As a young boy, growing up with my mother was very challenging. We spent a few years living on the ‘back-dam’ of an East Coast Demerara village. With the absence of electricity, we had no television. In the house, our only source of entertainment came from my mother’s radio and cassette player. Two types of music defined this era of my life, oldies and those old Jim Reeves gospel songs. One of my favourite songs was “Just a closer walk with thee”.
As an adult Christian, I now reflect on the simplicity both of that time and that song. Listening to it today my feelings remain the same, that no matter the issue or problem, no matter the thrills or spills of life, all I need to do is walk closer with Master Jesus. To have a closer walk with our Lord, Jesus Christ, we must fast and pray.
As we fast, there are many benefits that we can gain from this sacred activity: breakthrough and deliverance against the enemy (Matthew 17:21), preparation for the testings of life (Matthew 4:2), guidance and revelation (Daniel 10), divine favour (Esther 4:16) and the list goes on.
However, what we should cherish the most from all the benefits and blessings of fasting is the level of closeness with God. When we fast (accompanied with prayer and scriptural meditation) it is like our relationship with the Lord gets refreshed. What a privilege it is to live one’s life closely knitted with the living God. Let us examine the two Scriptures below:
Jeremiah 29:12-14a (12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the Lord,…)
James 4:8 (8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded).
God’s desire is to have a relationship of closeness with His children, when we fast we deny ourselves of earthly pleasures and desires and deliberately pursue to be closer with God. As we get closer, therein lies our deliverance, our victory, our guidance and all the answers to our prayers. Those are the benefits, but closeness with our heavenly Father is the reward. Make a decision to get closer to Him today.
Read: Proverbs 18:24
Bible Reading Guide: Psalm 6; Matthew 5:43-48; Matthew 6:1-24; Genesis 14; Genesis 15; Genesis 16
