We all get distracted and disconnected in life. When that happens to me, I often end up drifting off purpose. I find that I am going through the motions just getting by doing what has to get done. It is like everything ends up in the urgent category of life because I have procrastinated when I could have been proactive. I often don’t even know that I am living this way until someone or something breaks into my life and I realize that I need a hard reset.

The reset can come in the form of a vacation, a fast, the new year, or a life crisis. For me a vacation isn’t long enough though I do enjoy a nice road trip, the new year’s resolutions are too cliche’, and honestly I don’t want to have to be made to go through a life crisis to get it. So I prefer a fast.

A lot of people are done reading right now because a fast doesn’t sound exciting at all. Many people dismiss a fast because the first thing we think of is having to deny ourselves meals. However, a fast can be denying ourselves certain things like one meal a day, carbs, or sugar and social media. I am currently on day 19 of a 21 day fast from social media. Here’s the thing though, fasting just to fast is fine for the body and mind but spiritually speaking – fasting and prayer combined is a powerful gift of grace.

5 Things That Await You – during a 21 day fasting and prayer time.

These 5 things have helped me refocus and reconnect me.

1. WAKE UP: fasting and prayer will wake you up to the truth that is hiding from you behind all the distraction and disconnection. For me, that “wake up” is God Loves Me. I forget that my God loves me and that nothing I do can earn it. His love is enough for me. Psalm 136:26 Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.
2. CONNECT: fasting and prayer redefines the importance of connecting with the Lord. It has a way of pushing the unimportant out of view and reminds us that God is our very life. When we get all caught up in going through the motions we forget the truth of how awesome and wondrous He really is. We forget that He is our everything. John 14:6 Jesus answered, ” I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
3. PURPOSE: fasting and prayer realigns us with the purpose for which we live. The truth is, if we are in Christ, we are new creations. God has put His laws on our hearts and in our minds. We have been created for His purpose. When we don’t live from that purpose, we function our lives out of secondary things. These lesser things capture our attention and we end up living from a lower position than what we were created for. Lord, come do your work in and through us! Psalm 138:8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
4. RETURN: fasting and prayer allows God to send refining into our lives. This refining returns us to our first love. It tries our hearts, it reveals the thorns of the enemy, it uncovers the idols we serve -the lesser things we bow too. We become trained by the discipline of the Lord as He sanctifies our hearts. Hebrews 12:9-11 Furthermore, we had human fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but he does it for our benefit, so that we can share his holiness. 11 No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
5. PROMISE: fasting and prayer reminds us that God will do what He says He will. For every season of our lives God has a promise. When we live disconnected from the promises we missing the beauty of His Holiness and holiness He is working into our lives. He is making all things beautiful. 2 Corinthians 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Thanks for reading!

All is grace,

Starla Smith