“I ate no delicacies, no meat, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks.” Daniel 10:3
Last year I was on the Daniel Fast for three months. It was working for me very well. I lost fifteen pounds during the three months of fasting. I felt better and healthier than I had for a long time. But….I did not study my Bible more, pray more or serve more. It was just a diet. It was a healthy way to lose weight but it was just a diet!
“Yet even,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and with mourning.” Joel 2:12
This time I wanted to spend more time in God’s Word and praying. In order to help reach my goal, I am giving up watching tv and computer time. On the computer, I watch news, sports, and commentaries. I do not know how much Daniel or Joel would have spent on the television and the computer, but these two habits are what I am giving up in my fast this week. I also have been fasting coffee, ice cream, and candy, a limited Daniel Fast.
As a retired man, with the time away from the computer and the television, I will spend in different Bible studies and reading Christian authors. Besides going to BSF where we are studying Revelation, our small group on Wednesday nights is reviewing Carry the Flame by Jim Cymbala. In the mornings with my personal devotions, I can learn more about the Lord and how much He loves me.
I will try to be more directed in my prayers. In the mornings, I have a list of people for whom I pray. I can see some prayers answered in the way I requested and some not answered yet. But He is faithful, and He will give an answer. I would strongly urge you to do the same. Pray with expectation. Pray with intentionality. Know that God hears you and when you bring something before the Lord He has the absolute intention of responding to what you’re praying. The response may not be what you expect to hear, but the response is on the way.
I will also spend more quiet time to hear what the Lord is telling me. That means sitting listening to music that direct me to the Lord and who He is. I can praise through the songs. Sometimes I can sit quietly and listen for the Lord’s voice. I am not good at this yet, but I want to get better at it. I’m trying to be very open with you so that you can see what leaps I’m taking in my own walk with the Lord to grow and expand especially during a season of fasting. These are very simple and practical things to do in order to develop my walk with the Lord.
I had an experience with listening to the Lord when I was praying for a long time friend who was dying of cancer. This young woman was the daughter of a friend of mine that I had known since elementary school. I told the Lord, “I am going to go into the bedroom, lay on the bed, and wait for an answer.” I wanted to know what was going to happen to her. After about ten minutes, I felt that I was done. When I got up and went in the other room, my phone came on and the song “Even If” by Mercy Me was playing. A portion of this great song says says, ”I know the sorrow, and I know the hurt would go away if you would just say the word. But even if you don’t, my hope is in you alone.” Even if the Lord did not heal her the way I hoped, she is ultimately healed and I will choose to trust Him.
I have been hungrier to pray and hungrier to be in God’s Word. But also I am learning to spend time waiting on the Lord!
Engagement: Challenge yourself to spend more time in Scripture, in prayer, and in listening for the still, small voice of the Lord Almighty. You’ve likely already been doing that on this fast, but I’d like to encourage you to take it to another level today.
Larry Linthicum
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