Day 16: Daniel Fasting

I usually write about my physical and spiritual growth here, but today I'd like to write about the building of faith that I've experienced in fasting. First, I will say that I've never done a Daniel fast and after this experience, I will do it every year! The growth that I've experienced in the last 16 days is incredible!

I think we as Christians get stuck in our own ways sometimes. As long as we're going to church, reading our bibles, and praying, we call it good. But something that I've overlooked in the past few years is FAITH. We all have 'faith' ... we believe... But we aren't really 'hearing' from God and obeying - in faith. We have to have faith in order to obey. As children, we don't necessarily have to have faith in our parent's decision. We just do it. But as adults, we think ahead and we want to know what's in it for us if we obey. But, you can't really say, 'yes, sir' a month from the time God tells you to do something. That's actually called disobedience! That means okay, God. I guess I'll do it your way since nothing else worked.

This is part of today's devotion in The Ultimate Guide to The Daniel Fast.

"But my people will not listen to me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward (Jeremiah 7:27 NLT). Being stubborn not only stunts spiritual growth; it moves our lives in the wrong direction.

When we obey, we must do it in faith. We're saying, God, I'm doing it. I'm going to do what you say and I trust that you're going to catch me. I have faith in You, God. Don't get hung up in all the details because God is going to see you through. I believe that even if I make a choice that isn't the best, God will see it through because he saw me do it for Him-in FAITH! He goes before us and He goes after us.

So I just want to encourage you today to obey. When God nudges, when he speaks, don't ignore it. Don't ignore it out of fear or anything else. When He speaks listen, because he has so much to say to his people right now. If the Creator of Universe wants to speak to us- tiny nothings- we should listen and obey.