Day 3 ~ 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting

Your Passionate Pursuit of God Produces His Presence!

Today's Daily Reading: Daniel chapter 3

Not only was Daniel passionate and determined to honor God and live for Him, but his friends were as well.  King Nebuchadnezzar was full of pride and consumed with himself.  So much so that he had a solid gold monument made in his likeness.  He then made it common law that everyone must bow down and worship it...or him.  The man was sick!

Remember in chapter one of Daniel that there were 3 other teenage boys that the king hand selected to serve in his royal palace?  These 3 young men were determined not to defile themselves with culture.  They fasted and God honored them.  Well, its these same 3 young men that again will not separate themselves from the one and only living God to save face or avoid pressure.  They were only concerned with obedience to God, even if it opposed culture and caused pain.

The question is: How resolute are we to pursue God at all costs even if it causes pain?

Well, Daniel's 3 friends made that decision long before pressure arrived.  They determined it long before Nebuchadnezzar erected a statue to be worshipped.  Our predetermined decisions of how we will respond to pressure cause our character to be solidified and our principles resolute.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would not bow.  They were given a second chance to give in to the pressure and they would not bow.  The king through them into a flaming furnace so hot that it killed the soldiers that through them in.  AND THEN THIS HAPPENS...

Daniel 3:25 "Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

God always shows up to the rescue for those who are resolute in their pursuit of Him.  Today, as you fast and pray, let your focus be one determining in your heart to not defile yourself with sin.  Pray that this season of fasting will solidify your character and empower you for life in Christ.  Remember, your passionate pursuit of God produces His presence!