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• Do you want to see the lost saved?
• Do you want to see captives set free?
• Do you want to see the sick healed?
• Do you want to see revival?

There is no way you and I can fulfill our divine call without the power of God. Fasting is a key to releasing Gods power in our lives and ministry!

Luke 4 :1 & 14

¹Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, ²where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.[…]

¹³When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

¹⁴Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. ¹⁵He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

Verse 1 shows that after his baptism, Jesus was” full of the Holy Spirit” and he was led into the desert to be tempted by Satan and to fast for 40 days before his ministry began.

In verse 14 Jesus had overcome the temptation, without sinning. He defeated the attempts of the devil through fasting and trusting in God’s word. Because of this he gained the Power and Authority (“in the power of the spirit”) to do what God had called him to do.

Jesus fasted  for 40 days before he started his work for God. Jesus was God, yet he humbled himself  and went without food for 40 days, so that he may gain the power given by God to bring healing and set captives free, and  of course, to be an example to each of us today. If Jesus fasted, shouldn’t we follow his example?

My church is currently doing a teaching series on a Tuesday night, and the other week we looked at fasting. I’ve done a little bit of fasting here and there but it’s never been on the top of my list of “spiritual disciplines”. The talk on Tuesday challenged me to think (and pray!) more about it and to discover it’s place in my walk with God, and in overcoming strongholds and seeking God’s power.. Will you take the time to think and pray about it to?

Here’s an overview of the teaching for anyone wanting to learn more about fasting :

“Why Fast?”

• Out of obedience to Gods word.
• To humble yourself before God
• Become weak so Gods power can be strong (Psalm 109v24‐28, 2 Cor 12v9‐10)
• Receive His grace and power
• To overcome temptations in areas that keep us from moving in Gods power.
• Hidden weaknesses come to the surface for God to deal with
• To release anointing to accomplish His will (Acts 13v3‐4, 14v23)
• In times of crisis (Esther 4v15‐16)
• When seeking Gods direction
• For understanding and revelation
• See life’s priorities more clearly
• Deal with selfish ambition and pride
• Improve self‐control
• Become more sensitive to the Spirit

“Benefits of Fasting” from Isaiah 58v6‐12

1. Revelation (v8)
2. Healing and wholeness (v8)
3. Righteousness (v8)
4. The presence of the Shekinah glory of God (v8)
5. Answered prayer (v9)
6. Continual guidance (v11)
7. Contentment (v11)
8. Refreshing (v11)
9. Strength (v11)
10. Works that endure (v12)
11. Raising up future generations (v12)
12. Restoration (v12)

“Types of Fast”:

Complete Fast : No food or drink. Most extreme fast, max of 3 days.

• Ezra 8v21 & 10v6
• Esther 4v16
• All out desperation for God.

Normal Fast : No food but regular water.

• As Jesus in wilderness.
  
• Could add lemon juice to water (good for body)

Daniel (or Partial) Fast :

• Vegetables & water Dan. 10v2‐3.
• Or cakes of cereal and oil (Elijah in 1 Kings 17)
• Or locusts and honey (John the Baptist in Matt 3v4)
• Whatever it is, it should cost you.

Group or Corporate Fast

• E.g. Nineveh, Joel called fast in 2 Chron. 20
• Church together

Things you could fast from (it’s not all about food)

• All food, or just certain foods, like meats and/or desserts, or perhaps alcohol.
• TV, Internet, Films, Video Games, Facebook etc
• Sexual Intimacy ‐Only when husband and wife agree together!
• Something else that would be “a cost” to you.

How Long to Fast:

• 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, 14, 21, 40 is the max*!
• 1 day a week. (52 in the year)

*Do not go straight to a 40 day food fast if you’ve never fasted before!!

Effects of Fasting from food:

• Headache, Nausea, Dizziness and stiff neck
• Start to feel good after 3 days!
• Hunger goes after 4‐5 days.
• May feel weak, be careful with physical exercise
• You may come under spiritual attack, feel depressed
• Remember: God is likely to bring some of your sin /weaknesses to the surface! Make sure you deal with them promptly and don’t be carried away by sin when the purpose is to get closer to God! (eg. swearing / short-temper..)

