Devotional Day 8

“Day 8: Walk With God

Can you imagine what it must have been like to be Adam or Eve, walking with our glorious God in the peace of the garden? Tragedy of tragedies—they chose to give up that glorious place for something to eat! Fasting prepares the way for God to communicate clearly with you, to give you fresh revelations, fresh visions, and clear purpose. You are already past the seventh day. Do not grow weary. Stay the course; finish the race. An incredible reward awaits you on the other side.

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matt. 5:6). When you begin to develop a hunger for the deeper things of God, He will fill you. However, sometimes just being in a good service is not enough. I believe God is already raising up people in this hour who do not want a diet of just “church as normal” any longer. I see it at Free Chapel; people are fasting and developing a hunger for more of God, and religious traditions are having to just get out of the way. Hungry people are desperate people. “They will push over the custom; they will push over the ritual—they don’t want to leave hungry.

Jesus found such hunger while visiting Tyre and Sidon. A woman whose daughter was possessed and tormented by a devil heard that He was there. But the woman was Greek, “a Syro-Phoenician by birth” (Mark 7:26), and, therefore, outside of the covenant God had made with Israel. But that didn’t matter to her. She was hungry, and her faith was persistent. Even when Jesus discouraged her, saying that the “bread” was first for the children of Israel, she was hungry enough to ask for even a crumb that would fall to the floor. Many of the children who sat at the table had not shown such great hunger. Jesus honored her request, and her daughter was healed because of her persistence (vv. 29–30).”

“Hungry people are desperate people, and they are hungry for more of God than they have ever had. They are breaking out of religious rules, regulations, and traditional thinking and breaking through to more of His presence, more of His power to turn situations around, more of His healing power, and more of His miracle-working power! Only Jesus satisfies that hunger!

It was such hunger that was stirred in the heart of a Gentile centurion in Caesarea who fasted, prayed to God always, and gave generously to the poor. Though they were Gentiles, Cornelius and his household devoutly feared and served God. As Cornelius was fasting and praying one day like Daniel, an angel appeared to him with a message. The angel said, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God” (Acts 10:4). And then the angel instructed him to send for Peter, who was nearby in Joppa. Peter, who was fasting at the time as well, saw a vision from God in which many foods that were unlawful for Jews to eat were presented to him. He was still puzzled by the vision when Cornelius’s messengers arrived. “Going with them to his house the next day and hearing of the hunger in this man’s heart, Peter understood that the vision meant that the gospel was not to be withheld from the Gentiles. As he shared the gospel with those of Cornelius’s household, the Holy Spirit fell and baptized them all, and later they were baptized in water. (See Acts 10.)

When you hunger for God, He will fill you. As Jesus entered Capernaum, He was confronted by a Roman centurion whose servant was paralyzed and tormented (Matt. 8:5–13). But the centurion knew it would take only a word from Jesus for the servant to be healed. When he said those words to Jesus, the Bible says Jesus was amazed at his faith and told those around him, “I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” (v. 10). He was saying, “So many in Abraham’s lineage don’t have the hunger this man has shown. They come to see Me, but they don’t hunger.” In this day, God is saying, “I’m looking for somebody who will do more than show up, but who will hunger for that which I want to place in him!”

In this day, God is saying, “I’m looking for somebody who wants something. I’m looking for somebody who will do more than show up, but who will hunger for that which I want to place in him!”

On your eighth day of fasting, remember:

Pray and stay in God’s Word.

You begin to discover what is known as the “sweet spot”—a place you hit that will be as though you slipped through the veil and walked right into the holy of holies.

Thoughts for your journal:

(Write your thoughts in a separate journal.)

Reflect on how there is great power and supernatural blessing that await you as you forsake all flesh for the chance to know the Savior and to hear His voice.”

“Prayer Focus Day 8: Marriage

Marriage doesn’t take two people; it takes three. You cannot have a good marriage if God is not in the center of it. And that applies to those who are single as well. Your courting days should be centered on Christ and purity, establishing a firm foundation for the future. Today, if you are married, cover your spouse and your marriage with prayer. Pray for others in your family and circle of friends who are married. Marriage is under attack by the enemy in this country! If you are single, pray that God will bring you His utmost choice for your life, and commit to settle for nothing less.

Praying for marriage:

(Write your prayers in a separate journal.)

Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

—EPHESIANS 5:33”