Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises[a] of Israel. Psalm 22:3 ESV
Read Ezekiel 47:1-12 and Galatians 5:13-26.
We are currently in a season of prayer and fasting as we prepare for our upcoming fall Bible study, Sermon on the Mount, by Jen Wilkin, beginning August 28, at Heart to Heart Women’s Bible Study. We invite you to join us in seeking the face of God wholeheartedly, as He has promised that we WILL find Him when we seek Him with all our hearts (Jeremiah 29:13).
This brings up the question; how much of God do we really want? Do we yearn deeply for His presence, even more than we hunger for food or physical pleasure? Are we willing to deny the most basic, yet intense, of physical appetites in order to yield ourselves more fully to the Spirit of God? Do we long for more of Him, or are we content to settle for mere crumbs?
We have a constant tug-of-war between our physical bodies, our souls, and our spirits, and the one who comes out the strongest is the one most nourished. The more we give in to our physical appetites, the more out of control our physical cravings will be, and the more difficulty we will have submitting to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It will be more challenging to hear the voice of the Lord when our flesh is allowed to call the shots in our lives.
On the other hand, if you have had enough of spiritual complacency and are ready to dive in to a deeper, more abundant walk with God, it is worth the aching denial of flesh for a time to chase after the heart of God with everything that is in us.
Galatians 5:16-17 draws a clear picture of this struggle between our flesh and spirits, yet we are encouraged that when we belong to Christ, we have crucified our flesh. We then have the ability to live our lives by the Spirit rather than being controlled by our flesh.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:24-25 NIV
Understanding this contrast between our flesh and our spirits bring us greater understanding of why fasting is an effective way to help us draw closer to God. It is not a matter of engaging in a hunger strike to get what we want from God, but it is an act of denying our flesh so that we are able to yield more fully to His Spirit. We then have more room for Him to fill us up with Himself.
Here is something else I have learned about the benefit of fasting. Not only is it a perfect opportunity to seek God and to devote our time to prayer and Bible study, but one of the most powerful things we can do during our fast is to focus on worshiping God.
In the King James Version, Psalm 22:3 says that He “inhabitest the praises of Israel.” Worship leaders and pastors have used this verse for years to encourage church members to worship wholeheartedly, because when we worship, it is like bringing the Spirit of God right into our midst. Or, as I like to put it, we are “tuning in” like a radio dial to His frequency, enabling us to enter into His presence.
I have done a little research and have seen that this verse can be interpreted from the original Hebrew in a couple of different ways. One way is to say that God is enthroned in holiness and is praised by Israel. The word “inhabitest” is translated as enthroned in just about every other translation. The ESV, which is a very literal translation, illustrates the second way to translate this verse “Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.” An alternative to the word enthroned is also offered in the ESV, and that is dwells. “He dwells on the praises of Israel.”
I thought that was an interesting way to view this verse and to understand that when we praise and worship the Lord, He is right there! He dwells in, inhabits, lives in, comes close to, resides in, occupies, abides in, stays in, exists in, draws closely to, and fills the space of our praise and worship!
So, my recommendation to those who are fasting is to focus on praising and worshiping the Lord more intensely than ever during this time.
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you … James 4:8 ESV
This is where the exciting chapter from Ezekiel comes in. This is one book of the Bible that has typically left me scratching my head, but this chapter makes me want to jump for joy and swim on over to the deep end!
If you haven’t yet, please read Ezekiel 47:1-12.
We see the rivers, representing the glory of God, flowing from the center of the Temple of the Lord. The first 1000 cubits was only ankle deep. However, when he trekked a little farther, the water was knee deep. He walked another 1000 cubits, and it was waist deep. However, the final section was over his head. He could not pass through unless he swam it.
This illustrates to me the varying levels we can choose to engage in our walk with God. How many times do we merely settle for wading ankle deep when the Holy Spirit is offering a deluge of His presence to completely saturate us? I cannot settle for barely skimming the surface of God’s presence when I have the opportunity to dive in with my whole being!
So, how do we go deeper? We have touched on several things here. There is fasting, prayer, Bible study, worship, and drawing near to God so that He will draw near to us. On one hand, we cannot even come to God at all except that the His Spirit draws us (John 6:44). However, when He does, we have the choice as to how deeply we are willing to go. He does His part first, and then our part is to press in with all we have.
How about it? During this fast, let’s move beyond the ankle, knee, or waist deep water and dive in with our entire beings. Remember, He inhabits our praises, and that is where we will be able to move beyond the spiritual plateau that has kept us stuck for too long. Take some focused time to speak praise to God and give Him your deepest, most heart-felt worship. Express glory, honor, and affection for Him. Stand in reverential awe and adoration for who He is. Tell Him how awesome You think He is!
Say it. Sing it. Shout it. Meditate on it. Write it. And recite it from His Word. Get ready to go to the next level!
I pray that this season of fasting and prayer will draw you more deeply in your walk with God than you have ever experienced before. May God bless You and pour our His Spirit upon you!
