First Wednesday fast

Though prayer can be active, especially in the act of joining together to pray, I felt called to fast as well as pray for Barrett.  David and I have committed to fasting on Wednesdays until dinner, setting aside this day of the week to lift this child up.

We recently finished a Daniel fast, which is a partial fast (limiting certain foods, not when we ate), so this was the first time I've fasted from food all day.  And to top it off, it was my birthday; but no matter - I was committed (it seemed easy enough...).  In short, my day was awful.  Thankfully David encouraged me through the day and reminded me to "praise through".  Translation: Know that God is always at work, even though the day is not one of your favorites.  

It was important for us to end this first day of fasting by serving Brett, Jessica and Braeden with dinner and spending time in fellowship.  On the way to their house, David brought up the topic of spiritual warfare and shared that he felt it was no coincidence that I had had an awful day; how easy it would have been to break fast throughout the day or decide to go out to eat instead of serving our friends.  And how easily God's call on our hearts would have fallen by the wayside.  I'm reminded of Mark Batterson's words from The Circle Maker, "Pray like it depends on God, work like it depends on you."  Let me tell you, it felt like work!  At the end of the day, we remained faithful to God and His call for us in this situation.  We had great conversation and shared what God was doing in our lives and this call He has placed on our hearts.  We ended in prayer for their family and for Barrett.

But the story does not end there; God's story has a way of going beyond our own thoughts, plans and expectations.  With Jessica's permission, I'd love to share the e-mail we received from her that night:

I want you to know that you may have very well been working one of Barrett's miracles tonight because I truly believe it was by the grace of God that Janelle happened to be over. What I did not share with Kristy earlier is that Janelle has decided over the last few years that she is a non believer and we have been praying for some time that Barrett's circumstances would not push her further in the wrong direction but be a ministry bring her back. I have even more intentionally been praying for her since Sunday and I truly believe God answered that prayer in you all tonight. I cannot even begin to thank you enough for the love and sacrifice you are willing to give for Barrett...I can say thank you for witnessing (even unknowingly) to Janelle tonight. 

Much Love and blessings! 

Jessica and Brett

God is mighty to save and we praise Him for working through Barrett's little life already!