Fasting Part 13

Would you like to be more intimate with God?  Have you tried fasting?  Years ago, we sang  a song in worship that went like this:  “knowing You Jesus, knowing You….there is no greater thing.”  A great worship song…..but do we really mean it?  Do we really want intimacy with Him?

When Jesus walked this earth, His disciples were blessed to have intimate face to face contact with Him, but what were they to do when He ascended into heaven? The answer is found in Mt 9:15,

“And Jesus said to them, can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

Jesus was physically going to a place very distant from where the disciples were. How were His followers going to make it without Jesus right by their side? Well, we know that this was one of the purposes of sending the Holy Spirit, but according to this verse,  this intimacy would be enhanced by fasting.

Does God seem distant to you? Do you sense that you are out of touch with Jesus? Have you tried fasting? Fasting is a bridge to the bridegroom, a tool that God has given us to maintain an ongoing connection with His Son in order to help us experience the only fulfilling intimacy that really matters. An intimacy with the truest lover of our souls.

 How do we know when it’s time to fast in order to heighten our intimacy with the Lord?  Well how about taking your spiritual temperature? Are you hot, cold, or lukewarm?  If we were honest, we would have to say that most of us experience periods of lukewarmness. But we can break out of these periods with fasting!

Jesus speaks about this in Revelation chapter three. He wishes we were hot or cold, anything but lukewarm, and then he went on to describe the signs of lukewarmness. The chief sign being, self-sufficiency. “For you say I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.” Rev 3:17

You may be self-sufficient, you may be experiencing the good life, but if you don’t have intimacy with Jesus, verily, verily, you have your reward. So Jesus in His desire to re-establish intimacy with you, stands at the door and knocks.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him and he with Me.” (Rev 3:20)

Try and get this picture: The food is on the table, (untouched) but you have come to the point in your life that you are hungering for the only intimacy that satisfies, suddenly you hear a gentle knocking on the door. So you get up, you leave the food untouched, you fast. Look who shows up at the door. Jesus, and He says, invite me in, let’s break the fast and let’s eat. Let’s have fellowship, let’s be intimate.

Father, give us a hunger for intimacy with You and hear our pleas through prayer and fasting.