Please give us your feedback as to what God is doing in your life through the spiritual discipline of fasting. For more information on the practical aspects of fasting, go to the Campus Crusade web site. Pastor Brent and I would love to hear the experiences you are having, struggles as well as successes, as you take the challenge to fast and pray. Just click on the highlighted comments button to do so.
The greatest thing I noticed last week as I fasted in preparation for my message was how much my desire for God and spiritual hunger increased. The most helpful thing was not the fasting of food, but the fasting of media and the news. Leaving some open space in my schedule instead of filling it with noise and media, allowed me the margin to experience God more deeply and to sense his direction more clearly. I am praying for those of you who are fasting with me this week.
Pastor Ray
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This week I chose to fast my lunch while at work on Monday, as well as access to my computer while at home Tuesday night. Here's what happened Monday:
Sunday night I receive a scathing e-mail from a senior business colleague; she copied at least eight other people. I didn't sleep much more than four hours Sunday night after writing a heavy-handed response in which I threatened to end a twelve year business relationship. Thankfully, I didn't hit "send."
All morning long on Monday I wrestled with my response. Yes, I was hungry, but I didn't eat. What happened?
I decided to take the "high road," and I responded with a very positive e-mail asking simply for a productive effort to resolve outstanding issues. Almost immediately, the "offender's" two supervisors intervened to offer an apology on behalf of the offender, and to resolve the issues. They succeeded, but I wasn't done.
Before I left for home, I sent an e-mail to the offender with a sincere apology for anything I may have done to cause a problem that lead to her action. Not only did I receive a gracious response from her most senior supervisor, she responded with a detailed and genuine apology, admitting to her regret for the entire event. And, she copied the same eight people she had copied with her original e-mail.
Had God spoken to me? I heard nothing audibly, but my day ended well :-)
God has been speaking to me a lot lately (for the past few months) about being in true authentic community, so my fasting was focused mostly on that. My prayer to God was, "Direct me toward the path that leads to real community and relationship." I knew the next Sunday's message would be focused on that, and I wanted to be as open as possible to whatever God might show me. Fasting itself was challenging, but ultimately worth the revelation I received yesterday in service. Absolutely worth it.
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