Other Considerations:

• Don’t abuse your body. Start small.
• If you need physical strength for your job etc, add some fruit or vegetable juice to water.
• Try one day a week with water only.
• Begin after dinner in evening until dinner the next evening. Or fast all day and break it the next morning.
• Fasting has no benefit unless you are dealing with sin.
• Never fast to impress others, keep it on need to know.
• If you break your fast in a moment of weakness, just carry on. God knows your heart.
• Don’t fall into legalism; e.g must be 40 days, must be all food and drink!!!
• Fasting is very flexible
• Focused on intimacy with God, not human performance.
• Putting God first and your body’s appetites second.

What to Fast For:

May have something specific

• Want to hear from God on something
• Need to see breakthrough in something
• To release God’s power
• See also the “benefits of fasting” above

May be more than one thing. If so write a prayer list so you can remember to pray through these things too.

The Power of Fasting:

• Need to model our lives and ministry on Jesus - and do greater works! (John 14v12)
• Commissioned to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth – Accompanied with signs and wonders
• Do you want to see the lost saved?
• Do you want to see captives set free?
• Do you want to see the sick healed?
• Do you want to see the Church as a radiant bride glorifying Christ?
• Do you want to see revival?
• The whole church needs to rise up, proclaim the gospel.
• Need the grace of God at work in our lives.
• There is no way you and I can fulfill our divine call without the power of God.

• Fasting is a key to releasing Gods power in our lives and ministry
• Fasting increases the power of prayer.
• Fasting releases Gods power (doesn’t earn more grace.)
• Secret of power is to submit to the discipline of the Holy Spirit.
• Fasting facilitates a freer flow of the Holy Spirit by removing the junk in our lives.

• By humbling ourselves our first desire is to seek God’s face (not His hand). His glory and presence.

* “There are simply no shortcuts to His presence, and the surest path to holiness, purity, and power is found in the powerhouse combination of prayer and fasting.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.

We all have a mind that tries to work things out for itself! God gave us a brain and wants us to use it, but he also wants us to trust in Him more than in our own knowledge, to depend on Him rather than just trying to figure everything out on our own.

The thing is, you see, God knows the bigger picture. He has a Plan. We see our infinitely smaller picture, our current circumstances, and perhaps a bit of our past experience. But we have to remember that our experience is based on the total sum of our lives on earth. 20 years, 40 years, 60 years, 80 years. Even if we make it to 100 years, it’s a pretty puny amount of experience compared to our eternal God, who made us and the earth we live in. It’s tiny even if we compare our experience with all the combined experiences of people working things out with God throughout the bible. We have the benefit of being able to learn from generation after generation of people who have followed (or more often, rejected) God, but often we still just base our view on what God’s done in the past few days, weeks, months or years of our life.

Living our lives “now” often seems so much more important than our eternal inheritance or God’s eternal plan. God know this, and he is less concerned with giving us what we want “now”, and more concerned for our individual spiritual growth and our personal relationship with Him.. as well, of course, as His overall rather much bigger Eternal Plan (which we are so incredibly blessed to be part of!!)

Trust also is a key word here. Trust is a hard thing, especially when you’ve been let down in the past. But God will never let us down. He has promised to be faithful throughout his Word. We learn to trust God by reading the bible, and witnessing how faithful he’s been through generation after generation of those who put their trust in Him.

If we are asking God for things in our lives, we need to trust and believe that he does have a plan, he does know what’s best for us and that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him..” (Romans 8:28)

So as we wonder/worry about our circumstances and situations, and think “what on earth God could be doing!!!” We need to trust Him, to look to our Father in Heaven for all things and seek his will rather than our own. We need to remember that as we trust Him, and not depend on our own understanding, when we seek Him (and His will), he WILL guide us, he WILL provide for us, he WILL be with us and he WILL lead us along the paths He wants us to go.

And the best thing is that God’s way is the very best way for us. When we trust that God knows best and choose to follow his path, then we will be most at peace, have the most joy and be the most secure in Him.

1 Kings 3:5-15 – Solomon asks for Wisdom

v5 [...] and God said, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you."

Solomon answered [...] v7 "Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.  8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"

v10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings[...]

Read all of 1 Kings 3:5-15 here: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings%203:%205-15;&version=31

God basically said to Solomon You can have absolutely anything you want – so what will it be? 

 Solomon replies and asks for wisdom, God grants his request and gives him so much more besides!!

