“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for Him. For the Kingdom of Heaven will be theirs.”
— Matthew 5:3 NLT
As I read Jesus’ sermon in Matthew 5, I stopped on verse three. “What does it look like to be poor in spirit?”, I asked God. I immediately felt impressed to memorize this verse and chew on it for the upcoming days. As I would recite the verse in my head I felt another nudge to listen to an audiobook on fasting.
As I listened to this book, I had the unshakeable sense that I must do a three-day, water-only-fast, and do it now. The idea immediately made me tremble with fear. I LOVE FOOD. My past experiences with fasting have been only what I would describe as failures. I would get past lunch with no food and give up; my flesh would win. Why? Because I was trying to do it on my own without the power of the Holy Spirit.
I am currently nearing the end of an 87-hour, water-only fast and I now know why the Lord prompted me to memorize the verse in Matthew 5. Jesus is telling us that when we are relying on the world to comfort us, we are missing out on the Kingdom of Heaven. But when we crucify our flesh and deny ourselves we gain much more than anything this world can give us.
This has been one of the hardest things I have ever done. I feel physically weak. I struggle with headaches and cravings you couldn’t imagine unless you’ve been here. But instead of giving in and feeding my flesh, I decided to feed my spirit. I have prayed more in the past three days than I ever have in my entire life; I’ve worshiped on the bathroom floor in the Glory of His presence, and I have felt the power of the Holy Spirit give me strength to continue when I thought for sure I was going to give up. Through it all I feel that I have gained the Kingdom of Heaven like I never have before. His presence has surrounded me and never left. That, my friends, is a treasure not found in food.
I am reminded of the rich young ruler in Mark 10. A man comes to Jesus and asks Him what he should do to have eternal life. Jesus replies, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (Mark 10:21) How many times have I been prompted to do a water-only fast and refused because of what I would have to give up? How many times have I missed out on blessings and miracles that fasting would bring because I was scared of the sacrifice?
As we enter into the fall season, my favorite season, I challenge you to a fast. I challenge you to become like the poor and realize your need for Jesus. He is all that we need, and His blood is everything to us. My prayer is that Barn Church would be a people who are running hard after the heart of Jesus. Let us “sell all we possess and give to the poor, come and follow Him” (Mark 10:21) with all we have.
Thank you for letting me share my heart with you.
Many Blessings and Abundant Peace,
–Someone who is poor and realizes their need for Jesus
*A great reference on fasting is a book by Jentzen Franklin called Fasting.