Hunger Pangs

When you are not eating, it should not be surprising that you start feeling hunger pangs. Our bodies crave sustenance but so do our souls. Let the cravings drive you to hunger more for God's love and to hear his voice.

(Psalms 42:1-2 NIV) "1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?"

We want the hunger to drive us to the Lord. Keep praying:

1.    Pray for spiritual breakthrough from spirit of dissent/criticism

2.    Pray for revival to begin in you

3.    Pray that we would have the heart of Jesus for our neighbors

4.    Listen while you pray

God I am hungry for you.

TIME TO FAST

I was reading Isaiah 58 this morning as I began this week of prayer and fasting. It strikes me that we often go to God in prayer asking for many things. I wonder, if we have missed being humble by the way we run into the Throne Room of God to ask for something and then run onto our next task.

Do you remember how Esther did not eat or drink anything for three days as she prayed before she entered the King's presence unannounced? She asked Mordecai and her servants to do the same. God is gracious and loving, but maybe we should be more humble in the way we approach God. Most of us probably pray with a certain amount of respect. But perhaps, we should take this privilege even more seriously. When we pray, we are talking to the King of Kings. I'm just thinking that this is a big deal.

If you are joining us in this fast, please be humble in your approach. We want God to set us free to do His will in this community.

1. Pray for spiritual breakthrough from spirit of dissent/criticism
2. Pray for revival to begin in you
3. Pray that we would have the heart of Jesus for our neighbors
4. Listen while you pray

LOVE IS A DECISION

Fr. John Powell had a profound understanding of love. We say that we fell in or out of love. But love is not an emotion. Love is a decision we make. We choose to love and we choose to stop loving. Sure our emotions are moved when we feel loved and our love will cause us to feel intimacy and affection. But love is a decision we make regardless what we feel.

Does the young mother really enjoy the feeling of changing a diaper? We say that we love chocolate, ice cream or fresh baked bread, but is that really love? Parents discipline out of love but that does not mean that it feels good for the parent or the child.

God chose to love us. He decided to send His Son to die for us because He chose to love us. If we truly could just fall in and out of love, wouldn't God have fallen out of love with us a long time ago? Thank goodness God graciously chooses to love us even though we do not deserve it. Can we do anything less than love one another?

(1 John 4:7-11 NIV) "7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."