I had a great opportunity today to have a new friend's daughter join us for lunch. While I was cooking and serving them food, I thought it was the perfect set-up for fasting because I didn't have to worry about getting myself food, trying to eat in between their requests, hurrying to finish before they were ready to play again, etc. My daughter invited me to sit at the table with them, which made me happy- I know there will be a time, especially in front of a friend, that she will not want me to join them. But after sitting for probably less than 30 seconds and taking one happy deep breath, I started to feel idle- I wasn't getting anything done, two kids are eating happily and I could be accomplishing something right now. So I grabbed one of my stacks of memory verse cards and went back to the table to go through them. Sounds wonderful and innocent enough, right? I honestly do believe that I should hide God's word in my heart, that I might not sin against him, to remember his faithfulness, etc., but today I sensed His Sprit saying that I was keeping my mind too busy to really hear and respond to God's call to pray for others.
"Watch and Pray, lest you fall into temptation. " Matthew 26:41
Temptation doesn't have to mean the really obvious bad things I have heard or read about, or my own worst sin, it can also be a temptation to seek my own agenda and not leave room for God to move in and through me. I love this weekly fast because it is special time set aside to teach me about watching and praying. I wake up expecting God to speak to me about how to pray for and ecnourage others or seek him more deeply. Today I decided to put away my memory verse cards until later, and enjoyed watching God in these precious little children and in pictures of our friends who are missionaries in Turkey on our wall. My prayers today are for these friends who are expecting another child and in need of playdates like I had the opportunity to have today.
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