Well, it’s been quite a start to the new year as we’ve prayed, fasted and worshipped our way through this last week! I’ve been encouraged by the obvious desire to seek God together and as individuals. We have demonstrated that many of us want to see change, not just for ourselves but for the world we live in. My prayer is that we will view the past week as the beginning of something bigger rather than a stand-alone week that makes us feel good, ticks a box in the schedule of our religious duty, but has no wider personal impact or long term implication.
In Romans 12:2 the apostle Paul talks about ‘not conforming any longer to the pattern of the world’. Paul clearly sees the pattern of the world as a hindrance to having clarity in the will of God and observes that a ‘renewing of the mind’ is the catalyst to understanding God’s ‘good, pleasing and perfect will’. For me, our week of prayer and fasting has been a powerful reminder to keep going in God’s challenge to ‘renew the mind’ and pursue the bigger picture, rather than being held back and preoccupied with the things of the world. Let’s keep hold of our spiritual momentum and passion, desiring first and foremost to engage with the mind of Christ and not be robbed by the pull of the secular… a challenge for all of us as we move forward.