Day 4:Fasting and Praying
58 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
2 For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a] will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
There was a time when fasting and praying were staples of the church. Christians understood they were not empty rituals but instead were a major part of our Christian experience.
Isaiah’s words look like they could be written to today’s churches. Fasting without sacrifice is form without substance. Praying without drawing close to God is like whistling into the wind.
Paul told Timothy in his second letter to stay away from those who have a form of godliness but deny the real power. So when we go through the motions of praying and fasting, yet we fail to put our prayers into action, we are in essence mocking God. .
May we, during this Lenten Season, be so intentional in our discipleship that we pray not just for what God can do for us, but what we can do for God. May we take the money we would use for a meal and donate to a food pantry. And may each action we take during Lent help us to learn more about who God is who we are in Him.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Prayer Changes things
Jonah 3:4-10 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.6 The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
In the Christian world, prayer is a part of who we are. We pray in the morning, thanking God for another day and asking Him to help with provision and direction. We thank Him before our meals. And then at night we thank Him for our day.
Jonah was in a bind. He knew if he proclaimed God’s Word to these terrible people that they would repent, God would relent, and the Ninevites would be saved. So the next time someone says. “Why pray? God doesn’t change” remind them of this.
During Lent our prayers become even more focused. We choose something to give up for 40 days, and then as we think of our sacrifice we turn to prayer. It is a time of concentrated, and indeed consecrated communication with our Creator.
May we meet God early while He may be found, pausing to hear His voice in the stillness.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The second day of Lent—Taking our Thoughts Captive
Have mercy on me, God, according to your faithful love!
Wipe away my wrongdoings according to your great compassion!
2 Wash me completely clean of my guilt;
purify me from my sin!
3 Because I know my wrongdoings,
my sin is always right in front of me.
4 I’ve sinned against you—you alone.
Create a clean heart for me, God;
put a new, faithful spirit deep inside me!
11 Please don’t throw me out of your presence;
please don’t take your holy spirit away from me.
12 Return the joy of your salvation to me
and sustain me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach wrongdoers your ways,
and sinners will come back to you
On this second day of Lent we look at David’s plea for mercy and forgiveness. David had sinned by having sex with Bathsheba, whose husband was on the battlefield fighting on behalf of David. But David stayed home.
Looking down on the houses below he saw a beautiful woman bathing on the rooftop. He could have turned away, he should have turned away. But he lingered, allowing his thoughts to become desire, and his desire drove him to sin.
Why was David called a man after God’s own heart? Not because he never sinned, but because he knew where to turn after he sinned.
May we, during this season of repentance, turn our eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. And may we take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, that we might not sin against our God.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Day One of Lent—Ash Wednesday, Prayer and Fasting
Matthew 6:6-15 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 6:16-18 16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Today marks the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday, where we pray and fast for 40 days. This 40 day period is to remember Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness where He prepared for His earthly
ministry through intensive prayer, doing without food and water, and resisting the enemy.
During the next 46 days, liturgical churches often observe the Lenten season by choosing a particular item to do without. It is most often a food or drink from which to abstain, but many choose to eliminate social media or some other form of entertainment. Sundays are considered “mini-Easters” and therefore exempt from sacrifice.
As we forego our sacrificial item, we replace it with prayer, seeking both repentance and a closer relationship with Jesus. If we fail to enter into self-reflection, asking God to reveal areas in our lives that need transformation, then observing Lent is just a religious exercise with no lasting benefit.
Today’s scripture offers instruction on how to pray and how to fast. If the Son of God practiced prayer and fasting, why do we think we can do without this element of our faith?
Along with prayer and fasting, Lenten observation begins with the application of ashes in the shape of a cross to the forehead. The ashes come from the previous year’s palm leaves used for Palm Sunday. When mixed with olive oil it is applied to the believer’s forehead accompanied by the words, “From ashes you came to ashes you will return, repent and believe the gospel.”
May we take the days leading to Easter to reflect, repent, and draw closer to the One who died so that we might live.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Importance of Prayer
Genesis 4:25-26 25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” 26 And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the LORD.
And this is when prayer began—that most personal communication between created man and holy God. Doesn’t it seem odd that prayer was not birthed until the third generation of man? To me, our deferment of prayer signifies an initial lack of understanding as to who God is and who we are.
Because we were created in God’s own image, we are drawn to Him and because we were created for relationship we are lost without Him. Prayer changes the dynamic and gives us an intimate connection with our Creator.
Don’t know how to pray? Speak God’s words back to Him. Read Psalm 100 out loud and let your heart rejoice as the praise grows and the thankfulness is disclosed.
- Psalms 100:1-4 1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
- 2 Serve the LORD with gladness:
- come before his presence with singing.
- 3 Know ye that the LORD he is God:
- it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves;
- we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
- 4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,
- and into his courts with praise:
May we meet God early in the morning so that our day will begin with praise and end with thanksgiving.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Seeking Holiness 