Devotion to Fasting

Of all the disciplines of the Christian life, things like prayer, worship, and the study of God’s Word, the practice of fasting is the one we seem to struggle with most - or don’t engage with all together. Some of that struggle might be because we fail to see its purpose or use in our lives. What does it accomplish and why should we practice it?

What is fasting?

Fasting is voluntarily abstaining from food or any other regularly enjoyed good gift from God, for the sake of some spiritual purpose. Often this is simply a desire for more of God, more of His Spirit, more of His voice and leading. In the Scriptures, you see times of fasting tied to sorrowful repentance, mourning, and seeking the leading of the Spirit.

Misplaced emphasis in fasting.

Many times, because of its difficult nature, our focus in fasting mistakenly becomes all about the self-denial necessary to accomplish it, as if the primary purpose of it was to plainly and dramatically tell our bodies of flesh, “No.” But that’s only half of it. The emphasis in fasting must not be self-denial, but rather, deep desire for deep(er) satisfaction. As Sam Storms put it in his book, Practicing the Power, (p.58):

Fasting is not about denying yourself; it’s about satisfying yourself… in God. Fasting is not about physical pain, but spiritual pleasure. Fasting is the first cousin to prayer in the sense that together they are the ordained means by which God is pleased to give us what we need.

The act of fasting is, in a sense, a prayer itself. A prayer of pursuit. A prayer of deep spiritual seeking. A prayer of asking with an extraordinary intensity and passion. And in that prayer and pursuit, we have a good Father who delights in answering (rewarding, Matt. 6:16-18) those who ask, seek, and knock (Luke 11:9-13). And to those who seek Him with all their heart He has promised that we will find Him (Jer. 29:13). Fasting is a great way to make that prayer of deep desire - of seeking with all our heart.

Appetite adjustment.

For a lot of us, it’s a struggle to stay devoted to and consistent in prayer. We are in a battle with an Enemy that wants to keep us distracted and/or discouraged so we give up coming to the Life-giver in prayer. We may start off a New Year strong, but before too long we settle back into a form of lifeless, box-checking religion, where it’s something we do because we know we “should” rather than a regular communing with the Living God. So, how do we stay steadfast in prayer? How do we continue in devoted prayer? I think the answer is delight.

You see, the problem isn’t that we don’t pray [enough]. The problem is not being completely delighted in Christ. It's not being completely satisfied in Him. It’s that we don’t hunger after Him, His Word or His righteousness, like we ought, and it then begs the question, “Why don’t we?”

My contention is this: our bellies are full. Too often, we don’t hunger for the Bread of Life or thirst for the Living Water because we’ve spoiled our appetite for Him with the cares of this world. We’ve satisfied ourselves - or at least pacified ourselves - by nibbling and snacking on all comforts and pleasures this life has offered. Many of them are the very good gifts and blessings that God gives as a reflection of Him and His goodness. At the very least, they become a destructive distraction hindering us in this race that we’re called to run (Heb. 12:1-2), but then… at its worst: it’s a full blown IDOL.

I think fasting is a good gift from God to help give us an appetite adjustment. That through hunger and pursuit, we would again long for Him and be satisfied completely in Him. Fasting is about feasting on the fullness of Christ and delighting ourselves in Him.

Consider fasting.

If you’ve found it hard to persist in prayer, ask yourself, “why.” Allow the Holy Spirit to check your appetite, and then consider incorporating fasting into your prayer life and pursuit of Him. I know our good Father will hear us and meet us when we seek to be satisfied fully in Him.

*If you have a medical condition or need that would make fasting a concern or put you at risk, please consult your doctor and maybe consider an alternative type of fast.

Devotion to Worship

We all know that the concept of worship is at the center of the Christian Life: To proclaim and display the glory of Christ as those who’ve been purchased and ransomed by His blood and made new by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And often when we consider worship, our focus rightly goes to the outward expressions of it:

• Singing and rejoicing: words expressed to the One who’s redeemed us.

• Acts of service done in love of others

For followers of Jesus, every aspect of our lives is meant to be lived as worship: proclaiming the Glory of Christ.

