Daily Devotional from The Way Bible Church for January 7th, 2020

When you make a choice to enter a season of fasting, you must do so very intentionally. Many people begin a fast only to fail at achieving their desired goal actually causing them to feel weaker spiritually as opposed to be strengthened and edified. This is primarily because there was not enough time spent in prayer and preparation leading up to the fast. It’s easy to underestimate how great of a challenge fasting can be. Fasting is not meant to easy, it’s meant to discipline and train you. People also enter a fast with ulterior motives such as attention or weight loss. While these things will without a doubt come, they must never be the primary reason behind why you enter into a fast. In today’s text, the Bible says that Daniel ‘resolved’ to not partake of the king’s food. Think about that for a moment. Daniel had been taken into captivity and was fortunate enough to be brought into the king’s palace rather than being made a slave. He had better and more food than He had no doubt ever seen. But rather than be made spiritually soft and become dependent upon someone other than the Lord, He chose to forego what the king was offering. In today’s terms that basically meant that he was giving up eating at a five star restaurant for free every day and choosing to stick with veggies and water. When you feel led to enter into a fast, do so obediently but also do it having been prepared for what is to come. Start by spending the days leading up to it by saturating yourself in the Word and prayer. This will position you to hear from the Holy Spirit about what He wants you to fast and for how long. Most importantly, He will impart the grace you need to be successful in it. He never expects you to do it on your own. Quite to the contrary, He expects you to learn how to fully rely on Him through it. – Love and Blessings, Pastor Jeff