Return to Him

Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord […] Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing. (Joel 1:14; 2:12-14)

As I write this we are on the eve of a new season for us as a community of believers at St Mag's. We are entering into the invitation God offers us to fast and pray. We will be doing this each month for approximately 24 hours from 10 am Saturday until Sunday morning communion. We will be gathering at StMags for a Prayer Meeting at 4 pm on Saturday so we can pray together as a church.

The practise of fasting has only become abnormal over the last 400 years. Before then fasting was a normal practice for all Christians. Arguably, we are returning to the ancient, tested and more normal spiritual discipline of fasting. Jesus taught about three disciplines for a disciple: prayer, giving and fasting. For him, this is the tripod on which our faith finds firm footing. For more teaching on this please refer to my teaching on Fasting last week https://fb.watch/5Vd3poOG3q/. (You don’t need to have a Facebook account to view this video – apologies for the sound quality.)

But why are we doing this? Fundamentally we believe that prayer changes us and our circumstances.

Our Returning to God (Joel 2:12)

God expresses his desire for us to come near to Him. The LORD also says how we are to return to Him, through the means of fasting and prayer. God sees us as ‘a people’ more than a gathering of individuals. We are the Body of Christ. Therefore when we unite and pray as the Body something far more powerful is released. (2 Chron7:14ff). Psalm 133 says where there is unity God commands a blessing! Through Joel, God calls his people to return to him through prayer and fasting. This action of physical hunger is a demonstration of our spiritual hunger for Him.

God’s Returning to Us (Joel 2:17)

Over the last while I have had an increasing desire to see more of the LORD move in our midst. Moses prayed: “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” (Ex 33:15,16). We are to be a people marked by His presence. The LORD asks us to pray that we would be a people that others say ‘God is in your midst’ (1 Cor14:25).

The Bestowing of Blessing (2:14)

We all long to be blessed. To be blessed by God is a wonderful thing. As a people, we position ourselves more effectively for God's blessing when we are aligned with His will and purposes for our lives. Psalm 133 says where there is unity God commands a blessing! Prayer and fasting can only help towards that! One of the greatest blessings anyone can receive is the saving work of Jesus that brings the dead soul back to life. Let s pray for that too because the LORD says as a result of prayer, fasting and returning to Him: “everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved” (Joel 2:32).

So allow the call of the LORD to draw you to himself. Return to the LORD so he may return to us and we will see our lives, church, community and nation changed for His glory. My hope is through this practice of setting ourselves aside to fast and pray, we will become a transformative community where the presence of the LORD is manifest. May we see through the working of His mighty hand the restoring of lives to Jesus and His name to be feared once more.

Many Blessings

Fraser