 If you were put in that situation (a bit like the genie & the lamp) what would you ask for?  Perhaps you’d take the opportunity for your mortgage to be paid off?! How cool would that be! Or perhaps for a new job? Or for God to step into your relationships, to fix a few things for you, or to give you a new relationship with someone you can spend the rest of your life with? Perhaps you’d ask for your life to be a bit easier – for more time to do the things you want to do? Maybe for just a little bit more money, so things weren’t quite as tight? None of these are bad things, but what Solomon asked for was something that was totally in line with God’s own heart…

Solomon knew he was young and inexperienced. He knew that he’d been given a huge responsibility as king to take care of God’s people. He knew he couldn’t do it without God’s help, so he acknowledged his weakness before God and his reliance on him, and he asked for wisdom so that he could serve God well and be a blessing to the people he had been given to rule over.

v9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.

I think that’s a totally amazing request! Even more so because he was so young!  We can all learn so much from that humble and selfless request to God. God was pleased with Solomon because he asked for something to help him serve God and others well. God was so pleased with him that he decided to bless him by giving him not only world-renowned wisdom (check out the rest of Solomos story!) but also everything else that he could have (but didn’t) ask for! Just like in Matt 6:33 which was written many many years after Solomon lived  “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

What are you asking God for at the moment? Are your prayer requests motivated in serving God and others well, or are you looking more for your own personal gain? God is a wonderful caring father and he listens to all of our requests and provides for all of our needs. Trust that these things are already in his hands, and seek first God’s will and the gifts you need to serve him well. This is what pleases God, as our hearts and attitudes change to be more like Jesus – loving, serving and wanting to bless others before ourselves.

For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning [to Me] and resting [in Me] you shall be saved; in quietness and in [trusting] confidence shall be your strength. Isaiah 30:15 (Amplified Bible)

This verse just jumped up and hit me. Okay, not literally, although if a verse could really do that, then this one would have !!!

Since becoming a Christian do you believe your walk has consisted of returning & resting in God, and your strength based on quietness and confidence in Him? Well I’m the first to admit that my walk has not been like that!

I don’t know about you but usually I feel more like I’m running and working in nosiness and worry. Why? Where have I missed the quiet resting place that God has for me? Usually I am just too busy rushing ahead of God rather than returning to him for rest.  I am too busy talking instead of taking the time to listen to that still small voice, I am too busy worrying instead of trusting God with it all, and putting my confidence in Him.

Sometimes (Okay a lot of the time…!) I need reminding that God can do perfectly well on his own. He includes me in his plan not because he needs me, but because he wants to share things with me and help me grow. He doesn’t need me at all. He doesn’t need me to be busy busy busy about His business. He’s got it all under control.

That’s why today he’s saying “return to me” Lindsay, don’t run on ahead. “rest in me” Lindsay, you don’t need to rush around all the time. He’s saying “hush…” quieten down your worries and all those thoughts in your head, put them to one side for a while and trust in me.  “Trust in me” he whispers again, and I will strengthen you. Then those worries will seem so small, because I am so big! Bigger than any concerns you may have, bigger than any jobs you have to do.  “Return and rest in me.”

Could God be saying the same to you today?

I think it’s time to step out of the whirlwind of life once again and to turn back to our father God..
And to rest.
And to trust.

In doing this we will be saved from thinking that the world revolves around us.
Saved from being sucked into “doing” rather than “being.”
Saved from being worn out and weary
Saved from losing sight of God in the busyness before us.

Thank you Lord that your ways are not our ways! Help us Lord to listen to your still small voice and to rest in you and return to you before doing anything else. Help us to follow your ways, instead of making up our own. Amen!

This week I’m cheating! I read this devotional online and I thought it would be good to share it with you! So here it is:

Listening To God
By Michael Lane, Executive Director, Delve Christian Ministries

http://delveintojesus.com/Devotionals.aspx?id=12&time=966&message=saved

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

Our relationship with Jesus has much in common with our relationships with friends and family. When we demonstrate effort and commitment in our relationships, they flourish. When neglected or abandoned, they suffer and decline.

Does God talk to us? Can we actually perceive God communicating with us? Absolutely! God does not typically speak in an audible voice, but He most certainly is speaking with us. The voice of God whispers directly into our heart and soul, guiding us, counselling us and comforting us. But are we listening, or are we too busy talking? God will not scream at us to pay attention, so if we are too preoccupied with our own thoughts, His gentle voice will be drowned out.

