40 Days Prayer and Fasting (Expressing His Resurrection Life) DAY 37 Bible Reading for the Day: (Hebrews 13:1-25) INTRODUCTION: “But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” (Hebrews 13:16) From the scripture above, we are advised to allow the goodness of God to flow out of our hearts unto others-not just those of the household of faith, but to those who are without. The writer tells us not to neglect such a lifestyle. This means it must become our signature. This is one of the ways we can express His resurrection life. Let us take a look at the account of the plunder of David and his men’s goods at Ziklag (1Sam.30). Here we see that David’s house is plundered and burnt. Not only that-his wives, children and that of his men are also taken captive. David’s first response and that of his men is the same as any ‘normal’ human being with emotions and an inseparable bond with his family will be- they wept. Scriptures says they wept till there was no more strength to weep anymore. This is a state better imagined than experienced. But David did something that was outstanding, in the midst of the chaos that surrounded him. He lifted up his eyes to the Lord and found encouragement from the Lord. In fact his men, in their grief and bitterness wanted to stone him. But David found encouragement in the Lord and quieted himself to hear the voice of the Lord. The Word of the Lord told him to pursue, overtake for he will indeed recover all (1Sam.30:8). This is where the gist gets interesting. As they (David and his men) began to track the Amalekites, they found an Egyptian servant who was faint. They fed him and took care of him for three days. Wait a minute, but they also had needs. They also were looking for their captured families. They still had time to take care of an Egyptian servant? Of what use is he to us? Please let’s leave him and move on. We have better things to do ahead. They took care of him for three good days! That is 72 hours! That is time seemingly lost on their part! In the intelligence department of this world, they will say the tracks have gone cold. But the key to their recovery was that seemingly hopeless Egyptian. The rest as they say is history. One of the expressions of true fasting is SELFLESSNESS. Isaiah 58:7 says, “Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh”? The succeeding verse says, “THEN shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday.” (Isa. 58: 7&10). Truly if we consider the factors that surround us and stare us in the face, we will not even want to help anyone. Particularly in this nation, where people want to rob you of your possession, our default response is a NO! Even without hearing the other party out. This doesn’t mean we shut down our discernment in our interaction with people. Our show of goodness must be with clear discernment and not suspicion. As we do this we become a well-pleasing sacrifice of sweet smelling aroma to Him. Prayer Focus: 1. Lord break down every pre-conceived notions and mindset I have picked up as a result of past experiences. 2. Lord give me grace to be hospitable towards all men. 3. Lord help me to walk in true selflessness. 4. Lord help me to abound in love and all discernment all the days of my life. (Amen)
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 08:19:10 +0000
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