Abiding – Prayer & Fasting

{abide}

“…praying without ceasing is indeed the one need of my life – an unceasing waiting, moment by moment, on the God who has united me to Christ, to perfect His own divine work, to work in me both to will and to do His good pleasure.” Andrew Murray, from Abide in Christ

I haven’t written on my word of the year in awhile…but that isn’t because I haven’t been abiding. 🙂 God has been so faithful to continue to grow me in Him by teaching me how to abide in Him through prayer and fasting.

For me, prayer and fasting are all about learning to trust Him more. To trust Him completely.

I don’t think I can say that I always act like I trust Him completely. Sometimes my actions are driven by fear or worry or doubt. However, I can say with 100% confidence that in my heart, when I stop and think about it, I do trust Him completely. I trust His Word. I trust His promises. I trust His faithfulness. And I trust His goodness, no matter my circumstances. This doesn’t mean that life is always grand and I treasure each moment the way I should, because you all know that I struggle. I struggle a lot. But deep down, I know it is all a part of His plan and His purposes. And that is trust.

Our church recently held a conference and the speaker spoke on the importance of prayer and fasting towards breaking down strongholds in our lives. It was excellent, so I wanted to share a bit of that with you here. Here is Dr. Frizzell’s website.

In tearing down strongholds in our lives, one of the very best weapons we have against the enemy is prayer and abiding in Him! Just think, we can fight the enemy by talking with God! I have never thought about prayer as a weapon – but wow, I love the new picture I have in my mind of that time spent on my knees.

Yet, so often we don’t take advantage of this weapon that God so graciously gives us. We might send out “help me, Lord” prayers throughout our day – which is good, there is nothing wrong with those! (I pray that way all through my days!!) However, for genuine cleansing and repentance to take place in our lives on a regular basis, we must have a little bit of time to spend with our Father and allow Him to search us. We can’t grow more like Him if we aren’t living a life of repentance and a complete yielding to Him.

Another subject that it seems the church doesn’t readily discuss very often these days is fasting. But all through Scriptures and history we know that many believers and saints that have gone before us have fasted. God’s Word says in Matthew, “when you fast…” not if you fast. Yet, I rarely hear encouragement to fast on a regular basis. In Dr. Frizzell’s books he discusses how imperative it is to continually be fasting on a regular basis, it is all a part of the cleansing that we need from the Lord regularly.

I’d love to hear from you…

What is your experience with fasting?

How do you abide in Him on a regular basis in the midst of your busy life?

How do you find quality and quantity time to spend with God? Dr. Frizzell really emphasized our need for regular cleansing and repentance, letting God cleanse us – by asking Him very specifically to show us attitudes, thoughts, words, actions that aren’t pure. We can’t have this time of cleansing without time. Time alone with the Father. Oh, how I need that time!

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24

UPDATE to post: I received a question in my comments that was very good and should be thought about. She asked about fasting when she is hypoglycemic and going without food for several hours might make her sick. Here is my response to her, in case it might help someone else. 🙂

Fasting is a very personal thing. You must pray and see where God is leading you. If your body can’t handle a “no-food” fast, then try something else! No chocolate for a week, no internet for a day, no tv for a month, no soda for a certain amount of time. There are many, many ways that we can fast! The important thing is that we are listening to God and going where He is leading us…individually. 🙂 We can fast from ANYTHING and use that time to spend in prayer and in His Word! And that is what is most important, our time with Him!!