A Good Start

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." - Mark 1:35

It's good to begin a day with prayer and a dose of the Scripture. The same thing goes when starting a year. Last week was the church's prayer and fasting. I joined the fast last Friday night until the breaking, Sunday at 12 am.

The following I learned about fasting:
- Fasting is like declaring war against the enemy.
- We don't earn God's favor when we fast but it places us in a position of receiving from Him.
- Prayer and fasting is not a time for bonding and good time, it's a special time between you and God.
- It doesn't matter if you're on a partial, normal or absolute kind of fasting. It's not good to compare your commitment to others'. Fast without pride.
- Do not let others see that you are weak. Try to act normally.

Aside from the abovementioned, I took note of the following:
- Your god consumes you. Whatever consumes you and your time that is your god.
- Believing is what God wants us to do, absolute faith and not partial.
- When you fall in love with prayer, you will start falling in love with God.

I love this line from Pastor Anthony's prayer when we're breaking the fast, "Lord, we're serious, dead serious on our prayers to You." It's time to take God seriously because He is taking us too seriously!

This is one my prayers, "Lord, I want to start the year right and I want to start it right with You."