Blog:
Week of prayer 2018 - Tuesday

Posted by Elea Derry
on 23rd January 2018

Happy Tuesday everyone, and welcome to fasting day!

Fasting is simply abstaining from food (for a limited period) in order to heighten our hunger for God. It could also be it is right for you to try fasting from something else which distracts you from spending time with God, social media or TV perhaps.

John Piper said “If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great.”

Wow, that’s some challenge. We have a little hunger for God. Which one of us could say we have a hunger for God that is proportionate to how amazing He is and what He has done for us?

Lots of us don’t miss many physical meals during the week, but are we frequently missing spiritual meals? We all have a spiritual appetite, but where is our hunger directed? As we think and pray today about our workplaces, schools and colleges, for our families and friends, let’s ask the Holy Spirit to highlight to us areas where our hunger for God is reduced by snacking elsewhere.  Grazing at the table of the pursuit of financial security, career success, relationships or popularity.

Only Jesus meets our fullest needs and our ability to love and serve others will be radically transformed by coming to Jesus to have those needs met.  

Jesus says “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Matthew 5:6 (ESV)

People matter to us and they matter to God. For us to love well we need to be equipped by feasting on God’s word, and spending time with Him. That way we get to truly love and bless others. Only when we bask in the wonder of knowing God do we fully sense the urgency of sharing Him with those he has given us to care for, that they too may know the riches of His grace.

So today, let’s pray for God to increase our hunger for Him, the bread of life. Ask Him to increase our appetite, to crave Him and accept no substitutes. Let’s embrace the fact that He has made each of us uniquely and placed us where we are for His purposes. Let’s lift those He has surrounded us with to Him, and ask Him to renew a passion in us to see them come to know Him.

Have a joyfully hungry day, blessings to all of you,

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