The Step-Aside Power Retreat

After Jesus was baptized by John, he had three short years for ministry. With just over a thousand days for preaching and teaching, Jesus chose to invest the first forty days in the wilderness. Fasting. Praying. 

Not a soul in sight.

No one to listen to His preaching.

No one to teach.

No one to heal.

That's quite a chunk of time, with what looks, on the surface, like little return. Why spend all that time in the wilderness?

There's power to be found in the kind of retreat in which the usual distractions are removed. A sweetness of communion with God that can be found nowhere else. 

Jesus taught about fasting as a private mode of worship and sacrifice, warning that we are to make no outward sign of fasting for others to see. He, who was sinless, prepared for service in the most important way of all, quietly, privately, communing with our Lord.

Denying ourselves is not at all popular in this culture, and I don't like it much either, but there's power to be found there. 

Is our concern about the spiritual needs of our children and loved ones great enough to spend time fasting and in solitude with our Lord? If so, offer a sacrifice of fasting (either food or pleasures) as you pray today.

Is our concern about our own spiritual needs great enough to spend time fasting and in solitude with our Heavenly Father? Then do so today. 

The sweetest times with our Lord, and the most powerful, can be found when all the distractions are left behind, so pray for a heart willing to step aside with Him, if only for a few minutes.

"Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days..."(Luke 4:1, 2a NASB)

The James study will be available January 15th at www.lessonsindiscipleship.blogspot.com. As always, there's no charge, but there will be the opportunity for a suggested donation to cover the cost of producing the materials.

In case you missed yesterday's post, here's the link: Fighting with a Dead Writer and Conceding Defeat 
If you'd like to help support this ministry, here's the link to give: Global Outreach Acct 4841 If you'd rather use a check or money order, make it out to Global Outreach. Remember to put "Account 4841" on the "for" line. Mail it to: Global Outreach, PO Box 1, Tupelo MS 38802
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The Fast God Desires

In the evangelical churches I had attended, fasting was seldom, if ever mentioned, and all I knew about Lent was that it was somehow connected to Mardi Gras.  I had no idea what a powerful instrument of spiritual growth this discipline could be. 

Several years ago, however, I had a friend who was completely serious about her Lenten fast.  She prayed for weeks about what to give up, and her time of sacrifice became an opportunity to draw closer to her Lord.  One year she invited me to join her, and the experience radically changed my heart.  Over the years, I fasted everything from shopping to meat to everything except liquids.  

The year God called me to fast from sin was the most life changing of all.  I was studying Isaiah 58, and felt led to do “the fast He chose.”  God’s fast, Isaiah explained, involved loosening the bonds of wickedness, undoing the bands of the yoke, letting the oppressed go free.  It was dividing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the homeless, and clothing the naked.  

“How do I do this fast, Lord?” I prayed.  Ever so gently, that still, small Voice explained that pride and selfishness were bonds of wickedness in my life that needed to be loosened.  It hurt to hear that, because I was so busy and focused on the needs of my family, I often overlooked the needs of those around me.  I had plenty of “good deeds” others could see, but few things only God could see.  

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Isaiah 58:8-12 explains the benefit of such a fast.  God promises light in the darkness, guidance, contentment, and productivity.  Best of all, He promises intimacy beyond your wildest dreams.  “Then you will call and the Lord will answer; you will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.”  

Just as He promised, God worked in me during that Lenten season, and became as intimately personal as my next breath.  When I cried out to Him, He answered, “I’m right here, dear one.”  At the end of those forty days, Easter was a glorious celebration of my life in Christ and the renewal my spirit had experienced.  

This Lenten season, why not ask God to reveal and remove your “bonds of wickedness”?   Your life, and your faith, will never be the same again.  

Time for Fasting (Luke 5:35)

But the days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days." (Luke 5:35 NASB)

In response to the question about why His disciples didn't fast, Jesus gave a wonderful answer. He presented the metaphor of a bridegroom coming for his bride. During this time of coming for His bride, the church, His disciples could not be expected to fast. There would come a time, however, when they would fast. "When the bridegroom is taken away," he said. This "taken away" word is actually prophetic. The Greek word here is "apairō" and does mean to take away, but it also can mean "to lift off and take away". The ascension back to heaven was certainly a type of "divine lift off" that took the bridegroom away! There would be no fasting until then. 

The time in which we live is "post-ascension", and we are, by Christ's own words, destined to fast. A voluntary abstaining, fasting has been practiced throughout Scripture, and giving up almost anything can constitute a fast. My own experience has ranged from food to activities. Isaiah 58 tells us of the fast God desires us to make. This fast is one of abstaining from a judgmental, critical spirit and replacing it with a spirit of generosity and giving. (this chapter is worth reading again) 

My son once said that fasting is what we do to let God know we are serious about that for which we pray. Perhaps. I think it also lets US know we are serious. Are we serious enough about the spiritual welfare of our children to fast for them? Today, make a plan for a limited fast to accompany your prayers, and pray that our Lord would use that time of prayer and fasting to draw us, as well as our loved ones, closer to Him. 

Drinking Deep (Luke 5:33)

And they said to Him, "The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do the same, but Yours eat and drink." (Luke 5:33 NASB)

The scribes and Pharisees were questioning Jesus. For a teacher, His ways were dramatically different than their norm. It is interesting that they give the example of students of John and students of the Pharisees. Those two groups were, in many ways, at opposite extremes of the spectrum. John the Baptizer is to thought to have been a part of the Essenes, (a religious group who lived communally. Qumran, the site of the Dead Sea Scroll discovery, was an Essene community). John's ministry was marked by fasting, baptism, and self denial with the objective being personal spiritual purification  John dressed in a camel hide robe and was a kind of wilderness preacher. 

