There are times when Christian believers are in too much of a hurry. Like our secular neighbours, we get hooked by an inappropriate desire for the immediate. Instant gratification is expected, even from our prayer. In that scenario, God becomes our servant rather than the other way around!
That is why I am becoming more and more convinced that fasting and prayer are necessarily two sides of the same coin. They are mentioned together over and over in the scriptures. Fasting requires the intentional passage of time...hours, even days, in which all the activity around food...gathering, preparation, presentation and consumption is replaced by quiet listening. Table fellowship with others is intentionally set aside so that the believer can be with and wait upon the Lord.
It is out of that deliberate space and time that the cry of my heart reaches the Lord, up from the depths of my soul to the ears of God. Then I wait for an answer; my soul waits and hopes - it listens intently and patiently over time for the "still small voice" of God to speak out of the quietness. "My soul waits for the Lord, more than the watchman for the morning." Psalm.130:6 (ESV)
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Good word, Barclay+. May we all rediscover the six Lenten disciplines of self-examination, repentance, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and bible-reading. These disciplines of course need to be practiced year-round, but especially in preparation for Holy Week.
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