day sixteen of the fast

Day sixteen of the fast

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” (Matthew 4:1-3)

Today we pray for America (that the Lord will bring us back to the roots of our beginning of spiritual hunger and commitment).

This is the country that is closest to me in my prayer. It is good to pray for Central and South America or Europe or the East, but America is the one that is, as is normal, closest to my heart.

This is, after all, my country. I served in the army defending it, I live here and it is my heritage. Those who try to tear it down – and there are a lot in Hollywood these days – do so out of some kind of foolishness that I just do not understand.

It is what I have heard a lot lately called oikaphobia, the fear or hatred of the familiar. Xenophobia is the love of the strange or the stranger. It was fun to go through Germany and the little bit of Europe we lived in when I was in the army, and I am glad Ella was there at least for a little to experience it.

But I live here. This is where my family is, where my roots are, where all that is familiar to me is. And I love it. I could probably live in Europe. In fact, we had planned to go back and do mission work there in 1980, but it all fell through. But America is good.

There is no better country, no more exceptional country in the world than America.

But – and here is the problem – but, it has been moved from its Christian center to something that looks the same on the surface, but underneath is rotten. And you can tell it by our kids.

Children always reflect the parents. Children reflect America today. Tattooed, pierced, promiscuous in odd ways, afraid to speak the wrong thing, sometimes even lacking the ability to read and write.

The dumbing down of education has produced a group of future and present adults that are ill-equipped to live in a world that is not constantly reassuring them of their worth and value. The school system spends so much time on self-esteem and equality that they neglect knowledge and fortitude.

End of the rant. What can we do? 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. That is what we can do.

If enough of us fast and pray for America, I hope that God hears us and that it is not too late for this formerly great nation.

For me, personally, this fast has had some interesting revelations. One was the blow-up at Ella yesterday. I am not the holy person I want to be. And those things I thought were in my past are not necessarily gone.

I am also hungry. I always thought that passage above was one of the biggest understatements in the Bible, almost laughable. After he fasted for 40 days, he was hungry. Well, d’uh. Of course he was hungry.

But then I went on fasts. And I discovered that it was not always that simple. At the end of a long fast, I discovered that you almost have to give yourself permission to eat. You have gone so long that it almost becomes normal. And again I realize how it is that young girls can starve themselves to death. You just get used to it.

You can’t do it forever, of course. But when you are through, you have to be careful.

I saw a TV movie about the life of Jesus in which he came back to Mary’s house after his fast. He sat down at the table and ate everything in sight, just wolfing it down. It was obvious the producers and writers had never been on an extended fast. Jesus would have puked his guts out (to put it delicately) if he had done that.

You have to start slow. I have already figured what I am going to eat first next Tuesday. It will be oatmeal. Then some stir fry for supper. Easy stuff. Last time I ate too much too soon and my gall bladder blew up. I don’t have to worry about that this time, but there is no reason to hurt myself.

One thing, too. I intend to continue the process of eating less. I have lost over 40 pounds in this fast. That is strange. I didn’t last time, but this time I am older and I had also been on the Atkins diet for a month before so my carb count was down. That probably accentuated it.

But I wait for him to reveal what he has in store for me. I eagerly await it.

Father God, I ask you to watch over our country, to move it back to where it was, to move your sovereign will over this nation and change us. Change us once again to a Christian nation, full of your grace. Thank you for allowing me the strength and grace to go on this fast. And thank you for what you have done and for you are going to do. I praise you. Amen.