The Pharisees were more inclined to enjoy an urban lifestyle. They were religious scholars who were leaders of the day. Their disciples also fasted, but it tended to be more a matter of ritual than of purification. 

Their question was why His disciples did not fast when the two extremes of the spectrum practiced fasting on a regular basis. "Your disciples eat and drink," they complained. We will see what Jesus said tomorrow, but this word for "drink" is worth exploring. The Greek word used here is "pinō" and it does literally mean to drink a liquid. www.blueletterbible.org clarifies it a little further. 

"figuratively, to receive into the soul what serves to refresh strengthen, nourish it unto life eternal"

Those Pharisees had their answer already. The disciples following Jesus spent those three short years soaking up refreshment and nourishment for their souls. They were gaining eternal life. 

When we spend time in prayer and Bible study, we, too, should be "drinking in eternal life".  Does our quiet time provide nourishment and refreshment for our souls or have we allowed it to become a Pharisaical ritual?  

Today, spend time being quiet before our Lord and be still long enough to allow Him to refresh and nourish you. Spend time worshipping Him and thanking Him for all the blessings He has bestowed already. Thank Him, too, for all the answered prayers we will eventually see. 

"Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.

Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.

Leave to thy God to order and provide;

In every change, He faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend

Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end"

Hymn by Katharina von Schlegel 1752

Battle in the Wilderness: The Secret Fast (Luke 4:2)

"...And He ate nothing during those days; and when they had ended, He became hungry." Luke 4:2 NASB

Forty days without food. That sounds unbelievable, but people still do it today as a spiritual discipline. Fasting has even been called a means of grace, because it brings us to a point where we cannot rely on our own strength and are totally dependent upon God's grace to make it through. 

In the Jewish faith, there were scheduled times of corporate fasting as well as feast days and celebrations. Fasting was a routine part of their lives. There were Pharisees who made an effort, by their appearance or their words, to let people know they were fasting. Jesus said the notice they received was all the reward they would ever get. He taught that we are to make an effort to keep the fast just between us and God, who would "see in secret and repay you ." (Matt 6:16-18) It's a little disappointing, isn't it, this doing a hard thing and not letting anyone but God know? We like the praise and notice of others, just as the Pharisees did. Oh, how much better to get the notice and approval of God! 

There is a little phrase we usually miss that might bring a bit more desire to the issue of fasting. "Will repay". Jesus said that, when we fast in private, God sees and will repay. We can count on that.  Like little children, we want to know what kind of reward, don't we?  While Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration, his disciples were trying, without success, to heal a boy with seizures due to demonic possession. When Jesus arrived, He cast the demon out and the boy was healed. Jesus said that it was the littleness of their faith that caused their failure, as well as the fact that "this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting" (Matt.17:21) One of the rewards to be gained in fasting is greater power in prayer.

Answered prayers. Now that is a reason to fast, isn't it? It can be a vital part of intercession, especially for parents concerned about the spiritual welfare of their children. The thing people often miss is that we can fast more than just food. Isaiah 58 speaks of fasting a judgmental, critical spirit.  We can fast anything from a favorite TV show or activity to a food group or a particular meal. What we fast is not nearly as important as how we fast - with an humble heart of sacrifice and a desire to draw closer to our Lord. 

Jesus, in teaching about fasting, used one critical little word that is often overlooked. WHEN. He did not say if you fast. He said when. Jesus expected that His followers would willingly deny themselves and follow Him. Fasting was a part of the self-denying process. 

My challenge to you today is that you pick one day this next week and fast as part of your intercession for your children and loved one. Those in frail health may want to fast sweets or an activity, but don't fail to miss the blessing God has prepared for you. Can you do it? Maybe not on your own strength, but with God's help, you can and will. 

Battle in the Wilderness: Sweet Solitude (Luke 4:1,2a)

"Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days..."(Luke 4:1, 2a NASB)

In this passage, Jesus has just begun public service with His baptism. The time for ministry was limited. In three short years, He would offer Himself as a sacrifice for the sin of the world. With just over a thousand days for preaching and teaching, Jesus chose to invest the first forty days in the wilderness.

It seems like an odd way to begin redeeming the world, doesn't it? No one to hear His preaching. No one to teach. No one to heal. We think of this as time alone, but Scripture clearly says He was led about by the Spirit. Just as Moses before Him, He spent this time in the presence of God's Spirit. In a later verse, we see that this was also a forty day fast. Ah, it begins to make sense!

In those times of solitude and sacrifice, all the usual distractions are removed, and there is a sweetness of communion with God that can be found nowhere else. Jesus Himself taught about fasting as a private mode of worship and sacrifice, warning that we are to make no outward sign of fasting for others to see. He who was sinless prepared for service in the most important way of all, quietly, privately, communing with our Lord.

Denying ourselves in this culture is not at all popular, but the power to be found there remains. For today, ask yourself how serious you are about your prayer concerns and the spiritual needs of your children and loved ones. Is your concern great enough to spend time fasting and in solitude with our Lord? If so, offer a sacrifice of fasting (either food or pleasures) as you pray today.

The sweetest times with our Lord can be found when all the distractions are left behind. Today, pray for a willing heart to step aside with Him. Pray, too, that our children and loved ones will be drawn to the sweetness of Spirit they see in us as a result of our time with The Lord.