Outward, but beginning in the heart

But worship, although expressed outwardly, begins inwardly with the heart. It begins in the core of who we are, where our passions and true allegiance lie. I think of Jesus’ words in Matthew chapter 15 - when He looks at the religious leaders and quotes from them the prophet Isaiah:

7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.

You see, if the “worship” of the Pharisees was anything, it was active and outward. It was expressed fully - and even dramatically - for all to see. It wasn’t for the glory of God, but for their own acclaim. And that’s the problem. The worship didn’t come from their heart, in humility and surrender. Their hearts were far and rotten with sin and selfishness. For true, God-glorifying worship, it must begin in the heart.

Worship and prayer.

Prayer helps with “good” worship. Prayer is about intimacy, closeness, and communing with our Father - to draw near to Him and Him draw near to us. To see and behold Him for all that He truly is. And as we behold Him, we begin to delight in Him. When we behold Him, we begin to treasure Him as the priceless joy that He is. And from that place - that place of beholding, treasuring and delighting in Him - from that place comes the sweetest, most God-glorifying worship.

This week, press in close to Jesus in prayer. Behold the Christ. Treasure Him in your heart this week and delight in Him… and let’s worship Him with hearts surrendered.

Fervent Prayer Devotional #2: Pray Like Jesus

Sometimes, the hardest part of praying is simply starting. Where do I begin? What should I say? Do I go right into asking God for things? Do I start with thanksgiving? Again, where do I begin?  

First, let me remind you a bit of the heart of prayer in what Pastor Tommy shared with us yesterday. Prayer is first and foremost about pressing into God Himself.  Pressing past this “natural life” and into His wonderful and gracious presence, in which He loves to meet with His people.  He calls us friends (John 15:15), and loves us like a good Father loves His children (Luke 11:13).  When we meet with our best friends or have coffee with Dad, do we worry about formalities and saying everything perfectly? Not at all.  We simply come to them as we are, enjoy being in their presence, and speak with them from the heart. I encourage you to do the same in prayer.  Be humble in His presence, but also, ENJOY spending time with the One who saved you and redeemed you, and who loves to care for you.  Keep it simple. 

But, I understand that sometimes, to get started, it’s helpful to have a framework or reference point when engaging in prayer. Many of us have used the Lord’s Prayer for direction in our prayer life, where in Matthew 6, Jesus literally says, “When you pray, pray like this:” (Matthew 6:9). The beautiful words that follow have been a great model and template for many dear saints.  Today, I want to revisit some of the words in Jesus’ “other prayer,” the High Priestly Prayer in John 17, and see if we might find some guidance in our own prayers this week.  Remember, this is Jesus praying to the Father, and much of His prayer is for His followers, those who have and will believe on Him. 

JOHN 17:1-26

1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

In light of these words, let us pray together today - as those whom the Father has given to Jesus - the way that Christ, himself, prayed for us: 

• Pray that we would receive the Word with humility and joy, that we would keep the Word, and that our receiving and keeping would be marked with abandoned obedience (v.6,8

• Pray that we would be kept in Him and in His name.  That we would never wander or be lost. (v.11)

• Pray that the Joy of Christ would be fulfilled in us. (v.13)

• Pray that we would be kept from the evil one. (v.12,15)

• Pray that the Word of God would wash over us (Eph. 5:26-27), and that we would be sanctified by it. (v.17,19)

• Pray that we would carry His beautiful Word out into the world, that they, too, would receive the Word and believe. (v.20)

• Pray for unity in our Church that reflects the wondrous unity of the Triune God. (v.11, 21-23)

• Pray that the deep love of Christ would be in us and that the world would know that we belong to Christ. (v.26)

Fervent Prayer Devotional #5: Shield of Faith

Fervent Prayer Devotional #2: Truth

Fervent Prayer: Gratitude and Praise

Do you see it? Do you notice it? Can you feel it? Or has life and the circumstances of your life - the struggles and pains, or even the joys and triumphs - overshadowed it? You probably ask, “What is he talking about - what is ‘it’?”

