Fasting Day 8: Fresh Inspiration From the Archives
Fasting Day Eight Posts From the Archives:
- Grace for the Race
- Praying for Government Leaders (3): A Guide to Praying for Your Country
- Gaining Thirst …
- Feeding Faith, Part Two …
- Brokenness, Part One …
- God Fills the Hungry …
Fasting Day 8: Grace for the Race
Congratulations, Pursuit 21 fasters! You’re one-third of the way through your fast — there are just fourteen days left. I can’t believe how quickly the time is flying by! Let’s be sure to seize every ounce of potential in the fast by spending time in prayer and the Word.
No Regrets
Every year, when we reach the one week mark, I look up in surprise … and sadness. A week already gone… and so much time lost that could have and should have been spent in prayer.
As David Wilkerson says, when we set our hearts to seek God, the devil will put on us a conspiracy of interruptions. He will do everything he can to keep us from the prayer closet.
Every year, week one is the same. I should know what to expect. … But still I get blindsided. Still I fail and fall for some of the enemy’s tricks. I buy some of his lies. I give in to the conspiracy!
If this is you too, there’s hope. We have two whole weeks left. But that’s just fourteen short days that will fly by in a flash. So let’s be intentional!
Father, help us draw near to You. Enable us to see past the enemy’s strategies and recognize them for what they are. May we prioritize prayer. We have 344 other days of the year. This is just a short, twenty-one day season. Keep us from wasting it! Keep us from merely being on a diet because we won’t combine prayer and time in your word with our fasting. Give us eyes and ears of discernment to recognize the enemy’s attacks for what they are. Give us the discipline to say no to the things that are keeping us from prayer—no matter how essential they seem to be. Father, maximize these last fourteen days! Do a deep work in us!
Finish the Race
Speaking of no regrets, did you mess up on your fast? As your coach, I blow my whistle—“FWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE”—and shout across the track, “GET UP AND KEEP GOING!”
This is a marathon, not a sprint. Just head to the finish line. The race is not over because you fell. Don’t quit or let the enemy get you discouraged. Don’t give him the victory.
Today is day eight of Pursuit 21! In the Bible, eight is the number of new beginnings. What a fitting day to start fresh and leave the condemnation behind. (But don’t start counting at day one again. This is no cause for a complete “do-over!” Pick up with day eight and continue on.)
The past two days, we’ve focused on praying for our government leaders. We’ve prayed for the president, and his cabinet. And we’ve prayed for local, state, and federal government leaders using a prayer guide with scriptural basis for each request. Today we’ll be praying for our country using the guide below.
God cannot bless a nation that turns from Him. Doing what is right, living according to God’s standard, exalts and blesses a nation. But because God is sovereign and holy, He cannot bless a nation that has turned away from Him, like the United States has so grievously done.
Whatever country you’re joining us from, use the guide below to stand in the gap for your country. …
Fasting Day 8: Gaining Thirst
Are you fasting but your spiritual thirst isn’t increasing? If your desire for God and His Word hasn’t changed, there’s something simple, yet so powerful, that you can do.
If this is you—if you’re frustrated because your thirst for God isn’t increasing—I encourage you to pray God’s word on this matter. (I’ve compiled a page of scriptures and prayers for you.) Why pray God’s word? For the following three reasons …
Fasting Day 8: Feeding Faith, Part Two
Unbelief is the greatest hindrance to the breakthrough we desire. Fasting and prayer are vital to removing unbelief.
Andrew Murray writes:
“The faith that can overcome stubborn resistance such as you have just seen in this evil spirit, Jesus tells them, is not possible except for men living in very close fellowship with God and in very special separation from the world—in prayer and fasting. And so He teaches us two lessons of deep importance in regard to prayer. The one so that faith needs a life of prayer in which to grow and keep strong. The other is that prayer needs fasting for its full and perfect development. Faith needs a life of prayer for its full growth….”
Fasting Day 8: Brokenness, Part One
The Bible speaks of you and me as earthen vessels who contain the treasure of Jesus Christ. When we submit ourselves to God in seasons of brokenness – in suffering – Jesus is put on display to others. God gets glory! We can also experience voluntary seasons of brokenness through prayer and fasting.
As you may know, I’ve been through a season of intense brokenness (at times it felt like the pot was not only broken, it had been ground to fine dust!). As a result of undiagnosed Lyme disease, I spent ten years in a wheelchair, seven of those years confined to bed and three years in severe mental and physical torture.
The agony was extreme. Undeniable. Ever-present. Yet rising from the dust of my shattered jar was the Spirit of Jesus Christ. I came to know Him in a deeper, fuller way. He became my existence. My everything. My treasure. Oh how I came to love Him and require Him. My body and mind were suffering, but my spirit had never before known such joy, such contentment, such peace….
The breaking of my jar – the crucifixion of my flesh – revealed riches of Himself that God had deposited in me. Once I began to glimpse the value of this treasure, it changed how I viewed my illness. I no longer despised my jar-smashing. How could I? Without it I’d never have known such depths of Jesus! … This is why I value fasting …
Fasting Day 8: God Fills The Hungry
Psalm 107:9 says, “[God] satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.” This passage has incredible implications for us as we seek God through prayer and fasting!
Beloved, if you are fasting, then no doubt you are thirsty and hungry in the natural – but even more hungry and thirsty for God. This is a promise from God to you today.
He will satisfy you in the coming year as a result of you giving Him the first through a fast. He will fill you with good things – today, while you are fasting, and throughout the year….
He satisfies the “longing soul.” “Soul” in the original language means the seat of your appetites, your mind, will and emotions. By fasting, you have submitted the appetites of your mind, will and emotions to the appetite of your spirit man. In other words – every appetite in you longs for more of God. God has promised: You will be satisfied.
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, Shades of Grace will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
“Natalie Grace Nichols is experiencing God’s grace and freely expressing it. My wife, Betty, and I thank God for the ministry of Jesus through Natalie.”
“I’m so thankful that God is raising up women like Natalie for a new generation, providing biblically balanced teaching, encouragement, and comfort for people who are enduring life’s trials.”
