21/21 Days of Prayer & Fasting
READ:
PSALM 42 (NIV)
As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
among the festive throng.
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.
By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
I say to God my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?”
My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
When we do a fast we often have something we are asking God for. I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. I think God wants us to ask for our needs and our desires, but one of the greatest things I pray during a fast is this: “God, above all else, I want to be closer to you.”
I love this Psalm because it says, “As the deer pants for the water so my soul longs for you.” I think that should be our prayer when we fast, but it should go beyond that and be our prayer every day.
Our relationship with God shouldn’t be an accessory, it should be our foundation.
Take a few moments to draw near to God.
PRAY:
God, I want to be closer to you than ever before. My prayer is that each and every day I long to be closer to you than the day before. Reveal yourself to me in a new and fresh way today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.