{"id":1228,"date":"2009-03-27T05:28:06","date_gmt":"2009-03-27T13:28:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/?p=1228"},"modified":"2009-04-04T09:18:00","modified_gmt":"2009-04-04T17:18:00","slug":"rcm-on-prayer-and-fasting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/doctrine\/rcm-on-prayer-and-fasting\/","title":{"rendered":"RCM: On Prayer and Fasting"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nRoderick C. Meredith<\/em><\/p>\n

COGwriter<\/a><\/p>\n

In a commentary this morning, LCG’s<\/a> R.C. Meredith wrote the following:<\/p>\n

Scripture tells us what our Savior did to acquire spiritual strength, in connection with the devil\u2019s attack on Him: \u201cThen Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted [or tried] by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry\u201d (Matthew 4:1\u20132). Notice\u2014He fasted!<\/p>\n

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught His disciples to give generously from the heart, and to pray to God continually. Notice that He said, \u201cMoreover, when<\/em><\/strong> you fast\u2026\u201d (Matthew 6:16). He did not say \u201cif\u201d you fast; He took it for granted that His disciples would<\/em><\/strong> fast. Christ said, \u201cwhen you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward\u201d (ibid<\/em>.). In other words, the hypocrites\u2019 reward is whatever praise they receive from other people for showing off their fasting.<\/p>\n

We Christians are not to punish ourselves, thinking that this will force God to hear our prayers. God is not interested in penance. That is just as if you or I would take whips and beat each other\u2019s backs, saying, \u201cLook at our suffering, God, so hear us.\u201d The idea behind our fasting is quite different from that. We seek the invisible God. We fast to humble ourselves\u2014to make ourselves realize how weak we are, and that we are little children, saying, in effect: \u201cFather, we are up against a great army, and there are great forces around us. We don\u2019t always know what we should do, and we need your help. We need guidance. And we need deliverance. Please help us draw near to You.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prayer and fasting go together. There was a time when the prophet Daniel really, desperately wanted to know what would happen in the future: \u201cThen I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes\u201d (Daniel 9:3). Prayer always goes along with fasting.<\/p>\n

Daniel went on: \u201cAnd I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, \u2018O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned\u2026\u2019\u201d (vv. 4\u20135). Notice he did not say, \u201cOh, we\u2019ve been good, and we\u2019ve done no wrong, and You don\u2019t have any right to punish us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rather, he told God he was sorry, and that \u201cwe have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments\u2026. Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face\u201d (vv. 5, 7).<\/p>\n

Notice the result of Daniel\u2019s prayerful fast. An archangel came to him and told him: \u201cAt the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved\u201d (v. 23). Why was Daniel so greatly loved? Because he humbled himself sincerely before God.<\/p>\n

Prayer and fasting are at the center of a true Christian\u2019s life! To learn more about that life, read our article, What Is True Christianity?<\/a><\/em>, or our free booklet, Your Ultimate Destiny!<\/a><\/em> As you draw closer to God through prayer and fasting, you will come to know Him far more than you ever imagined possible!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You can click here for the complete commentary<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dr. Meredith called a fast for LCG members beginning tonight at sunset (for more details, please go to the News of the Living Church of God<\/a> page).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Roderick C. Meredith COGwriter In a commentary this morning, LCG’s R.C. Meredith wrote the following: Scripture tells us what our Savior did to acquire spiritual strength, in connection with the devil\u2019s attack on Him: \u201cThen Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted [or tried] by the devil. And when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cog-news","category-doctrine"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1228"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6145,"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1228\/revisions\/6145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}