5 Steps to a Successful Daniel Fast, Part 16 (Fasting Edition #128)

Our fasting quote of encouragement today is from John Piper. He said: "The supremacy of God in all things is the great reward we long for in fasting. His supremacy in our own affections and in all our life-choices. His supremacy in the purity of the church. His supremacy in the salvation of the lost. His supremacy in the establishing of righteousness and justice. And his supremacy for the joy of all peoples in the evangelization of the world."

Our fasting devotional today is titled "FIVE STEPS TO A SUCCESSFUL DANIEL FAST" (PART 16) from Susan Gregory, author of the bestselling book "The Daniel Fast".

Let me share one essential key to growing in your relationship with God: consistency. I'm not talking about legalism, where you fail if you don't start praying each day at 6:00 AM or if you read four chapters from the Bible instead of five. This kind of thinking focuses on the activity rather than on the result you want to achieve, which in this case is a growing and intimate relationship with your Father.

Spiritual legalism is very different from a spiritual discipline. In this context, a discipline is a habit or routine that is consistently practiced for a specific purpose. Our Christian faith employs many spiritual disciplines, including prayer, fasting, tithing, Bible study, and service. I like to think of spiritual disciplines as behaviors in Kingdom living. When we follow the commandments of God, we are exercising our spiritual disciplines.

Now, let's take this time to break up the fallow ground in our lives. Hosea 10:12 states, "Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you."