Fasting Devotional Day 17

“Day 17: Nothing Is Impossible With God

God desires to move powerfully in your life. His plans for you are always progressing and developing. He desires to speak to you, as one would speak to a friend. That’s how He spoke with Abraham. We must get to the place where we are desperate for God again. We must begin to desire Him more than food or drink. Let us be filled with the bread of presence instead of the refuse of religion.”

“The eleventh chapter of the Book of Hebrews is often referred to as “the hall of faith,” beginning with the words, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). Some of the most encouraging words in the Bible are found in this book. It is said that after the birth of Seth to Adam and Eve, people began to call on the name of the Lord (Gen. 4:26). Enoch was born many years later, and his life went a step beyond merely calling on the name of the Lord. Thousands of years after his departure from this earth, the writer of the Book of Hebrews said of him: “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God” (Heb. 11:5, KJV).

What was it about Enoch that was different from those before him? What about his life was so pleasing to God? The answer is found in Hebrews:

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

—HEBREWS 11:6, KJV

Enoch knew God. Not only that, but Genesis 5:22 also says that Enoch “walked with God” for three hundred years! Now, if I were to choose what could be said of me, I would want my testimony to be “he pleased God.” Notice that Enoch did not try to please people. In fact, Jude records that Enoch prophesied in a manner that would have made him very unpopular with the party crowd (Jude 14–15). Enoch’s primary concern was walking in faith, which is what pleases God. According to Hebrews 11:6, it is reasonable to say that Enoch came to God, he believed God, he diligently sought God, and he was rewarded.”

“If you want to please God, believe God. Take Him at His Word. When the apostle Paul was teaching the Corinthians, a knowledge-seeking society, he told them, “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked by faith and not by sight. The three of them joined Daniel in his initial fast from the king’s delicacies. Think about what they saw on their way into that furnace. It had been heated seven times hotter than normal. The heat was so intense that it killed the guards standing by the doors. If they had walked by sight, they would have said, “Today we shall surely be ashes.” Instead, by faith, they walked on, saying, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king” (Dan. 3:17). Faith is the evidence of things unseen.

Jesus put the emphasis on how great our God is, not how great our faith is. With only a tiny bit of faith, like a mustard seed, we can move mountains, and nothing shall be impossible.”

“On your sixteenth day of fasting, remember:

• Listen to worship music for inspiration and support.

• Reflect on your fast and how it is helping you to grow spiritually.

• Cravings are apparent.

Thoughts for your journal:

(Write your thoughts in a separate journal.)

• Reflect on those situations from God’s Word that seemed impossible but for the power of God.

• What situations in your life seem impossible and need God’s touch?

Prayer Focus Day 17: Mentors and Discipleship”

“As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, ‘I will follow You wherever You go’” (Luke 9:57, NASU ). It is one thing to say you will follow Jesus; it is another to see it through, even when the road is narrow, steep, and nearly impossible. We all need fathers and mothers in the faith who have walked the road with Jesus and can gently help us along at times. These mentors are invaluable when they are of the Lord. Pray today that God will bring right relationships into your life…fathers and mothers in the faith who can strengthen you and build you up.

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

—EPHESIANS 4:11–13, NIV”