Fasting Against the Will of God
And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill. 16 David, therefore, pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17 So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 18 Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. (2 Samuel 12:16-18)
Nathan told David, in no unclear terms, that the baby was going to die. David fasted, prayed, cried and pleaded with the Lord, but on the seventh day of the baby’s life the child died, just like God said.
Prayer should be in agreement with, and not contrary to, the will of God. There are prayers that you pray when you don’t know what God’s will is. However, when you do know what God’s will is, like David knew in this case, your prayers should be in alignment with His will. Any prayer that goes against the will of God is a prayer that will go unanswered.
Radical prayer and fasting are not tools to get whatever we want from God. They are demonstrations of radical submission and surrender to God’s power and will.
And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ (2 Samuel 12:22)
I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbour: As David violated another man’s wife, so another will violate his wives. This was fulfilled in 2 Samuel 16:21-22
So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” (2 Samuel 12:13)
David did not give any reasons or excuses for his sin but took the blame squarely on his shoulders. In all this David comes across as a man after God’s own heart. There were other monarchs who would have slain the prophet to hide their sin.
And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill. 16 David, therefore, pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17 So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 18 Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. (2 Samuel 12:16-18)
Nathan told David, in no unclear terms, that the baby was going to die. David fasted, prayed, cried and pleaded with the Lord, but on the seventh day of the baby’s life the child died, just like God said.
Prayer should be in agreement with, and not contrary to, the will of God. There are prayers that you pray when you don’t know what God’s will is. However, when you do know what God’s will is, like David knew in this case, your prayers should be in alignment with His will. Any prayer that goes against the will of God is a prayer that will go unanswered.
Radical prayer and fasting are not tools to get whatever we want from God. They are demonstrations of radical submission and surrender to God’s power and will.
And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ (2 Samuel 12:22)
I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbour: As David violated another man’s wife, so another will violate his wives. This was fulfilled in 2 Samuel 16:21-22
So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” (2 Samuel 12:13)
David did not give any reasons or excuses for his sin but took the blame squarely on his shoulders. In all this David comes across as a man after God’s own heart. There were other monarchs who would have slain the prophet to hide their sin.
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