I’m talking about grace. I’m talking about mercy. I’m talking about the deepest love. I’m talking about Sonship.

“It” is the reality of our position as sons and daughters and all that is afforded us because of Christ and His sufficient work on the cross. It’s the fact that we were once lost, enslaved to sin, and dead in transgressions, but God - who is rich in mercy - loved us and sought us and made us alive with Christ. And in Christ and His promised Holy Spirit living inside of us… we lack NOTHING.

Today’s prayer emphasis is centered on prayers of gratitude and praise. It reminds me of Paul’s instruction to the Thessalonian church:

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Hear those words. God’s Church is to rejoice all the time, pray all the time, and give thanks all of the time - no matter what is going on - and it’s God’s will for us that we do.

However, so often gratitude and praise are not readily on our lips. Often, our eyes lower from the glory of Jesus to the things of this world, to our circumstances and trials, and we lose sight of magnitude of Christ and all that He’s done for us. This week, let us “fix our minds on things above” as it says in Colossians 3. Let us fix our eyes on our glorious Redeemer who has given Himself for us completely so that we might lack nothing. Let us see the fullness of who He is and find our satisfaction in Him alone. And in turn, let us rejoice and give thanks for all that He is and all that He’s done!

Rejoice always. Pray all the time. Give thanks in all circumstances. For this is the will of God for you.

Fervent Prayer: Church Planting

" And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles."  Acts 2:42-43 ESV

From the birth of the Church in Acts, we see what the new gathered Body of Christ focused on: God’s Word (apostles’ teaching), community (fellowship and breaking of bread), and prayer (communing with God).  Thus, from the very beginning of Mercy Hill, these verses have been close to our hearts and has helped define and shape our mission of being the Church.  Keeping our focus on the simplicity of the Gospel, as taught in Scripture, and proclaiming that Good News both from the pulpit and through personal relationship, is a big part of what I think makes Mercy Hill Church the amazing community that it is.  And it seems that God is stirring the hearts of others all over southeastern Wisconsin who desire to see churches planted that are committed to the beauty and simplicity of the Gospel.  God has been building His Church with people ready to be His Church, and because of this, we are excited for what God is doing through the church planting efforts here at Mercy Hill.  

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Today, let’s focus our prayers on the area of church planting:

Pray that God would continue to build His Church here and abroad
Pray for our current church planting efforts/connections:
Mercy Hill Rock County, Janesville (Josh and Angie Dostal)
Imago Dei, West Milwaukee (Pete and Kristy Ziolkowski)
Nuovo Vita, Salerno (Justin and Abbey Valiquette)
Pray that God would provide to expand His Church:
Leadership, resources and finances
Pray that we would continue to train and equip leaders for church planting
Pray that God would continue to make His mission clear to our churches
Pray that God would clearly direct our Elders in future church planting efforts

Fervent Prayer: Church Planting

"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles."  Acts 2:42-43 ESV

From the birth of the Church in Acts, we see what the new gathered Body of Christ focused on: God’s Word (apostles’ teaching), community (fellowship and breaking of bread), and prayer (communing with God).  Thus, from the very beginning of Mercy Hill, these verses have been close to our hearts and has helped define and shape our mission of being the Church.  Keeping our focus on the simplicity of the Gospel, as taught in Scripture, and proclaiming that Good News both from the pulpit and through personal relationship, is a big part of what I think makes Mercy Hill Church the amazing community that it is.  And it seems that God is stirring the hearts of others all over southeastern Wisconsin who desire to see churches planted that are committed to the beauty and simplicity of the Gospel.  God has been building His Church with people ready to be His Church, and because of this, we are excited for what God is doing through the church planting efforts here at Mercy Hill.  

