EXPOSITION:

Luke’s account records a woman (prophetess) by name Anna, the daughter of Phanuel who was a widow after being married for only seven years. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. These spiritual exercises increased her sensitivity to spiritual promptings in her days. Luke 2:38 records that ‘Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child Jesus who had been brought into the temple to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem’ (Emphasis mine).

Many times, we don’t fast because we’ve lost our spiritual appetite. John Piper says, “The absence of fasting is the measure of our contentment with the absence of Christ.” Piper adds, “If we don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because we have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because we have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Our soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. This means that, a ‘fasting-free’ life signals the absence of Christ, an indication of drifting away into worldliness. The individual appears satisfied with small things, creating no room for greater things. As you empty yourself physically and spiritually, you open the door for God to step in and do the miraculous. Your relationship with the Lord is taken to a whole new level. You also become more sensitive to the work of the Holy Spirit, which enables you to hear God’s voice more clearly.