Our prayer time must consist of listening as well as speaking. We need to attentively reach for that small voice and eagerly let it guide us. In quiet prayer, ask God to reveal His will and then listen patiently for His response. The more often you do this, the easier it will become.

However, if you fail to do this, you will miss out on the advice and direction God is offering. Worse still, your relationship will suffer, just as a marriage suffers when one partner simply refuses to listen.

For Christians who know Jesus intimately, the deterioration of their relationship which comes as a result of not listening is a steep downward slope. For those who are just getting to know Him, it can be a serious impediment to growth in their relationship. If you consistently fail to pay attention to what God is telling you, it will become progressively harder to make out His will against the background noise of your own desires. It may become so difficult that you will no longer believe that God even speaks at all.

Let me close with a powerful example from Erwin Raphael McManus. His son Aaron had run into trouble at camp and was preparing to leave. In a final effort to convince him to stay, Erwin had the following conversation.

I asked him a simple question: “Aaron, is there any voice inside you telling you what you should do?”

He paused and then responded, “Yes.”

“What’s the voice telling you?”

“That I should stay and work it out.”

I asked him, “Can you identify that voice?”

He immediately said, “Yes, It’s God.”

It was the moment I had waited for. I didn’t expect it to come under those circumstances. Nevertheless, it was there. I turned to Aaron and said, “Aaron, do you realize what just happened? You just heard the voice if the living God. He spoke to you from within your soul. Forget everything else that just happened. God has spoken to you, and you were able to recognize Him.”

I’ll never forget his response: “Well, I’m still not doing what He said.”

I explained to him that was his choice, but this is what would happen. If he rejected the voice of God and chose to disobey His guidance, his heart would become hardened, and his ears would become dull. And if he continued on this path, there would be a day when he would never again hear the voice of God. There would come a day when he would deny that God even speaks or has ever spoken to him. But if he treasured God’s voice and responded to Him with obedience, then his heart would be softened, and his ears would always be able to hear the whisper of God into his soul.

(Erwin Raphael McManus, The Barbarian Way, pp. 87-88, Thomas Nelson, 2005)

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

This verse is an interesting one because you could look at it as a way of getting what you want. I.e. If I spend some time praising God then he’ll give me what I want in return, but this is missing the point.

Delight means “great pleasure or joy.” So for us to Delight in God means that God is where we get our great pleasure and joy from. You can’t make it up, you can’t make it happen, it’s not simply an act of doing, it’s an act of being. Being in God’s presence – enjoying God, getting pleasure out of worshiping Him and joy out of serving him. It’s something that grows over time as we learn to love God and try to grasp just how much God loves us! (Eph 3:18-19)

I think the thing David knew when writing this psalm was that once we are in the place of “delighting in the Lord” our hearts desires will start to line up with God’s own will. We will know God more intimately, and the Holy Spirit will be working in our lives, aligning our hearts with God’s. Therefore, the desires that are in our hearts when we are delighting in God will often be the things that God himself has put there. So we can pray with confidence knowing that what we are asking for is in alignment with God’s will.. and why would our Father in Heaven not answer such requests?

God knows what is the very best for us, and as we delight in Him, so we will too!

I thought I would write a short post on how to know God for yourself – this is for anyone who doesn’t yet have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

1st – Do you know that you have made mistakes in your life and have lived your life without God? –> God calls this “sin” and this is what seperates us from Him. The bible says it like this: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” –Romans 3:23 (NIV). God is perfect and has never sinned, and we learn in the bible that ultimately the punishment for sin is death – which is being cut off from God for eternity. “For the wages of sin is death.” –Romans 6:23 (NIV)

2nd - There is good news! John 3:16 says “for God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” Jesus (God’s son) chose to die on a cross to take the punishment for all our sins. Then he rose again to conquer death once and for all, and to show that he really was the son of God.

3rd - YOU need to make a choice. To decide if you believe Jesus really is the son of God and really did die for your sins. If you’re not sure – perhaps go on an Alpha course or read the gospel of Mark or John in the bible (try a NIV or NLT version) to find out what God’s word says about Jesus. Then, if you want this gift of eternal life, you need to chose to ask for forgiveness from God for the sins you have committed, and chose to turn from them and try to walk God’s way (with God’s help of course). Welcome Jesus as Lord in your life and he’ll help you to do all this.

