day one of my fast

Day One of my Fast: February 1, 2011

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?
Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?  (Isaiah 58:5-6)

I begin a 21 day fast today. This is the longest I have fasted since 1997 when I went on the 30 day fast before the National Day of Prayer. Oddly enough, that fast went well and it was relatively – not easy, but simple, I suppose.

Obviously, at the time, God was with me on it.

However, since that time it has been hard to do. I have gone on shorter ones, but never one of that magnitude. Until now.

I have felt the call of God to fast for a couple of years now and have resisted. Fasting is a lonely thing. Others are just a little afraid of you and kind of tiptoe in your presence talking about food. It makes people uncomfortable when everybody but one person is eating. Fasting does better in groups, I suppose, although I never have been part of a group that fasted that got together and prayed together.

But this one, with the help of God, I will do.

There are several things I want to pray for as I fast.

1. That God hears me and answers my petitions. These are simple. At least for him. Take away the sadness that seems to have overcome me lately. Relieve my depression as he did when he baptized me in the Holy Spirit back in 1995. That was great and it lasted for several years before the pressures set in again. Give me the joy I used to have.

2. That he answers my questions and pleas for this work here. It is a difficult work, one that has had problems not of my making from the very beginning. Things were allowed to continue here for years and came to a head when I came. I want to know from God what it is that he wants me to do and how he wants me to do it.

3. That this church grow and become a dynamic church. God has shown me things in the past that he wants of me and so far has not fulfilled them. I know his time is not the same as mine, but I love this church and want it to grow. If God is in charge – and I believe he is – then he has a plan for this church and for me here. He brought me here for a reason and I need to know what it was. Surely it was not just to get me out of the way so that others could do good stuff elsewhere.

Today I pray for the leaders of both this country and the world. I will also pray for the local leaders.

    National:
    President Barack Obama
    Vice-President Joe Biden
    Speaker of the House John Boehner
    Nebraska Senators of the 112th Congress
    Mike Johanns - (R - NE)
    Ben Nelson - (D - NE)
    Nebraska Representatives
    Fortenberry, Jeff, Nebraska, 1st
    Smith, Adrian, Nebraska, 3rd
    Terry, Lee, Nebraska, 2nd
    State:
    Governor Dave Heineman
    Rick Sheehy Lieutenant Governor
    Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature Sen. Mike Flood
    District 21 (Lincoln) Sen. Ken Haar
    Local:
    Mayor Chris Beutler
    Lincoln Council Members
    Northeast - District 1: Doug Emery
    Southeast - District 2: Jon Camp
    Southwest - District 3: Jonathan Cook
    Northwest - District 4: John Spatz -Chair
    At-Large:     Eugene Carroll -Vice-Chair
    Adam Hornung
    Jayne Snyder

Lord, I pray for these people that they may have courage to lead in the direction you want them to lead, that they can have discretion and strength to do what is right in their leadership that they may bring this nation back to you. Give them power in your way. Stop them when they lead wrong and let them know your will. Strengthen them in that will.

Bless me as I fast before you that I will not just starve, but that I will grow closer to you, and know you better, that you will hear me and answer me.

I praise your name. In Jesus, amen.