LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil
Tuesday 21st June 2022
A FASTED LIFE
Scripture Reading: Luke 2:25-40
Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. Luke 2:36–37
Anna is the first person recognized as a prophetess in the Gospels. She was a godly woman, a woman to whom God meant everything. She had been married at an early age and had lived with her husband only seven years when he died.
She remained a widow, but not out of bitterness or disappointment. She never remarried because of conviction—the conviction that her life belonged to God. Her life was filled with continuous prayer and fasting.
• She spent time in the Temple. The passage says that Anna ‘did not depart from the temple’. That means she was in the Temple during all the prayer hours. Formal Jewish prayers occurred three times in a day – morning, noon, and evening. In addition, there were many services in the Temple each day.
Anna made time for all these times of worship. She probably had a small room in the Temple where she lived a basic life and served the Lord.
From this woman’s example, we learn the importance of worshipping the Lord in the House of the Lord.
• She lived a fasted life. A fasted life is a life that is dedicated to a routine of prayer and fasting. It is when we make prayer and fasting our lifestyle. Anna worshipped God with fastings and prayers night and day. She might have fasted on certain days of the week or certain meals in a day. It’s also possible that her fasting involved abstaining from certain kinds of food.
No matter the mode of fasting Anna used, the fastings and prayers indicate that she was extremely disciplined, possessing consistency in devotions. Is it any wonder that she was one of the earliest people to recognize who Christ was? Such devotion to God allows us to recognize the presence of God.
Beyond fasting on special occasions, we can commit to living a fasted life that is totally dedicated to spiritual disciplines.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I dedicate myself to worship you day and night. Show me your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.