Daniel refused to eat the king's meat. He suggested an alternative that seemed out of the ordinary.
It worked.
So sometimes the world offers us something we realize is not for our best and we choose to gorge ourselves on that. Whether it be lust, greed, jealousy, anger, whatever…
But other times the world offers us things and we refuse. We know it's not in our best interest and we offer ourselves alternatives.
Sometimes though, I feel like we offer ourselves the wrong alternatives.
It's like a smoker saying they will stop smoking Paul Mall's and switch to Marlboro. Implementing an alternative that isn't an alternative is like beating a dead horse with it's own leg.
I don't know if that sounds quite right but we'll roll with it.
God says to draw close to Him through prayer, fasting, and meditation.
So we pray.
Prayer is our alternative 9 times out of 10 to fasting and meditation. Prayer is the thing we turn to.
Is that bad? Not neccesarily.
But it's not great that we more often than not, overlook the glorious blessings He desires to shower over us in the other two areas He asks us to come to Him in.
So what exactly is fasting?
Was Daniel fasting by choosing not to eat the king's meat? Absolutely.
Does all fasting revolve around giving up food? Not at all!
Sometimes it is a call to surrender things like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram…Internet in general, television, movies, naps, etc., etc.
Well I feel like God is calling me to fast. So I'll explain that in a second.
But let's take a look at meditation first.
Am I supposed to sit down indian style and hold my fingers and arms in awkward ways and hum the word "ohmmmmm" over and over? Not a chance. That's not the meditation God expects.
What God expects is for you to spend time listening. To stop talking so much…stop making so many requests…stop complaining so much about your circumstances, and just trust Him to speak into areas of your life.
Was Daniel meditating by listening to God's voice when it came to how He served Him? Absolutely.
Does all meditation revolve around making decisions on what to do with your life? Not at all!
Sometimes it is just God's way of saying…"I want to spend time with you. I want to whisper things in your ear. Tell you I love you. Tell you how much you mean to me. I want to fill your cup until it overflows. Come sit with me. Stay a while."
Well I feel like God is calling me to meditate. So I'll explain that in a second as well.
So what about those people who don't even pray?
Did Daniel stop and pray to ask God if He should eat the meat the king was offering? No.
But what Daniel was doing was what scripture refers to as "praying never ceasing."
What the heck does that mean though? Am I supposed to walk around praying every second of every day? Absolutely!
But wait…Am I to never have time for conversations with anyone except God? Absolutely not!
Praying never ceasing just means to constantly have your heart in a mode of prayer. If you recognize something that isn't of God but then your heart is settled shortly after then your heart is most likely already in a mode of prayer and your spirit has already lifted up that feeling to God and He has already dealt with it.
That is EXACTLY what Daniel was living out. He was already in the mode of prayer in which his spirit offered up a concern to the Lord and because he was meditating on what the Holy Spirit had to say, he knew that God was saying to refrain from eating the king's meat, and Daniel responded by fasting from the king's meat and in the end it paid off. For him as well as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
So not only was Daniel's "being in tune with the Lord" paying off for him, but also those who recognized the authority in Daniel and the decisions he made based on what his Heavenly Father invited him to do.
Daniel's response to the Spirit was a result to his spirit being in tune with the Father which caused a revolution amongst fellow believers which caused a reaction from the king to the remedy from the Lord.
So how does this play into my life?
Well I feel like God is calling me to pray…He's calling me to fast…He's calling me to meditate.
God has called me to a deeper relationship with Him.
So this means more time in prayer, fasting, and meditation.
My prayer life has been a little askew lately. I haven't been on point with taking my requests and thanksgivings to Him. I've got to do something about that. So I will dig deeper and talk to Him more.
My fasting has been non-existant. I haven't given up anything for the Lord in quite sometime. So I am going to give up Facebook, Instagram…well let's just say the internet…for the rest of this month at least and spend more time with Him. Unfortunately that means giving up time talking to my family back home as well as friends who have all kept me going on the Race so far. But that shouldn't be the case anyways. I need God to be the one to keep me going. He needs to be the one to fill me up. So the fast is going to begin tomorrow after I inform my family and friends. I can't wait to see what God is going to do this month.
Also when it comes to meditation I feel like I've talked God's ears off in the past and spent close to no time listening to His voice, so for now on I want to listen more and talk less. I know the Father loves to hear my voice, but I want to learn to love His voice as well. So listen I shall. 🙂
The plus side is that people will recognize that without me having to even utter one word. God's glory radiates from us when we are in tune with Him. It demands a respect, love, and devotion like no other. Like that of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had towards Daniel. So I look forward to people recognizing the new man that will stand before them at the end of this month.
I will still be blogging, but I will be sure to do so with accountability. I am so excited to see how He rocks my world over the remainder of this month. I can't wait to fall in love with my Father more than I ever have before.
Love you all.
In Christ,
Chuck Morris
