Do you get a little battle weary when waiting for a breakthrough? I know I do. Waiting can be a difficult test of faith. Perhaps it’s because I’m looking at my situation from a human perspective, but I can be too quick to jump in and tell God how and when He should answer my prayers. God, are you listening? Where are You? Can’t you do something?
Naghmeh Abedini knows the agony of waiting. She and her two children have suffered for over two long years while Saeed has been imprisoned in Iran. Yet, her unwavering trust in God has inspired many of us to persevere in our own prayers.
Naghmeh was inspired by the prophet Daniel who fasted and prayed as he sought the Lord. She decided to follow Daniel’s example and set aside twenty one days for prayer and fasting. She’s inviting friends and family to join with her. Naghmeh is giving up coffee and chocolate. Many of you are doing your own version of fasting. As for me? I’m on day nine, gluten free.
“The Lord has been speaking to me from the book of Daniel,” Naghmeh writes. “Over the last two years there have been so many times I have wanted to give up, but the Lord has consistently spoken to me of perseverance. I believe that it was the persistence of Daniel in prayer that brought the necessary breakthrough.”
Fasting is a type of waiting. As we wait and fast and pray for Saeed’s release, I encourage you to keep seeking the Lord for your own breakthrough. Several of you have shared your stories of answers to prayer, which I’ll be posting as we continue our 21 Day Fast. I hope they’ll help you stand strong.
For Today: Be encouraged and stay faithful. God is pleased that you have a heart to intercede for Pastor Saeed and his family. Isaiah 58 tells us God loves it when our fast involves taking the side of the oppressed. He also loves it when you wait in faith for the answer to your prayers. The word wait in Hebrew means to “bind together with.” Let’s bind ourselves together with God (and with each other) as we wait for our breakthrough.
“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).”
Click here to meditate on this verse through song.
marilynn chadwick 
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