We fast not to twist God’s arm so He will pay attention to us. We already have His undivided attention. We don’t fast in order to make ourselves worthy of His acceptance. We already have His uncoditional love.
We fast not so He will hear us but for us to hear Him. Not for Him to focus on us, but for us to focus on Him. To train our soul and flesh to be still and to know that above all, He is God and the lover of our souls.
Pastor Joey Bonifacio, THE MYSTERY OF THE EMPTY STOMACH
God’s invitation for you to step out in audacious faith isn’t going to fall from the sky and hit you in the head. You’ve got to train your eyes to look for it. The impossible becomes possible only as you carefully observe and faithfully obey the direction of the Holy Spirit.
God wants to increase your influence and multiply your impact in more ways than you could ever imagine. But he doesn’t always do that by calling you to make dramatic changes in your life overnight. He probably won’t call your family to relocate to a remote jungle before the end of the month and translate the Bible into Braille for a tribe of blind cannibals. More likely, some ordinary opportunity or responsibility in your everyday life will seem to catch fire. Faith opens your eyes to see the potential to serve a God who is already at work on your behalf.
So don’t leave all the good parts for the Christian-celebrity A list. Don’t be disillusioned by a lack of special effects in your life. You’re probably standing next to a burning bush right where you live and work. That’s where audacity started for me. That’s where audacity started for Moses. And it’s not a bad starting place for you.
Excerpt from Steven Furtick’s book SUN STAND STILL
The trouble with success is that the formula is the same as the one for a nervous breakdown.
Some people stumble on the truth and walk away still not believing; others dream about the truth and wake up as believers.
All I ever have to be is what you’ve made me,
Any more or less would be a step out of your plan,
As you daily recreate me help me always keep in mind,
That I only have to do what I can find,
And all I ever have to be is what you’ve made me.—Amy Grant
Just a little confession here: Before I read Joey Bonifacio’s book “The Mystery of the Empty Stomach,” I really thought that fasting is ALL about food deprivation and looking somber. Without meaning to, the images that come to my mind when I hear the word fasting include sack clothes, ashes, weeping and dozens of other depressing scenarios.
Joey Bonifacio’s book came as a pleasant surprise to me. The biggest shocker that I came across while reading it was the fact that fasting IS NOT supposed to be treated as an ordeal but an outflow of a joyful communion with God. Taking Luke 5: 33- 35 as main text, Bonifacio pointed out that when asked about fasting, Jesus recalled images of a happy wedding, not of a mirthless gathering of unhappy faces.
Prayer and fasting is a spiritual activity to be enjoyed, not a religious duty to be endured. Our attitude and approach to fasting should be like a bride who is too excited in all the wedding preparations that she wouldn’t mind skipping a meal or two.
Jojo Agot 