Fresh Spirit of Prayer and Fasting

[S] Acts 14:23,27 --
23 When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. 27 When they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to report all things that God had done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

[O] There is something beautiful about this scene where the apostles are in the beginning stages of establishing the churches with the new opened door (in their mind) to the Gentiles.  Their sincere desire to rely on God through fasting prayer and gathering the churches to report how God is breaking new grounds.  Exciting!

[A] In my observation and involvement in God's ministry, I can honestly say that the key foundation of bringing ministry co-workers together to carry out God's great plan is by prayer -- and furthermore, fasting and prayer.  I am humbly bowing down before God in repentance for lacking such a fervent prayer life to lay the foundation of the ministries I am part of.

[P] Dear God, would you forgive my calloused heart in doing Your ministry and replace it with the heart of flesh that pumps living and fresh blood in my life ultimately to minister to others?  I ask this in Jesus' precious name.  Amen.

Look Good When Fasting

[S] Matthew 6:17 --
17  "But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face  18  so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

[O] Fasting was (and still is) a way to clear the mind to focus more on what God is speaking.  So this is an effort to control our physical body in order to draw closer to God.  And the purpose of drawing closer to God is to follow His ways better.  However, in this process it is so easy to shift the focus to the people around more than God so it can become an act to look good to others which is far from the original intention.  Verse 17 teaches how I should set my circumstance properly in the first place in order not to get set myself up to derail from my original intentions of drawing closer to God.

[A] All the actions I decide to follow to draw closer to Him have loopholes for me to shift my focus away from God to others around me.  So, as a part of my plan to "do" His will, I should also carefully put in place the safety measures for me to not detail my path away from God.  Just like how I should look "good" when I fast (and not boast about how weak I am without food), I should up front empty my own ambitions for taking part in His ministry so I will be putting in my efforts just for His Kingdom's sake and no one else.

[P] Dear Father, please preserve my heart's purity to serve You and You alone in all that I do for You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Some Times Fast, Some Times Slow

[S] Acts 13:3,19 --
 ³Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. 
 ¹⁹"When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance--all of which took about four hundred and fifty years. 

[O] These two verses highlighted two contrasting views: 1) When I have God's conviction, I should not delay moving forward right away after fasting and praying; 2) Development of God's ministry from ground up requires time to mature.  Both are participating in God's will and yet depending on the situation I need to discern to either do a 100m dash, or run a marathon.

[A] Some times I'm too cautious about moving forward with God's convictions.  I do too much of a the Gideon's testing by looking from various angles to make sure.  But seeing how the leaders from Acts I need to learn to fast, pray, bless (lay hands), and start (send) down the path of God's conviction with confidence.  On the other hand, when the development of the ministry seems to take too long, remember that God let the Israelites 450 years to settle into the Promised Land which He had already allocated for His people to take over.

[P] Dear Father, please allow me wisdom to discern how I should act in my current ministry roles.  At times I feel like I should move quickly with conviction; and yet at times I cannot see how we can cover so much in such a short duration.  I need Your wisdom daily so I don't get stressed out too much so I ask for Your peaceful understanding of my circumstances better.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.