Here’s a prayer you can pray:

Father God, I am sorry for the things I have done wrong and for chosing to live my life apart from you. Thank you for sending Jesus to die for my sins and thank you that he rose again. I now choose to turn away from my sins and to live my life for you. I pray that you would fill me with your Holy Spirit to help me and guide me as I learn to live my life your way. Amen.

4th - Tell someone! It’s really important that you find another Christian to tell that you’ve made a choice to welcome Jesus into your heart. They can support you and help you find a friendly, welcoming church who pray, worship & teach the Word of God.  We can’t be Christians on our own – it’s not God’s plan

What next?

If you live near Swindon, come along to Gateway church & make sure you visit the welcome area at the end of the service! If not, do try to find a Jesus loving, bible teaching, spirit filled church who will help you in the next steps of your journey.

Pray. You’ve started with a prayer to ask God into your life, it’s not a one off prayer! God wants to have an ongoing relationship with you, so try to speak to him each day about anything and everything. Ask Him for help, thank him for all the good things in your life and generally start to build a realationship with your Father in heaven. If it’s hard – ask God to help you to pray!

Get hold of a modern translation of the bible too and start reading! Start with the New Testament – An NIV version is good, or try NLT which is a nice easy version to read. The Message is also very easy to read (although it’s not a proper word-for-word translation.) Check out my bible studies, to learn more about God, Jesus and all sorts of living God’s way type of topics!

Check out our friend Adam’s blog on Baptism too!

Exodus 33: 13-14
If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you [...]”
The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

What a humble prayer Moses prayed. None of this “God I want this and God please fix that…” No, Moses’ prayer was “teach me your ways so that I may know you “ - the kind of prayer that pleases God the most.

Moses had Been in God’s presence and he knew that Being with God was the best of all rewards. He wanted to know God, so that he could please him & continue in that close relationship with him! God’s reply was would Be with Him and that he would give Moses rest. Rest in God’s Presence.

Sometimes I feel like if I’m not working flat out for God, then I’m not Doing enough, like I have to Do everything in order to serve God with all my heart, otherwise I’m being lazy/half-hearted. But actually what God wants more from me is my desire to Be with him, to seek his Presence and to get to know him. When I know God and have his Presence with me, I can rest in Him and know who I am in Christ. Otherwise I end up thinking that who I am is defined by what I Do, or that I can get in his good books by Doing stuff!

I think that when we spend time getting to know God, we won’t end up with an impossible ever increasing to-Do list (and subsequently less time with which to Be with Him). If we Do then perhaps we are not listening clearly to what God’s asking from us. Actually, he wants us to spend time Being with him and getting to know him more than anything else we could be Doing. As we seek him we realise His priorities are different to ours, and we learn what the important things are from His perspective and can focus on them. Yes God wants us to serve him, but in His strength and in His way. We can only Do this, if God’s Presence is with us and we don’t go off Doing our own thing, in our own way! And with God’s Presence with us, we will also find rest.

I personally need to learn how to seek God and Be in his Presence more. God’s wanting my heart more than my actions and I guess somehow I just need realise this and to Be more like Moses. Then I won’t get involved in all the “good” stuff that I shouldn’t be Doing, but in the “God” stuff that I should be Doing. Then I will have enough time to continue Being with God and getting to know Him, having rest whilst still Doing the things he’s asked of me!

So let’s ask God to teach us his ways so that we may know him and continue in his favour. Lets ask God for His Presence to Be with us, whatever we are Doing (if he’s not with us, there’s just no point in Doing it at all – as Moses states in v15) Let us find rest in His amazing Presence, knowing we cannot Do anything to please God, as it was what Jesus did on the cross that made us perfect in God’s eyes. Our “good deeds” being filty rags in comparison (see Isaiah 64:6 ). When our motivations our in the right place (seeking God, knowing God, Being with God) then God’s Presence will Be with us and His rest will follow.

Praise God for the gift of his Presence and the promise that he will Be with us and go with us when we seek Him first before Doing anything!

Deuteronomy 4:29
28 There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. 29 But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him. 31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath.

