Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1:22)
We have reviewed the Disciplines of Prayer and Fasting through the lens of love. Of course, our desire is not to increase our love for these Disciplines so we can wear a badge of accomplishment. Instead, we want to reconfirm a strong link between love (for God, for others and four ourselves) and the practice of the Disciplines. This link should inspire us to pursue the Disciplines with the right motivation.
So, please prayerfully consider our conversations on Prayer and Fasting over the past week. This blog site makes it quite easy to review thoughts and comments from the past week if you need to refresh your memory. Please answer the following questions:
Today’s Questions for comments:
- What are the top three or four “big ideas” that you picked up during the past week?
- What practical steps can you take to make the Disciplines of Prayer and Fasting more of a habit?
Next week we will see where the Holy Spirit leads us as we consider the Disciplines of Worship and the Sabbath.
March 7, 2015 at 8:38 am
What are the top three or four “big ideas” that you picked up during the past week?
1. Pray for others with the same love I would want to be prayed for.
2. Maintain the type of relationship with God that makes confession and conviction possible.
3. Fasting is important to this very special relationship.
4. I think this big idea was from earlier but has still stuck with me – the people on my path are my neighbors.
What practical steps can you take to make the Disciplines of Prayer and Fasting more of a habit?
I don’t want to make this something that I add to my to do list but I personally need structure to help me stay on track. So I plan to schedule a fast, at least for a specific time durning the next month. That will help me remember. Then going forward it will develop into a habit. I will read the comments to get other suggestions:)
March 7, 2015 at 9:41 am
What are the top three or four “big ideas” that you picked up during the past week?
– Loving others should motivate me to seek God’s best for them (whether it’s his mercy {Moses interceding} or an abundance of his blessing {the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 3:16-19}.)
– “putting” those i care about into the “watch care” of God is one of highest expression of my love for them. {Jesus praying for his disciples}
_ There is a very strong correlation between the closeness of my relationship with the Lord and the immediacy with which i will seek repentance and restoration when i have sinned and displeased him. (David in Psalm 51)
What practical steps can you take to make the Disciplines of Prayer and Fasting more of a habit?
I try to set a specific recurring day/time for both (Prayer every day 6:30) and fasting (1st Tuesday of each month 6am-6pm) for fasting and continue working on not having them be another task on the proverbial checklist.
March 7, 2015 at 2:15 pm
This was a wonderful week of learning for me – it made me see that I have not exploited the power of prayer.
The key learning points were:
– THOSE who share an initimate relationship with GOD can intercede powerfully on behalf of others through prayer
– ASK GOD for what you want – I mean ANYTHING – big or small – the purpose here is not to treat GOD like a genie but HE encourages us to do this very thing. James 4:3 has new meaning for me.
– GOD is more concerned with our attitude of repentance rather than our behaviour (David’s prayer of repentance). Therefore when I truly repent of a sin, I dont have to overcompensate by trying to ‘make nice’ with whoever I offended for example. Ask for God’s fogiveness. Forgive yourself – make amends where possible, and let it GO.
– PRAY for the Body of Believers that they may be united as ONE BODY and be strengthened against the attacks of the evil one
– THERE is a reward from heaven for prayer and fasting (Matt 6:5-6)
March 7, 2015 at 9:13 pm
Bridget, Cuaco and gsharpe2014 thank you very much for sharing the lessons you have learned! The Big Ideas you have identified are certainly relevant to many of us.
The following question remains as we consider the Disciplines of Prayer and Fasting:
Do we love enough,
to fast and pray enough,
to a God who is more than enough?