Fasting & Prayer - Day 4

Lamentations 3:22-23

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are notconsumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

Good morning,

Day 4 is upon us bringing another morning of God’s compassions. Isn’t it amazing to know that morning after morning we can count on the mercies of God because they fail not. Simply put, because God is compassionate there is an endless supply of mercy available to protect his people from being consumed.

I was thinking as I rolled over in bed this morning and opened my eyes for the third time how grateful I am to have woken up from near death. Did you know the only difference between sleeping and death is that one is temporary and the other is permanent? To put things in perspective; sleep and death are not that far apart.  In fact, when you are sleeping you are no more consciously aware than a dead person. Think about that. In fact let’s visit scripture to add context: Mark 5:39: 

“And when he had entered, he said to them, 'Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping'" 

In this verse, Jesus is at the home of Jairus, the synagogue leader, and is confronting the professional mourners over the death of Jairus' daughter. Jesus claims that the girl is just sleeping, and intends for her condition to be temporary, like sleep. 

To these outside observers, the physiological signs pointed to the child being dead. She was motionless, her heart rate had slowed, apparently breathing was non-existent, etc.  They were so convinced she had passed that they hired mourners to come and cause an emotional commotion around her body. Yet, here comes Jesus and he tells them, she’s only sleeping. How can that be? The simple answer is: when you’re sleeping you are one mercy away from death and only God can resurrect a sleeping person from the grasp of death, hence why the term consumed is used. Death has sleeping you in its paws and like a roaring lion with its jaws is ready to ravish you, but then God comes along and plucks you from its paws.

So God be praised for waking you up this morning; for it is because of his mercies why we are not consumed.

If you have been fasting consistently from the beginning, you will find that your body is changing a bit. You may have noticed a slight weight decrease, your appetite may have change and your sleep altered someone perhaps for the better, or worse in some cases. You may have noticed that your mind is a bit sharper, less foggy. Your stomach does still crave food but not as much, though your mind might say otherwise. Drink plenty of water. It will satiate and distract your organs temporarily.

While praying, start to consider others. Remember those people over the last year who told you about their hurts and things they were going through and you had nothing to offer other than, I’ll pray for you. Did you pray for them or was it mere words to superficially show you were concerned? Perhaps it was a dismissive tactic like we all do at times. Well, now is a good time to recall their concern and fulfill your promise to pray for them. They may have forgotten by now; and even you may not even remember, but God heard and he’s still awaiting your telegram/email as you promised.

Have a wonderful day and be blessed.

Pastor