our daily bread
JOURNAL: Jesus says we should ask God specifically for today's bread. Not tomorrow's bread. Not next week's bread. We're not told to pray for a storage shed filled with enough bread to last a lifetime!
Jesus simply says we should ask God to provide our needs for TODAY - implying that we can go to God again tomorrow to ask for tomorrow's bread.
Yet how much time and effort do we put into planning for the future? How often do we get so caught up in what's coming tomorrow, that we miss what God is doing today? How hard do we work making sure all our needs are wrapped up and pre-planned? The world tells us we need to constantly plan ahead and "think of the future" - but Jesus tells us to focus only on today.
When our livelihood is so readily available to us as it is in this country, we are in danger of missing the blessing of being in constant communication with God to request our daily bread.
Take time today to write down your current prayer requests ... listing them as either a WANT or a NEED. It's humbling to discover how often we go to God with wants, instead of needs.
PRAY: Write out a prayer to God asking Him to only provide your needs - not your wants. Focus only on today's "bread" - the things you need to get through today.
Lord God, I forget so easily how important it is to enjoy today and You in this day and all that is in my life on this day --- I have these 24 hours, maybe about 18 or so are waking hours -- and yet I spend so much of my time concerned about what's to come, what I want to come, what I'm longing to come, or what I'm dreading to come.
Lord, when I reflect on what I remember from scripture, specifically Jesus' life, there's nothing that describes him living for tomorrow. He had a goal in mind - heal the sick, set the captives free, preach about the coming Kingdom, and die -- lay down His life for us -- and through that, bring us new life in and via His resurrected body. However, day in and day out He simply lived for that day and the tasks in it, the people He would encounter during it. He in fact had a parable that admonished someone who was trying to store up stuff for the future. Don't do it.
I've been sensing that I need to stop worrying about this job and what comes after this job or if I should leave this job. When it's time to leave, the Lord will open a door. He'll enable me to walk through it. And there will be no regret, no remorse. I can't seem to find a way to leave now without having those feelings. I'm in a blessed situation, so I need to give my all, through His power. And I need Him to work the ALL through me, because my motivation is bleak, my heart longs for full-time with Jonathan, being a wife who cares for her husband, family and home. However, shat I can do is enjoy today and believe that He has heard my heart cry and is able to set up the situation where I can be a full-time stay at home mom AND wife. That is my supreme desire and He knows it well. It's a need, not a want. It's almost like I'm not gonna ever breathe right and true and simply be right until that happens. My full-on exhale time arrives when I'm in that place. However, till then, I will bask in and breathe in all that I have IN Christ, TODAY, which is far too much to ever list or convey in words. I will enjoy Jonathan, my family, friends, each beautiful season, and just take it one step at a time.
Lord, You've been to me as You were to the blind beggers, to blind Bartemeus -- you've asked what You can do for me and I've told You: A Godly, Christ-centered, caring, affectionate, responsible, accountable husband and father to Jonathan - who I am suited to - who is suited to me -- a home for us that I can care for and love our family in -- the fulfillment of your rhema word of another son in my 48th year -- Jakin Sanctuary ministry and foundation -- established and dispensing blessings -- health and wholeness to see my children walking out their purposes and my children's children breathing in this world -- travel to the many destinations I long to see --- salvation for those dear to me who do not know Christ -- a return to Christ to those who have fallen away -- a healthy marriage between my parents and long life to see my children at least graduate from High School. Those are my personal desires. I'll believe for them to come to pass. I'll keep believing, keep fasting, keep sowing seed. You are faithful and I look forward to rejoicing in the display of Your glory as these things come to pass.
For today -- I simply rejoice!!!
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