Awakening - Day 1Last week at my Bible study I was talking with my guys about how I have a yearning to see the awesome power of God in my life. I have heard all of these great stories of people being healed, raising from the dead, or experiencing demonic deliverance, but have not been able to personally experience these things. Fast forward to Sunday morning and Past Peter Haas was preaching at our church, Substance Church. They are starting this new series called "Awakening," in which we as Christians are called to awaken from the funk that we are living in and follow the path that the Lord has laid out for us. He then went on to talk about Fasting and what it is and what it means as a Christian. The act of abstaining from something can be an act of self-discipline and worship to the Lord.
At this point in my life I am not sure what my calling is. I enjoy my job but I know that this is not all that the Lord has for me. In an effort to better discern His will, I have decided to fast from food on Mondays and to fast from soda pop for the rest of the month. This is just the beginning of my exercise with fasting so I am starting with manageable and attainable goals to which I can achieve a closer relationship to my Lord and Savior. In his sermon from this last Sunday (available here), Peter states that "God gives revelation when we seek Him through these types of discipline." Throughout this act of discipline, I pray that the Lord will help me to discern His will on my life and open my eyes to where He is leading me in my marriage, my job, and my life as a believer. I do not necessarily have grand expectations for this but only hope to grow closer to my Lord and follow His footsteps.
It is 4:07pm on Day 1 and I am not yet hungry. Please pray for me as I go through this. Pray for my wisdom, my self-control and discipline, and for my faith, that it may be strengthened through this intimate experience with the Lord.
"Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors. You have given me wisdom and power, you hvae made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream if the king." Daniel 2:20-23 (NIV)
