Daniel Fast
2012: Day Sixteen
Dear
Family of God,
One of the
practical things we do to know God more is having live worship and prayer
streaming into our home along with praying the Bible out
loud. Most of the music and prayers are scripture based,
thus there is a constant audible streaming of God's word. This
impacts us in a powerful way by causing us to refocus our gaze
throughout the day on Jesus. Our hearts become more fascinated and our
love deepens for Him. In the morning we come before the Lord to adore
Him in our prayer room, praying to Him with His Word. As we
drive the worship streams on our I phones through our
stereos. In our offices, it plays softly on our computers as we
work. When we direct the gaze of our heart and spirit toward Him as
often as possible it helps us to know Him better. Our hearts are
moved by His glory, by His love, by His personality as we spend
our time worshiping and praying the words of the Bible out loud. The
Jews prayed the Word out loud back to God until the law took root in
their hearts.One
could say that they used their mouths to lasso their minds, to affect
their spirits. St Patrick, the famous missionary to
Ireland was said to recite at least 100 psalms a day out loud to God.
By looking at Him and gazing on Him often we encounter the reality of
His love and affections for us. We become more and more confident of
His love for us and this revelation transforms us into greater lovers
of God and of people. It causes us to change; becoming more
like Him. Our lives increasingly come into
alignment with the Holy Spirit's seed that was deposited
in us and stimulates growth emitting more and more of the aroma
of Christ to those with who we interact with. This correct
alignment taught by Jesus is critical to remember to prevent
burnout and empty works of ministry. How can we speak of love and
of the One we know to others if we don’t know Him ourselves and
are in love with Him first? By seeking God FIRST and
loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength we follow
Jesus' teaching of the way to live. From that focus then the
"doing" of loving others will be a natural/supernatural
byproduct.
To engage in prayer is the most obvious and the most universal
reflection of man's relationship with God. Prayer in its highest form
and at its most sincere levels is called a "service of the
heart", and constitutes one of the many ways by which the love of
God is expressed." (Praying the Bible by Wesley & Stacey
Campbell, pg.29). Like Daniel (Daniel 12:8) we may not understand
everything we see and pray because the finite mind will never
completely understand the infinite. The entire Bible is God breathed,
it is the language of the Spirit; it is the language of prayer.
"This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but
words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual
words.” (1 Cor. 2:13)
With Christ's Love,
Ron & Jackie Vigh
(Grand Rapids, Michigan)
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