4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
I guess the idea of fasting is on my mind from our discussion the past few days so this verse caught my attention. His first reaction upon hearing the bad news about the exiled who had returned to Jerusalem was to break down and cry. But his next move was to take action by fasting and praying...for days.
I struggle to make it 5 minutes in continuous prayer, but Nehemiah is fasting and praying for days that makes me feel pretty weak. I am looking forward to our fast and praying for your friends and I am considering what should be a focal point in my own life during this time. During Nehemiah's fast he goes for a big ask and I think we will see God comes through for him, it seems as though there is no shame in making a big ask of God. But I also notice the time he puts into getting close and humbling himself before God before he comes to the conclusion that he wants to ask God for help.
knut
I struggle to get to 5 minutes without my mind wandering all over the place too. Why is that? I don't like it. I should be able to focus much longer than that. Its definitely a skill that takes practice and focus.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking about doing my fast next Wednesday.
Does that work for you?