“For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, ‘The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.’ So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.” – Ezra 8:22-23
When times are tough and threats are everywhere, it’s all-too-easy for the people of God to forget that our most powerful tools are fasting and prayer. As humans, those don’t seem like enough – we feel that we must do more! That’s a terrible mistake. Earthly power, cultural acceptance, physical security, and government approval all pale in comparison to the power available through boldly coming before the throne of God with our requests! Our fasting focuses our prayers and our prayers invoke the limitless power of God to address the limited challenges we encounter.
As one year ends and another dawns, there are so many challenges facing us as followers of Christ. We must proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the face of increasing skepticism. We must teach the unchanging faith of God in the face of our ever-changing culture. We must speak on behalf of the unborn and support and minister to the most vulnerable among us. We must make disciples who make disciples. We must create Christian community during a time of increasing isolation.
Sustained faithfulness and effectiveness in all these things is beyond our earthly ability! Though we would prefer dramatic displays of strength, we must instead discipline ourselves to fasting and prayer. We must learn to rely, as the early church did, not on our own resources, capabilities, and connections but upon God’s daily provision of grace and strength along with His enduring power to knock down strongholds and open closed doors.