Luke 6:46-49 (The Voice)

“What good is it to mouth the words, “Lord! Lord!” if you don’t live by My teachings?  What matters is that you COME to Me, HEAR My words, and actually LIVE BY THEM”

PRAYER & FASTING are foundational and catalytic practices in the life of EVERY Christ follower that give us momentum on our discipleship journey as we simply & naturally ‘come to Him, hear His words, and actually live by them’ – the end goal being that we will FOLLOW in the WAYS that Jesus modelled for us in willing OBEDIENCE.

FASTING is all about valuing the gift of the personal closeness we have with Christ with the gift of our time, because TIME IS THE CURRENCY OF LOVE.  That time given to fast, where we DIVEST OURSELVES of all those things that the world would have us believe are priorities, will FORM IN US the lasting FRUIT of INTIMACY.  Kingdom FRUITFULNESS will then overflow FROM US as a natural consequence of our awakened DESIRE TO FOLLOW Christ in faithful & faith-filled OBEDIENCE to please our Father.

We will then live a life that is no longer SHAPED by the world around us, but has been RESHAPED in His PRESENCE, so that we no longer ‘become so well-adjusted to our culture that we fit into it without even thinking. But instead, we fix all our attention on God. Changed from the inside out we readily recognise WHAT HE WANTS from us, and QUICKLY RESPOND to it. Unlike the culture around us, always dragging us down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best OUT OF US and develops well-formed maturity IN US.’ (Adapted from The Message: Romans 12:2)

Today as you COME TO HIM and prioritise the Father’s loving embrace, take time to LISTEN and MEDITATE on His WORDS, hearing His promptings and directing. Allow His GRACE to EMPOWER you on the discipleship journey that Eugene Peterson calls “a long obedience in the same direction” – the always maturing life of a Christ follower that bears lasting fruit.