Nibbling.

In his book, A Hunger for God, author and pastor John Piper makes this beautiful statement:

“If you don’t feel a strong desire for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of this world, your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. God did not create you for this. There is an appetite for God and it can be awakened.”

It’s funny. I thought of this quote as I was ending last Sunday’s word on Esther.

In case you missed last Sunday’s message, we ended with Mordecai getting word to Esther of Haman’s plotting and convincing of the king to have all the Jews in the Persian kingdom killed. What the king didn’t know, however, was that Esther, his queen, was a Jew. So Mordecai’s last words to Esther were, “It’s time for you to come out of the closet and let the king know.” This leads to Esther calling Mordecai and the Jews to a three-day season of fasting and prayer, and she and her attendants would do the same. And then? Her faith would lead to action followed by the famous words, “…and if I perish, I perish.”

It’s the fasting and prayer that really stirred me. I’m not sure if you have ever fasted before. I have. In fact, every big decision I have made in my life, what’s led to the movement was a time of fasting. I have found, time and time again, that God is always so faithful to speak in these times for me, personally. What’s funny is, when I fast, I am always made aware at how quickly I will grab a snack or a bite of food without even realizing it. I walk through the work room at the church and, if there’s a cookie, my hand just grabs it. I walk in the door at home and, if there’s a bag of chips within eyesight, my hand will just go right in the bag. Yet, when I fast, I am intentional about choosing to not eat. I actually call my fidgety hands out when they grab for food because I am fasting with a purpose.

This leads me back to the Piper quote above. I wonder. Am I too busy choosing the empty calories offered by the table of the world that, sadly, my soul is stuffed with small things leaving no room for the great? Take a look at Psalm 107:9.

What I know about God is that He never withholds His goodness from His people. For Esther, in a season where she needed strength, she knew that it was God who would provide.

Perhaps the Lord is calling you into a season of fasting and prayer. Perhaps you need to send word to some prayer warriors to fast and pray for you as you seek out direction and a word from the Lord. My encouragement to you today is this: Ask. Seek. Knock. Jesus didn’t shy away from encouraging us to be bold in our prayer life (see Matthew 7:7-8).

Do you need prayer, today? Send an email to harvestprayer@twumc.org and our Prayer Team (and your Harvest pastors) will lift you up specifically, by name. It would be an honor.