Generally speaking I think I’m a little half-hearted about things. I want to be more passionate, to put 100% into whatever I’m doing, but for some reason it just doesn’t come naturally to me. I sit and read my bible, and at the same time write a shopping list. I sit and pray and get distracted and start thinking about what I’m going to cook for tea. My mind doesn’t focus that well, esp when it comes to God stuff… God must get so frustrated with me!!!

Sometimes I wonder why it can be so hard to feel God’s presence and to know he’s listening to my prayers. It’s even harder to hear from God. I think though my problem is with me! If I’m half-heartedly praying, well I’m probably not listening that hard, or even that passionate about what I’m praying for! God doesn’t want this, he doesn’t want me to be luke-warm (check out Revelation 3:15-16 if you want a fright!)

Yet in the times when I really “wrestle” to be in God’s presence, to push for it and not give up easily, I always find him. He’s there, it’s just a lot of the time it’s me who’s not! It says in this passage “you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and all of your soul” – how much of your heart & soul do you usually use when seeking God?

Yet he has shown us that even in those times when we are lazy, half-hearted, when we walk away or disobey him, he’s still there waiting for us to return to him and he will be merciful on us. He doesn’t “abandon or destroy” us for our unfaithfulness. When we choose so many things above Him, our “man-made Gods” he waits.. he has patience with us while we go running after all these things. Then, eventually, we realise that these things let us down or cause us even more problems and we finally turn to God. In his mercy he holds out his hands of love and welcomes us home.

What a wonderful God we have!

Isaiah 40:30-31

Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Do you know the difference between tired and weary? As the saying goes: “If you are tired, go to bed. If you are weary, go to God!”

Those of you who have the pleasure (!) of seeing me regularly will know that I’ve been going on and on about this verse for a few weeks now, yes perhaps it’s because I’m tired and in need of a holiday! However, God has been reminding me of this verse in several ways and it also came up in a book I was reading. This book really showed this passage in a new light for me, so I thought I would share these thoughts with you too!

How do you feel you’re doing at the moment with God?

We all go through the different stages outlined in v31 at different times in our walk with God: soaring, running & walking.

Perhaps right now you feel like you are soaring, you’re right in the flow of where God wants you to be and everything seems to be clicking into place, prayers are being answered, your faith is being built and you’re getting really energised by the work you are doing for God – everything’s wonderful….!

Or perhaps you feel more like you are running. It’s hard work, but you feel like you are getting somewhere. You have to press on and put lots of energy into what you are doing, perhaps it takes quite a bit more energy than you feel you have, but you know you are on the right path and that God is pleased with your efforts. You may be aching a bit and you may feel like you’ve taken on a bit more that you can handle, but as you go to God he provides you with that bit more that you need to keep on running and to not give up.

Perhaps right now all you feel you can do is walk. You’re finding everything a bit too hard. You don’t have the energy to run and actually some days you don’t feel like you even have the energy to walk. Each day is a battle to put one foot in front of the other and keep plodding on. But you are still walking and God is still right there with you. You may be looking at the runners and soarers and thinking, why I am not there? But God is pleased that you are still choosing to walk, even though it is tough, and he’s going to sustain you through this time.

So whilst you are soaring, know that it is God who is the wind under your wings and you need to keep on seeking him and relying on him even when it feels like perhaps you can do it all yourself. Keep your eyes focused on God and give him all the praise and glory for the works he’s doing through you. Pray that you will keep on soaring and trusting in him for everything.

When you are running know that God is pleased with you even if sometimes you can’t see the results of all that hard work you’re putting in. He’s with you and he’ll sustain you – just keep putting your hope in Him! He will provide you with the energy you need to keep on running.

When you are walking know that God’s right there beside you, encouraging you, loving you, being your shelter and your guide. He knows your struggles and he won’t let you fall. He’s telling you to keep walking on with Him, you’ll be so glad you didn’t give up. CS Lewis put it something like this: As long as you are willing to walk, God is pleased with your stumbles.

I pray that each of you would know God’s sustaining power in your lives. That wherever you feel you are at in your walk with God, you wouldn’t look to where others are, but keep your focus on Him and let your hope be based on His faithfulness and not on how you’re feeling. I pray that God would pour out his blessings on you for chosing to keep pressing on, however hard or easy it is for you right now. Amen.