We have been given the all clear to finish out the last round of chemo this Friday. His numbers are looking good and he has actually gained weight this week since discharging from the hospital. Once chemo is done, there is a still more road to walk toward full restoration and healing, but this milestone feels important to pray over, to remember his faithfulness, and be grateful for the road we have already traveled.

Back in November, the weekend we discovered the tumor, we had a friend and her son in town, and staying with my parents, from Guatemala. I have learned so much from this friend about prayer, about obedience, and about trusting the sovereignty of God when the circumstances I see don't make sense. She mentioned that her church rallied around one of their members with prayer and fasting after she was given a cancer diagnosis. As she talked about this woman, I felt the invitation from God in the quiet of my heart to organize a fast for my dad's healing. Initially, I was excited and started to get ideas for how to structure it and who to invite to participate. But the more time that passed, the sicker he became, the less desire I had to fast, let alone ask other people to do it with me. So I declined God's invitation. And you guys, he is so gentle and kind. He would bring it up every once in awhile, I would think about it, and say no. I never felt like it was a condition he placed on my dad being healed, like he would only heal him if I organized this time of fasting. I never felt I had to fast in order deserve comfort and peace when things got overwhelming. There was no condemnation in the invitation, even when I came up with lots of reasons and excuses for not wanting to do it. And he never stopped inviting me.

A couple weeks ago, I was invited by someone to fast with a small group of people and pray for our church. That week, God has also been talking to me about fasting through podcasts and a newsletter I receive for encouragement regularly. It felt like he was gently detangling all the excuses I had given him over the last few months and breaking down all the barriers I tried to build so I could be in a place to say yes, instead of no to this particular fast. I can probably count on my fingers the number of times I have fasted or attempted to fast so I am not am expert. But I did learn some things during the fast a couple weeks ago.

What I learned is that fasting helps me to feel in my body the spiritual need that I have for God. When I feel the physical emptiness of my stomach, I can respond with gratitude for the way he has provided and filled my life, with the requests for the things I have been longing for but are not yet realized, and with surrender and trust that he will be enough. It is a discipline that leads to greater intimacy with God and a deepening of dependence. Fasting also brought him to mind more often so when my body craved food, my mind thought about how much I wanted food, and then planned what I would eat when the fast was done, and then wanted to watch cooking and baking shows, and then...well eventually I was able to take my thoughts captive and think about God.  I am still learning and practicing. But that experience lead to a lot of freedom I didn't know I needed from things I didn't know where holding me captive. There is something sacred and special about fasting that fear kept me from experiencing for a long time. 

Some of you are probably experts in fasting and prayer, while others have never fasted and prayed before.  This Friday, I'd like to invite you to fast and pray with me for my dad and my family on this last day of chemo treatment. What your fast looks like is between you and God. It is not about the number of meals you skip or the rules that you follow, but the posture of surrender to God and listening to what he is inviting you to experience with him. And also, no pressure to join. I was thankful to fast and pray in community, so if that sounds like something you want to do, you are welcome to join.

For prayer this week, I'd love for us to focus on praying through a few passages of Scripture together. You can pray it for my dad, for our family, for you, for your family, for you community or whoever God brings to your heart that may need these words declared over them. 

Psalm 91: 1-4 and 14-16

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. 

"Because he loves me," says the Lord, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."

Ephesians 1:15-21

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

Revelation 21:1-7

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this and I will be his God and he will my son.

Be blessed this week friends. Thank you for your love and support. To God be the glory!