Prayer & Fasting 2022 // Day 8

Becky Kaskel

January 24, 2022

I love to go back through old pictures on my phone. Even before I had a cellphone, it was sifting through flimsy paper folders filled with prints from disposable cameras and reading back through notes in my school yearbooks.

Taking the time to look back and remember fills me with gratitude - gratitude for things I have gotten to do and people that I have gotten to do them with, and gratitude for the seasons that I have come out of. (At this time I invite you to quietly thank God that middle school is not forever. Amen.)

Last October I had the chance to go to Animal Kingdom with some close friends, and we embraced every moment of our time there.

Did we start a sing-along with a cue-line full of strangers? Absolutely.

Did we cry because everything was beautiful? You bet.

Did we get to ride a roller coaster twice in a row because there was no wait? Yes, 100%.

Still, my favorite memory from that day was a list of things that we wrote on our phones called “gifts from Jesus at animal kingdom.” See, throughout the day, amazing things kept happening - small, amazing things that made us feel special and loved. At one point, we decided to start making a list as they would happen. And you know what? The more that we wrote things down, the more we were aware of the ways that we were being taken care of.

I think that sometimes it is hard to trust that God is going to do good things because we have forgotten that He already has.

It is easy to get overwhelmed with what-ifs and buried in doubt when the numbers do not add up; we try to figure out tomorrow with only what we have today.

Can I challenge you with something?

As you are spending these last few days leaning into prayer and fasting, take time to remember. Ask God to bring to mind the good things that He has done in your life and allow Him to shift your perspective away from problems and onto His faithfulness.

“Good” will mean something different to each of us, but can we agree that it is good that we are forgiven? That it is good we are not alone? That it is good that we have a hope beyond this life?

And, if you are feeling frustrated or forgotten, know that gratitude does not mean you have to overlook difficult seasons - it can look like asking God to show you where He was with you in them. His presence is also a good thing.

“You have done many good things for me, Lord, just as you promised.”

Psalm 119:65