Exalting God

Luke 2:37 – “…and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.”

Do you limit your worship of God?  Be honest, do you designate only a certain portion of each day or perhaps each week, to “worship”?  We’re often guilty of this aren’t we?  That is why this simple passage is so convicting.  Here we have an elderly woman named Anna.  She had been a widow for some 84 years at this point and we are told that she had devoted her life to worshiping God.  Luke tells us that she “served” God through fasting and prayer.  In our last discussion on fasting we were reminded that prayer itself is a means of worship and that fasting works to enhance or strengthen our prayer life, but now we see the undeniable truth that both are a sincere form of worship.

We can say that fasting is worship because at the heart of Christian fasting is intentional sacrifice, which enables us to more fully give our attention to God.  Therefore, by fasting we demonstrate to God that we are serious about our faith.  Considering the idea of sacrifice, we need to take notice of when Anna prayed and fasted.  Luke is clear; she fasted “night and day”.  Of course, this does not mean that she fasted and prayed 24 hours a day apart from any other activity.  Yet, it does reveal the extreme importance she placed on prayer and fasting as a part of her personal worship.  She focused on God all day, every day.  Regardless of what she was doing, God was her nourishment and she offered to him her affection.  Her attitude was one of heartfelt devotion to God and her action was to fast and pray to her Lord.  It seems clear that fasting was an integral part of her worship.

Fasting strengthens our worship by revealing our heart’s desire.  It demonstrates to God that we are serious about our relationship with Him.  Through fasting we are in a sense opening up our heart and laying its content at the throne of God.  We are saying, “God, here I am.  I acknowledge my full dependence on you.  I love you and need you.  Let your will be done in my life”.  What is your heart’s desire?  Are you willing to sacrifice something you love for a period of extended prayer?  It may be over a concern you have or a trial you are experiencing.  Or it may be strictly an act of worship.  Either way, God is honored when we lay down the temporal pleasures of this world and move toward Him in sacrificial praise.