“A farmer is helpless to grow grain; all he can do is provide the right conditions for the growing of grain. He cultivates the ground, he plants the seed, he waters the plants, and then the natural forces of the earth take over and up comes the grain…This is the way it is with the Spiritual Disciplines – they are a way of sowing to the Spirit… By themselves the Spiritual Disciplines can do nothing; they can only get us to the place where something can be done.”
― Richard J. Foster
We are entering into a time of fasting and prayer as a congregation and this quote has been on the front of my mind. It is so easy for me to pray or read scripture or fast to try and get something from God. As Foster reminds us, these disciplines are about “getting ourselves to a place where something can be done.” The greek word that is translated to fasting in the new testament means “the one who is without food, or the one who is empty.” Can you imagine if the whole congregation joined together to get ourselves empty and to the place where God could fill us?! Join us in this time of fasting and prayer. Many are fasting from food or other material things on Thursday or Friday each week.
By Rev. John Wayne McMann
Recent Comments