When we worship, how often do you worship with your arms and hands open ready to receive  Well I was thinking about this, lol I am sure you think I think to much !

If our arms and hands are open to God they need to be free of all else. We need to let go of everything that we worry about letting go of in order to have hands ready to receive from God, ready to work for God and ready to help others. Our minds need to be free from the fuzz and busyness of life to really listen to God.

Now I hear what you are saying, I have said it so many times over that I struggle to fit God in, I don't have the time, that God has blessed me with kids a job and so much more that time to listen to him is so short. IT would be great if God would whisk us off to a hotel for an hour everyday so we could concentrate on him and spend some quality time together but chances are if you are anything like me you would fall asleep!

But God doesn't want us to fit him in to stop life and reflect on him, he wants to be our life, he wants to be in our every thought. When we shower, when we change that stinky nappy, when we cook dinner, when we commute to work there are so many times when we can turn our minds to God whilst still performing the practical tasks of life. Kids don't stop us worshipping God in all we do they are a part of worshipping God in all we do. Its not that you are too busy caring for them to fit God in but that God is a part of the caring you give, the love you give.

That constant two way conversation and worshipping through our every action is an amazing relationship to have but there is also a place for fasting from the things in life that hold us back in our relationship with God it can have a huge range of blessings. Making a concious decision to stop something for a while, doesn't have to be food, could be a phone, tv, facebook etc can bring you so much closer to God by removing some of the busyness from your mind. The first person to recognise Jesus as a boy was Anna who had chosen a life of fasting to remain close to God to hear him.

They say that sometimes you don't know what you have until its gone, sometimes choosing not to have something for a short period of time reminds you of how blessed you are to have it.

Fasting from something gives you a chance not to live on your own provisions or enjoyments but to be reliant on the blessings and provisions from God. By taking our eyes off the things of this world, we can more successfully turn our attention to Christ. Fasting is not a way to get God to do what we want. Fasting changes us, not God. Fasting is not a way to appear more spiritual than others. Fasting is to be done in a spirit of humility and a joyful attitude

But to bring us back to what made me think about this was that fasting causes hunger. Now you might look at me and go well um yeah if you don't eat you get hungry but that's not what I mean. Fasting causes a hunger a passion, when you first fast you miss what you no longer have but when you turn to God and focus on God that hunger, that desire also turns to God and you seek so much more satisfaction than you had before and if you trully use your fasting time to reflect and grow closer to God, whether this is something you do alone or with family then you will be so much more satisfied then before. 

God time is all day every day and no matter how busy you are God is in your everything whether you invite him in and talk to him about it or not. But the benefits of choosing to forego something else and spend that time focusing on God is serious fulfilment, direction, discipline and enjoyment for you and whoever you do it with.