Tag: Spiritual Discipline

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, Lent, LGG Study, Quiet Time

Fasting, A Personal Practice

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based on the LGG Study – Lent, Drawing Close to God / w1d4

Scripture: Jonah 3:5-9; Luke 2:36-38 / SOAP: Jonah 3:5 and Luke 2:37

Borrowed, in part, from the LGG Study Journal for Lent, Drawing Close to God/pg 54

She had spent the majority of her life at the temple worshiping God, fasting, and praying. Her discipline and commitment to God, and to spiritual disiciplines like fasting, enabled her to listen and respond to God’s prompting. When Mary, Joseph, and Jesus arrive, she blessed them and tose around them by prophesying who Jesus was.

Love God Greatly Lent Journal, pg 54

I love the story of Anna, but in all the times I’ve read her story, I don’t think I have ever equated her fasting as being instrumental in prompting her to pronounce a blessing on Jesus and His parents. It’s sweet inspiration, though, to consider that it was her spiritual disciplines, like fasting, that enabled her to listen and respond to the Holy Family when they entered the Temple.

The Jonah passage had an ‘a-ha’ moment as well. What’s not to love about the story of Jonah and the whale? However, I must confess that the people immediately fasting and putting on sackcloth is not one of the top 5 or even 10 facts on the list of “things I remember” about the story of Jonah. However, I love the lesson the LGG team highlights about their fasting. –

Fasting was a means by which the people of Nineveh aligned their hearts to God. They saw the wickedness in their hearts and removed it. Their fast was a physical representation of their spiritual reality.

Love God Greatly Lent Journal, pg 54

The journal entry concludes with wonderful words of encouragement for anyone considering making a Biblical fast part of your spiritual discipline.

While our fasting should not be done to show to others or to impress them, the result of us drawing closer to God by fasting will encourage those around us. When our hearts are aligned with God’s purposes, when our motives for fasting are to grow in our relationship with God, He can fill our hearts with His love for others and make us a blessing in ways we may not even see or know.

Love God Greatly Lent Journal, pg 54

Let’s ask God to work in our lives so that we can bless and encourage those around us today.

Reflection on the Journey
  • How does fasting encourage others?
  • Why is corporate fasting important in the body of Christ?
The More We Know

Christian Fasting

Posted in From the Insideout, Prayer Starters

Guarded Thoughts

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Do you ever find yourself distracted by the actions of others – your mind caught up in their behavior and pelted with anger? Or maybe you awaken to thoughts of your past that are hurtful and bring sorrow, or shameful and evoke guilt which in turn evokes lies and/or captivity that leads you away from God instead of toward Him. Whatever your trigger point is to thoughts that disrupt your peace and unity with God – He makes it clear through His Word that our minds are to be fixed on Him. He promises in the Old Testament as well as the New that when our minds are set or fixed on Him we will know His perfect peace.

You will keep in perfect peace all trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You.

Isaiah 26:3

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

Paul’s instructions to the believers didn’t stop with prayers that would bring peace. Instead, he encouraged them to fix their thoughts on other things – things that would replace the “anxious” thoughts so that God’s peace would continue to guard their hearts and minds as they lived in Christ Jesus.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:8-9

It strengthens us to take thoughts that are not beneficial or pleasing to Him captive, making them obedient to Jesus Christ – who holds the power over sin and death.

Fixing our thoughts on Him is a Spiritual discipline that takes effort and practice. It is part of the Spiritual training mentioned in 1 Timothy 4:8 that promises benefits not only in this life but in the life to come. Fixing our thoughts on Him not only fills us with His peace but as 2 Corinthians 10:5 teaches, it protects us from arguments and pretensions that set themselves up against the knowledge of God. It strengthens us to take thoughts that are not beneficial or pleasing to Him captive, making them obedient to Jesus Christ – who holds the power over sin and death.

Father, my mind is sometimes a battleground and I plead for You, in Your mighty, omnipotent, omniscient power, to guard it. Block all thoughts that invoke unrighteous anger and bitterness toward others, and protect me even from the righteous anger that arises so that it does not take my thoughts captive and distract me from Your voice, Your guidance, and Your presence. Keep me from judgmental thoughts and the critical words they provoke. Guard me from fearful thoughts or thoughts of the past that provoke shame and regret, and all other erroneous thoughts that do not bring You glory and ultimately hinder a right relationship with You, diminishing the light of Your presence in me, which is meant to be evident in my life – both in the deeds that I do and the words that I speak.

Instead, as Paul wrote to the Colossians, help me to make allowance for other’s faults and to forgive anyone who offends me, help me to remember You have forgiven me and set me forever free from the past. I pray that You would empty my mind of what doesn’t belong and instead – fill it with and fix it on things that are true and honorable, and right and pure, and lovely and admirable. Whatever is excellent or worthy of praise, Father, help me to think on these things. 💜🙏 In Jesus’ Name – amen! ❣️

Let the Words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You oh Lord, my Rock and Redeemer.

Psalm 19:14

Make allowance for each others faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

Colossians 3:13