Today, let’s focus our prayers on the area of church planting:

• Pray that God would continue to build His Church here and abroad
• Pray for our current church planting efforts/connections:
• Mercy Hill Rock County, Janesville (Josh and Angie Dostal)
• Imago Dei, West Milwaukee (Pete and Kristy Ziolkowski)
• Nuovo Vita, Salerno (Justin and Abbey Valiquette)
• Pray that God would provide to expand His Church:
• Leadership, resources and finances
• Pray that we would continue to train and equip leaders for church planting
• Pray that God would continue to make His mission clear to our churches
• Pray that God would clearly direct our Elders in future church planting efforts

A Reasonable Response - Everything

So often, when we think of worship, mistakenly our mind goes to the moments of musical worship on Sunday morning where we, His Church, sing together before we hear from God’s Word.  However, worship is so much bigger.  It is the response, the offering, given to God by those who have “tasted and seen” that He is good (Psalm 34:8).  

Sometime, like with King David, that response is in song or even shouts of acclamation: 

Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name;
    give to him glorious praise! Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
    So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.  All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.”  (Psalm 66-1:4)

But here’s the thing, I am far less concerned with the “style” of our expression of worship than I am with the depth of our worship, that is, the weight, sacrifice and sincerity of our response.  I can’t help but think that if we were to contemplate and meditate more often on the weight, sacrifice and sincerity of Christ’s love for us that drove Him to die in our stead, our response - our worship - would deepen far past a few songs we sing together on a Sunday morning.  The words of Romans 12:1 would start to ring true… 

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship (“reasonable service” in KJV).

…and we would sincerely give our lives, all of us, as an offering to our God.  For Him to use as He decides for the glory of His name.  When we relegate worship to the few minutes of music and song we sing on Sundays, we’ve lost the costly nature of worship as a life offered to God in response to Him and His great love for us.  

The only appropriate response to who Christ is and His amazing work on the cross is everything: Our lives laid before God as a sacrifice; dead to ourselves and alive to God; for His glory.

 This IS worship. 

Fervent Prayer: Day 3 - ​“Give us this day our daily bread"

"Give us this day our daily bread." Matthew 6:11 NKJV

As we look at today’s portion of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6, we notice a request. We notice a petition for provision. In the instruction Jesus gives, we are taught to acknowledge our need and ask God for our daily necessities. There’s a part of me that finds this kind of odd. Think about it. God already knows everything about us (Psalm 139); God knows our hearts (Proverbs 21:2, 1 Kings 8:39); God knows our thoughts (Psalm 139, Psalm 94:11); He knows what we need BEFORE we ask (Matthew 6:8, Luke 12:22-34). God knows exactly what we are going through (Hebrews 4:15) and what we need before we tell him about it. So then, why are we instructed to pray for our “daily bread” or these “necessities” of life. Here’s what I think:

It’s less about the actual “bread,” and more about acknowledging the provider and sustainer of life itself: God himself in Christ Jesus.

By making the petition for “daily bread,” we are acknowledging that He is the giver of all things, Jehovah Jireh - my provider, and we need him to sustain us in all things. We are acknowledging his Lordship and his beautiful roles as Father and Shepherd.

Please take note that it is “daily” bread, that is, bread enough for the day. The Greek word used here in Matthew is an interesting one and is only used here and in the parallel passage in Luke 11. It means “a daily and needed portion of food, that which suffices for each day.” We are to not live in need or in want, nor are we to live in excess, but as the Psalmist writes in chapter 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”

HE IS ENOUGH. He shall supply all my needs.

So today as we go to prayer, I’d like us to examine our hearts and ponder a few things:

• Is Jesus your provider, your sustainer and your Bread of Life (John 6:48)? Have we surrendered to his Lordship and provision in all things?
• Before we assume we know what we need, let’s ask God to reveal our deepest, truest needs.
• With thanksgiving in our hearts, let’s bring our requests before God (Philippians 4:6), asking for our daily bread.

Fervent Prayer: Justice & Poverty

"But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth." 1 John 3:17-18 (ESV)

Isn’t it amazing how God hears the cries of His Church and answers prayer?  God be praised! I’ve seen God faithfully answer prayer in my own life and in so many lives at Mercy Hill.  He is faithful to His Church.  But how does He do it?  How does God chose to answer those prayers many times?  Sometimes it’s through the miraculous and unexplained, but more often it’s through the stirring of His Church that needs are met.  I feel like sometimes we have a “genie” mentality in the way that we view prayer.  We pray; and magically, God does.  It’s almost as if we forget that He uses the hearts and lives of His Church to meet needs and answer prayer.  God’s love for His people drove Him to meet our deepest and greatest need through the brutal cross, and that same love should motivate us to meet needs around us - to the Glory of His name!

