Seeking God

‘So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with Him in prayer and fasting’ Dan.9:3a

Seeking God is crucial to our love walk. It is in seeking God that we discover why we do what we do and get the understanding to live according to His purpose. Seeking God requires humility and sacrifice. Fasting is seeking God; a choice to abstain for the purpose of seeking God. The primary reason why we fast is to seek God and be still ‘in His presence where there is fullness of joy’. In other words, when you put certain things aside to make God priority and go deeper, He sorts you out. ‘That is why the LORD says, “Turn to me now, while there is time”. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning’ Joel 2:12. Generally, fasting is perceived as abstinence from food for the purpose of seeking God. It is seeking God that makes abstinence from food fasting. You seek God by engaging in intense worship, prayer, listening to God, and studying His Word. It is not fasting when it is not mingled with spiritual activity. At best it becomes a hunger strike or a diet. There are several approaches to fasting as exemplified in the Bible. The Esther’s kind involves fasting for 3days without food and water. The Daniel kind involves abstaining from delicacies and eating probably just fruits and vegetables. The David’s kind is passionate, dramatic and humbling one’s self before God. The Moses’ kind of fasting is for 40 days. This is like the Jesus type of fast, with or without water. There are other dimensions to fasting, like, mental fasts where you mentally detox for the purpose of seeking God. For any kind of fast, the Lord must lead you. Let the leading of God and the need that you have fuel your purpose. If you are planted in a Church, you will find that there are seasons where the Church will embark on seeking God as a unit. This type of fasting demands that you align with the Church’s vision. Before you fast, God says ‘count the cost’! Counting the cost means understanding what fasting demands before you begin and once you begin, stick to it.

Prayer: Lord, help me live a life where I constantly seek your face by praying, worshiping, studying the Word and listening for Your voice. Help me do all that is required to seek You, in Jesus Name.