Where Is My Focus?

Hope Church,

After my first semester of college, I remember getting a bill for around $7,000. I only had about $1,000 in my bank account and had no idea what I was going to do. While praying and thinking, I realized I would not be able to go to school that semester, so I took off a semester to work. During that time I was extremely isolated, didn’t have a car, worked three 13-hour days during the week, and didn’t know what to do with my time. I was probably spending eight hours a day playing video games and watching YouTube. God woke me up and asked, “What are you doing with your life?” 

Then, He introduced me to the concept of fasting. I sold my laptop and began to fast from gaming and occasionally food. Through this and a lot of prayer, He awakened me to a reality I understood, but had never experienced. He is all I need. He is the best friend I could ever have. He cares for my needs. He gives purpose and meaning to my life. 

Maybe you have experienced God this way in your own life and maybe you haven't. Either way, I want to personally invite each of you to participate with our church family as we pray and fast together January 11-16. I hope you will consider joining together as a body, praying for God to deepen our personal relationships with Him. We will also pray to see 100 people in our community come to Christ and for us to put our focus on God for this new year. 

In Scripture, there are many examples of praying and fasting. Jesus, Daniel, Jesus’ disciples, the Israelites, King David, and many other people in the Bible fast and pray. We see David fast and pray when his child is very sick (2 Sam 12:16), Nehemiah fasts because of the state of God's city Jerusalem (Neh. 1), and the church in Antioch fasts as they seek God and worship Him (Acts 13:2-3). In all of these examples, fasting takes their focus away from the things of this world and puts it on God. When we fast from food and devote our focus to God, we communicate that food is not what sustains us, but God sustains us. When we fast from different activities, including social media, we declare that the things we spend a lot of time doing aren't what give us purpose, but God gives us purpose. When I gave up my video game obsession to focus on God, I found so much more purpose and meaning in my day to day life.

When we set apart time to fast and pray we also indicate the sincerity of our seeking of God. It helps focus our attention on Him, and allows us to enjoy uninterrupted time of communion with our Father. (Which I might add is very difficult to have in a world full of constant distractions). I want to invite you to seek the Lord with us, asking that His will be done in our lives and in the lives of our church family. 

Let’s seek God together, not so He will do what we ask, but to align ourselves with His will so we can be transformed more and more into the image of the Son (2 Cor 3:18). My prayer is that God will clarify for each of us how we can carry out His plan for our lives this new year. 

God Bless.

Josiah