Joel 2:12, 28, 32 Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning… I will pour out My Spirit… And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
- Turn to God
- Fast
- Weep
- Mourn
- Be filled with the Holy Spirit
To be saved (from hell, sin, our situation, etc.), we must recognize our need for salvation. This is humility – not thinking less of ourselves, but thinking of ourselves less and having an appropriate perspective of who God is and who we are in relation to Him. He is God, we are not.
Once we recognize our need to be saved from ourselves and the world system, the Lord calls us to fast and grieve our sin before Him much like a child who runs to their parent when they have scraped their knee. We, however have irreparably damaged our soul and only He can make it right.
Fasting is a time of allowing God to expose the areas of our hearts that are not focused on Him.
When we do this, He cleanses us from our impurities, refines us as gold or silver, and realigns our souls with His.
This realignment and transformation comes about by the power of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. He reveals Jesus to us, then He reveals the areas in our lives that do not look like Him. When we confess, seek, fast, pray, and mourn, He gives grace and does the work in us we could never do for ourselves.
Prayer:
Lord, I love You. Thank You for. today. Be with me and help me to be with You. Father, teach me to fear You, that I may know You, that I would love You and obey You. I want life with You. I choose You. Jesus, help me to see You and to be like You. Save me from my sin and my selfishness! Forgive my pride, fear, doubt, lusts, and worldliness. Holy Spirit, come and do what only You can do. Help me to be more like Jesus. Give me wisdom, strategy and grace to crucify my flesh. Help me to walk in the Spirit and truly repent of my sin. Purify me for Your glory. Amen.