{"id":2399,"date":"2020-08-11T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-11T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=2399"},"modified":"2020-07-29T06:39:07","modified_gmt":"2020-07-29T11:39:07","slug":"where-do-you-start-in-times-of-crisis-in-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2020\/08\/11\/where-do-you-start-in-times-of-crisis-in-your-life\/","title":{"rendered":"WHERE DO YOU START IN TIMES OF CRISIS IN YOUR LIFE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cWhen I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.\u201d(Nehemiah 1:4 NIV) <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grieve the circumstances, fast and pray to God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nehemiah worked for King Artaxerxes as his cupbearer.  He served the king his wine.  His crisis is the remnants of Israel and their predicament:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.\u201d (<\/em>Nehemiah 1:3 NIV<\/em><\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

His immediate response: grieving for his people, while fasting and praying to God.\u00a0 Four verses in, we see the type of man Nehemiah was: a man of prayer.\u00a0 Because He started with God, He gave Nehemiah direction.\u00a0 The king gave him his blessing to go to Jerusalem and finish the wall. They worked with weapons in one hand, tools in the other.\u00a0 Nehemiah\u2019s journey was not easy, nor short, but it was victorious.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fasting and Prayer paves the way to victory.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crises in life are a given.   We all have them, we all endure them.  We have a choice of how we travel through them: with God or without Him. Fasting and prayer invites God into the situation.  God\u2019s involvement causes  miracles to happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My mother, in the last years of her life, battled pancreatic cancer.  At one point, early in the fight, I was at odds with my family about her care.  We weren\u2019t speaking to each other, it wasn\u2019t a good time for us. For ten days I fasted and prayed to God.  On the seventh day, I felt victory in my spirit.  I didn\u2019t know what God had done, but I knew He had done something.  The thought that ran through my head, \u201cI don\u2019t have to fast and pray anymore.\u201d  But then, just as quickly, I heard, \u201cDo you want a partial victory or a full victory?\u201d  Without a doubt, I had to finish what I had started.  I wanted the full victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just like Nehemiah, the changes weren\u2019t evident immediately.  God didn\u2019t change my family with my fasting and prayer, He changed me.  God gave me opportunities to reconcile with my family.  He gave me direction, just like He did Nehemiah.  In time, we found peace, our relationships restored with each other as God worked in our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fasting<\/a> is abstaining from food or anything that hinders your relationship with God. The purpose is to deepen your relationship with God.  When you\u2019re hungry for what you\u2019ve given up, it\u2019s a reminder to pray and seek God.  Fasting is a powerful tool that invites God into your crisis.  When you do, He\u2019ll give you direction in the midst of despair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast and pray, God will answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question of the Day:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you tried fasting and prayer as an answer to your crisis?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further Reading: <\/strong>Nehemiah 1:1-3:14 NIV<\/a>, 1 Corinthians 7:1-24 NIV<\/a>, Psalm 31:19-24 NIV<\/a>, Proverbs 21:4 NIV<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhen I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.\u201d(Nehemiah 1:4 NIV)  Grieve the circumstances, fast and pray to God. Nehemiah worked for King Artaxerxes as his cupbearer.  He served the king his wine.  His crisis is the remnants of Israel… Continue reading WHERE DO YOU START IN TIMES OF CRISIS IN YOUR LIFE<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2399"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2401,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399\/revisions\/2401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}