Today, as we focus our prayer on Justice and Poverty, here’s how we can pray:

Pray for justice and those in poverty in our city and around the world.  
Justice and poverty encompasses many different ideas and hurts: such as racial reconciliation, food and hunger issues, human trafficking, homelessness, genocide, global poverty, clean water efforts, and terrorism.  I realize these are heavy and very broad topics.  Do your best to be specific and intentional with your prayers.  Pray for God’s hand over our city and our world.

Pray for God to stir your heart and the hearts of His Church.  
God wants to use His church to answer prayers to the Glory of His name.  It’s a big part of our mission.  Ask God to open your heart to what He might be calling you to in the areas of outreach and missions.  Pray that the Church surrenders to our calling and lives boldly and selflessly to the Glory of Christ.  I’ve got a feeling that if we can do this we will see many answered prayers, especially in the areas of Justice and Poverty.  

"Love that consists only of words is utterly worthless, if it is true love, it must prove itself by kind deeds and gracious actions."  - C.H. Spurgeon

Fervent Prayer: MH Ministries

1 Corinthians 5:17-21

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Matthew 22:34-40

34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

If you’ve been around Mercy Hill for any length of time, you’ve heard me use our tagline, “We are not BUILDING a church- we are BEING the Church.”  This is really the heart of the leadership here at Mercy Hill, but what does it mean?  Simply put, we hope to be a community of faith that is:

-Consumed with the glory and magnification of Christ (Hebrews 1).

-Strong in loving service of Christ, His Church, and our community (Matthew 22:34-40)

-Actively engaging in the Ministry of Reconciliation- to the Glory of God (1 Corinthians 5:17-21).

The ministries at Mercy Hill, the programs, the things we DO, are simply designed to help facilitate the BEING.  If the ministries of the Church become about growth or about having more ‘amenities’ at church, we’ve lost sight of our mission and what it is to BE.

Today, let’s pray that the ministries at Mercy Hill Church, that WE as His Church would: 

-Continually exalt and magnify God, giving Him the Glory that is due Him.

-Love and serve His Church with the many gifts and talents that He has given.

-In light of have been reconciled to God because of Christ’s loving work, we would love and serve our community, so that others might also be reconciled to Him- to the Glory of God.  

Chosen for His own... but why?

As the primary worship leader at Mercy Hill, many of you have heard me share the idea that our worship is more than a song on a Sunday morning.  In all honestly, I realize I probably sound like a broken record.  But the brief moment I take to share my heart between two worship songs is hardly enough time to give this idea the weight it deserves.  

See, as a follower of Christ- as someone who has been chosen by HIM to follow HIM- my life now takes on new LIFE. My life is now filled with a new aim, a new goal, a new purpose.  I no longer live life toward my sinful desires or even, simply, my own ambitions.  Rather, I live my life to accomplish my purpose in God.  

And what is my purpose in God?  WORSHIP.  TO PROCLAIM HIM. 

The last few weeks, we in the youth ministry here at Mercy Hill, affectionately known as UPRISE, have been studying through the book of 1 Peter.  This week we came to 1 Peter 2, and although I've read it many times, this week the simplicity of my 'calling' or 'purpose' in God was renewed.  

^"9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."

As Peter writes these words to the persecuted and scattered Church, he’s encouraging them to take heart in who they are: God’s chosen.  And they’ve been chosen to proclaim who God is and what He has done: to worship.  Worship not just with words or a song on a Sunday, but in Spirit and Truth- with heart and deeds.

So, no matter what circumstance you find yourself in today, take heart.  If you have been awakened to the beauty and truth of the Gospel, trust that it was God’s doing and choosing.  And He chose you to proclaim His excellencies: to live in WORSHIP.