The weather comes in seasons —
and so does prayer.
There are seasons of life:
Which season are you in right now?
Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV)
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens.
This headline in my newsfeed caught my eye:
“Fasting from meat for Lent? Check out these seafood restaurants.”
Jesus said,
Matthew 6:17-18 (ESV)
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 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.
Head out for seafood. No one will know you’re fasting.
I don’t think this is the “in secret” Jesus had in mind.
God calls us to fast for good.
Isaiah 58:6-7 (MEV)
Is not this the fast that I have chosen:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the heavy burdens,
and to let the oppressed go free,
and break every yoke?
Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry
and bring the poor who are outcasts into your house?
Fasting — it’s more than what you give up.
There’s more to fasting than food.
John Chrysostom was the Archbishop of Constantinople at the turn of the fifth century AD. His well-spoken sermons earned him the name “golden mouthed.” He packed a lot of wisdom into a few words.
Fasting (going without something, usually food) is often connected with the season of Lent.
Why?
Lent looks forward to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. It’s considered a season of preparation.
Joel 2:15 (MSG)
Blow the ram’s horn trumpet in Zion!
Declare a day of repentance, a holy fast day.
Repentance + prayer + fasting = good preparation.
I had a doctor’s appointment yesterday.
I rearranged my schedule to make it work.
That’s what we do with appointments.
“Have an appointment with the Lord.”
Rearrange your schedule. Make it work.
Pray with power. You won’t be sorry.
Two men stood in prayer:
Luke 18:9-11, 13 (NIV)
Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector . . .’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “
It’s the posture of your heart that counts.
Today is Ash Wednesday, marking the start of Lent. Lent is the season of preparation, as we remember Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.
Lent is a time of prayer. Let’s start flat on the ground in humble gratitude for God’s grace.
Picture yourself on your face at the feet of Jesus. Place your hands on his ankles, eyes focused on his nail-pierced feet.
Revelation 5:12 (NIV)
Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom
and strength and honor and glory and praise!
We sit on the couch and pray. We sit at the table and pray. We sit in the church pew and pray. We sit in the car and pray.
1 Chronicles 17:16-17 (TLB)
Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family that you have given me all this? For all the great things you have already done for me are nothing in comparison to what you have promised to do in the future!”
Be like David. Sit in gratitude before the Lord and pray.
