DAY FOUR
God’s Got You. When you and I CHOOSE to fast there are three foundational areas in our lives that we strengthen and realign to God’s way.
They are the same three areas that Jesus himself was tempted by the devil in, and was successful in overcoming. Because He overcame you and I are able to do the same!!
The first is: Dependence on God to Provide
Jesus, it says, was very hungry. He hadn’t eaten for 40 days. He was tired, weak, and in great need and the devil came to Him and appealed to Him to use His powers as God’s son. To meet His own need rather than rely on His Father to meet the need for Him.
Matthew 4:2-3: 2 And He went without food for forty days and forty nights, and later He was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to Him, If you are God’s Son, command these stones to be made [loaves of] bread.
The Children of Israel had been faced with a similar test. They were in the wilderness, tired and hungry and instead of believing that the God who had rescued them from Pharaoh would also rescue them from starvation in this desert they failed the test, complained bitterly and didn’t trust God.
Self-dependence is one of the curses we have as humans and one of the things that CONSTANTLY needs alignment! It’s not a battle you fight and win once; it’s something that you have to constantly battle because of your humanity. The devil tempted Jesus to meet His own needs rather than rely on His Father to do that. I don’t know about you, but this is something that I constantly get tempted to do!
Maybe the people you should have been able to trust to take care of your needs didn’t so you have developed a survival technique of always looking out for yourself? This seems to have been successful to a point but it’s exhausting you and God wants you to know He has your back. He’s got it covered and during this time of prayer and fasting. He wants to teach you how to rely on Him for your provision.
Meditate on this verse today: Matthew 4:4
But Jesus told him, “No! The scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”