Day 6 and 7

Memory. The longer I do ministry the more I have come to see the correlation between spiritual growth and memory. Worship is grounded in the remembering and rehearsing of the deeds of God. Gratitude, patience, and generosity are all connected to remembering when we ourselves were without. Humility, the chief of all virtues is only possible if we remember where we have come from and ourselves at our worst. Mission is anchored in remembering the poor and the lost, and the burning heart that God has for them. Faith is built by remembering the times that God has come through for us, and fear and doubt is all rooted in forgetting the same events. Even friendship is build upon memory. We experience intimacy because we remember each other, and what we have walked through together. In that way forgetting is the great enemy of our souls. Even forgetting our mistakes is, well, a mistake. How can we honor the work that God has done in and through us in this week of fasting? We have to refuse to forget. We have to plan to remember. I would encourage each of you to take the time to write out some of your experience, and some of what God has taught you or called you to. Maybe you can share that tonight when you break your fast together with friends or family. Maybe it is something you can do after the fast has ended.

Maybe take a minute to comment on the blog about your experience so that we can all read it. or at least log it into your journal and share it with a few trusted friends.

I am confident that as we have sought God’s face, he has noticed. That as we have drawn near to him he has drawn near to us. I am proud of all of you who have made it through, and for each of you who even just tried to fast for the first time. It is really not that spiritually impressive, but like a child taking their first steps, our Father is certainly pleased.

Day 5

Joy. Once while musing on the extent of his sufferings, Paul came to this conclusion, “I consider our present sufferings they are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us.” It was for the joy that was set before him, that Jesus endured the cross. Chesterton said the great secret of Jesus and of the Christian is joy. Paul noted, though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day. Take a moment to really note your inward condition—are there changes in you? Do you sense a growing seed of joy inside you? I do. It is not like our sacrifices for Jesus are for nothing. On the contrary. Jesus makes promises to us. To replace our sorrow with joy. This sense I have had growing is what I am trying to lay hold of in the last two days of the fast.

Just like you may be noticing some weight loss, mental clarity or maybe just a feeling of satisfaction at having come this far. A word of advice: be happy about it. That is not why we fast but it is a metaphor of the reality that following Jesus will benefit us. that when we lose our lives for his name sake, we find them. that when we die we live. ”Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies,” Jesus said, “it will not bear fruit.” God does not watch us waste away, he fills our hunger with good things.

I think I am actually enjoying the hunger. It is a constant reminder of Jesus. But what I miss (which I think is good) is eating as fellowship. I have missed meetings over meals and dinner time at my house. But as sure as we fast we know we will one day feast. Which is God’s plan for us. Fasting is rare, feasting, and community and joy is the norm for us.

For that reason I am suggesting that we all break the fast at 6pm on Wednesday (the seventh day). and I suggest, if it is possible, to break the fast with others. Have a time of prayer and celebration with you household, your micro church, someone. So that we can experience that together as well. Stay with it beloved.

Day 3 and 4

Weakness. Feeling physically weak can be one of the greatest spiritual blessings. There is, as Paul described a war being waged between our flesh and our spirit. This week the spirit is winning. In his darkest hour, Jesus could not count on his friends to stand watch and pray with him for even an hour because “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” Most of our lives are spend capitulating to the demands of our bodies. This makes our bodies strong but our spirits weak. Most of the time we suffer from strong, considered and carefully tended bodies. We dress them just so, wash them, feed them as soon as they demand it. but what about the more eternal part of us? There is a correlation between the physical strength we feel and spiritual weakness. You may be feeling better than early in the fast but very weak. Try not to over exert yourself (obviously) and make adjustments for a less capable body. But at the same time understand that spiritually you are gaining strength. You should be able to pray a little longer than you usually do. you should be feeling a little clearer than usual, and hearing from God might be just a bit easier. Take advantage of this time of physical weakness, to drink in the benefits of growing spiritual strength. Try to spend some extended time in prayer, you may be wondering what to do with your meal time. Pray. J Ask God for deliverance from sins that you have always struggled with. You may find new strength to break free. I recommend each of us spend the last 3 days praying the Lord’s prayer. Not necessarily word for word, but praying out of the spirit of each line. Each day. multiple times a day.

Day 2

Repentance. For Mark the gospel begins with John. It begins with a voice crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord. It is a voice that calls for turning, repentance. The way to Jesus has always been a way that begins and is sustained in repentance. As you finish your second day of the fast you may be feeling your own stubbornness, your own weakness. You may be finding it harder to be kind, or patient or generous. Denying ourselves and trying to pray in this way can really expose us for the self serving people we really are. This point in the fast is the perfect occasion for confession and repentance. Confess the weakness you are feeling in your body, and ask God to show you more of the weakness you really have in your soul. Rest assured, a broken and contrite heart is what God desires. And a steady diet of repentance prepares the way for Jesus to come. Don’t be afraid to really cry out to God. He hears you. and he is working through each moment you are fasting. Tearing down our delusions, reminding us, without him we are nothing.

Day 1

No. what an important word for those of us who are used to getting our way. Jesus understood the power of that word. He was a master of self denial and actually said that anyone who would follow him must also learn to master saying no to themselves. Jesus once fasted for 40 days and nights, and at every turn he marshaled the strength of God in the word no. he said no to food, even though he was hungry and resisted the tempter with the words, “man does not live on bread alone, but from every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” After that temptation he had to say no to others things too. maybe we struggle with sin because we are not practiced at saying no. maybe we do not grow or move forward spiritually sometimes for the same reason. What we say no to is as important to who we are and who we will become as what we say yes to, maybe more. As you move from the end of the first day into the second, I am reminded of the kind of strength the spirit gives. It is the strength to say no to our whining bodies, that demand service first. And in so doing to say yes to God and what he has for us. If not today then soon. we have to be able to master these first couple of days of the fast, simply pushing back the appetite so that we can move on to greater things. Don’t be discouraged if at first you have trouble praying. You are doing an important work in these first couple of days, just saying no. greater challenges lay ahead and if we cannot bring our flesh into submission to Jesus we will never get there. Take heart everyone, and stick with it.