Fasting

January 17, 2014

Rooted in Faith


As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. —Colossians 2:6-7

It doesn’t take long for you to lose your edge looking at the condition of the U.S. economy these days. Kids have watched their moms and dads lose jobs—and many have lost their homes to foreclosure—all at record rates. People have seen their savings run out and their investments plunge almost over night in some cases. My heart has been heavy as I’ve witnessed the economy in America sink deeper into crisis.

But I want to encourage you—now more than ever—to believe God for His provision. I see evidence throughout Scripture that the men and women of God who pressed in with fasting and prayer, even in difficult times, flourished. God provides. He provides because He is faithful to His Word. He promised:

The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those who are planted in the house of the LORD
Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be fresh and flourishing,
To declare that the LORD is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
PSALM 92:12-15

I don’t know about you, but I take much more comfort and place much more faith in the promises of God than I do in the promises of government—any government!

Storms will come. Sometimes it seems like life is nothing but one big transition. It throws scenarios at you that you could never plan for or dream up. Change is a difficult process. But when transitional storms come, they test and strengthen your root system.

There are times I can look back on in my life where it seemed like everything worked perfectly and exceeded all my expectations. There are other times when nothing went right and I had to reach up to touch rock bottom. The key is to learn to worship, to humble yourself with fasting and prayer, and to seek God’s face no matter the transition.

Spending time in fasting and prayer—regardless of your circumstances—is what will help you be rooted and grounded in your faith, ready to weather any storm of the economy, your health, your family or your job. God can cause you to flourish even during transition, and people who flourish in troubled times have been used to change destinies.

The Fasting Edge

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