Turn to me with fasting

Joel 2:12 " Now, therefore," says the LORD, " Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning."

Oh dear, gorgeous, lip-smacking food counters are there everywhere and these are the days for a foodie! Chefs have come to lime-light exhibiting their culinary skills with exorbitant presentations. The sheer presentation is bound to knock your socks off! Having worked for several years in a Sheraton Group of hotels in the Food & Beverage department, I have seen the kitchen sizzle with action; especially a particular dish called ‘sizzlers’ when it arrives the customer’s table with a simmering noise and smoke is a great spectacle. Be it the fast food joints, swanky cafes, Pizza corners or the pani-poori mobile cart, there are heaps of takers for whatever is offered. When I visit certain cities, I am startled to see more and more of ‘eat-outs’ crop up every day. Lovers of food have increased hugely!

Weekends are spent feeding the tongue with delectable varieties. Can I take a digression here? You know what, when I take you through the journey of pleasure and then point out a different path, it sure would make a deeper impact on you. While the whole world indulges in indiscriminate dining and wining, how about fasting and praying during weekends? I can hear people mutter, ‘ bala, you must be crazy!’ Yes, I am!

After my deep experience with Jesus, I had an insatiable hunger to fast and pray; along with my husband, I started fasting and praying, right from Friday. We launched out for outreach ministry to hospitals and slums, while my son was just an infant then. I trained my son to fast when he was around five and both my children and even my helper, join us in our weekly fasting. This spiritual discipline has been a fortress of protection for our family, against the onslaught of satan and his forces. If physical strength comes through food consumption, spiritual strength comes through crucifying our desire to eat and fast instead. Are you listening?

Jesus said deny yourself and fast, please turn your Bible and read Matthew 17:21”However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." Today we hardly get to hear about intense fasting and prayer. Many Christian homes are filled with the spirit of gluttony and have failed to teach their children the art of fasting. Dear parents, don’t scan this message flippantly, start spiritually disciplining your children, so that they have the ammunition to overcome temptations and the plethora of evil that is offered by the devil today.