Prayer Breathes Intimacy – A Fasting Devotional
From: Melissa Quintos
“Lord, I am not going to leave this retreat until you do a revival on my heart.”. That was a prayer I prayed that changed the trajectory of my life. The very next morning, after praying that prayer, I sensed the Lord whispering these words to me, “You’re going to start a prayer line.” To my surprise, and with disbelief, I responded, “Ummm...are you talking to me, Lord?”
You see, a couple things were working against me here: 1) I was SO not a morning person and 2) I didn’t even know how to pray. Little did I know that giving my shaky ‘yes’ to Jesus at that moment was going to be the beginning of a journey I never dreamed or imagined.
Prayer breathes intimacy.
The very next morning at 6am, the prayer line was birthed. There were women from different walks of life. Some were married, some widowed, and some had grandkids older than Jordan. There was nothing like it! And let me tell you, after a little over four years of praying together (Monday – Saturday at 6am), we became very close to each other – yet we all lived in different states.
Jesus asked me to do something that, for me, was very unusual (and trust me, that was only the first of many). And I couldn’t say NO! I was so captivated by Him and the desires of my heart began to change. I wanted nothing more than to know Jesus. Not just to read about him – no.
I wanted Jesus.
I wanted an intimate relationship with the Lover of my soul, my King Jesus. I wanted to experience him like I never had before. And he showed up – everywhere! He showed up in the middle of the everyday mundane –during laundry, while washing dishes, and yes – even while stuck in traffic on 290. And Jesus hasn’t stopped showing himself to me since!
Jesus did a lot of things in his time that were a little unorthodox, if you will. He healed the sick on the Sabbath, hung out with the sinners, and offended a lot of religious leaders. In fact, when he picked a team of twelve men to create a model of how to build His church, their resume will probably not come close to someone I would pick for the job today. I bet they didn’t know that giving Jesus their ‘yes’ in that moment would later change the trajectory of their lives.
This first week of praying and fasting, as I ask the Lord to show me what’s on his heart, this story kept coming back to me. In Matthew 26: 6-13 we read, “Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
Like this woman, our worship to Jesus will cost us something. Our worship and devotion to our Lord and Savior might even be offensive to others around us. Friends, how much is Jesus worth to you?
Are you willing to pay the price?
“Lord, I am not going to leave this retreat until you do a revival on my heart.”. That was a prayer I prayed that changed the trajectory of my life. The very next morning, after praying that prayer, I sensed the Lord whispering these words to me, “You’re going to start a prayer line.” To my surprise, and with disbelief, I responded, “Ummm...are you talking to me, Lord?”
You see, a couple things were working against me here: 1) I was SO not a morning person and 2) I didn’t even know how to pray. Little did I know that giving my shaky ‘yes’ to Jesus at that moment was going to be the beginning of a journey I never dreamed or imagined.
Prayer breathes intimacy.
The very next morning at 6am, the prayer line was birthed. There were women from different walks of life. Some were married, some widowed, and some had grandkids older than Jordan. There was nothing like it! And let me tell you, after a little over four years of praying together (Monday – Saturday at 6am), we became very close to each other – yet we all lived in different states.
Jesus asked me to do something that, for me, was very unusual (and trust me, that was only the first of many). And I couldn’t say NO! I was so captivated by Him and the desires of my heart began to change. I wanted nothing more than to know Jesus. Not just to read about him – no.
I wanted Jesus.
I wanted an intimate relationship with the Lover of my soul, my King Jesus. I wanted to experience him like I never had before. And he showed up – everywhere! He showed up in the middle of the everyday mundane –during laundry, while washing dishes, and yes – even while stuck in traffic on 290. And Jesus hasn’t stopped showing himself to me since!
Jesus did a lot of things in his time that were a little unorthodox, if you will. He healed the sick on the Sabbath, hung out with the sinners, and offended a lot of religious leaders. In fact, when he picked a team of twelve men to create a model of how to build His church, their resume will probably not come close to someone I would pick for the job today. I bet they didn’t know that giving Jesus their ‘yes’ in that moment would later change the trajectory of their lives.
This first week of praying and fasting, as I ask the Lord to show me what’s on his heart, this story kept coming back to me. In Matthew 26: 6-13 we read, “Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
Like this woman, our worship to Jesus will cost us something. Our worship and devotion to our Lord and Savior might even be offensive to others around us. Friends, how much is Jesus worth to you?
Are you willing to pay the price?