Mensa Otabil - Gather the People (11/03/2025)
Welcome to day number two of our 40 days of power. I trust that you are fully involved and that you’re waiting on the Lord and trusting Him for His grace to abound towards us. We will be staying with Joel chapter 2, so we look at verse number 16: «Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babies; let the bridegroom go out from his chamber and the bride from her dressing room.»
In a consecrated public fast, God calls on all of the community to participate. It’s not like an individual fast where you just fast quietly in your room or by yourself, but when it’s a public one, when it’s a community fast or a congregational fast, then everybody must endeavor to be part of the fast. God instructed His people, «Sanctify the congregation.» To sanctify the congregation simply means to set apart the congregation. So, in the case of Israel, the whole nation had to commit themselves to be dedicated to what was happening, and in our case, each one must dedicate themselves to what is happening. That is what it means to sanctify yourself; it simply means to set yourselves apart.
There are three things that we have to do if we want to be sanctified for a fast. First is that we set our hearts apart; that means we turn our hearts to the Lord and make Him our priority. There are many things that compete for our heart’s affection and devotion, and sometimes it’s things that we love, but during a period of fasting, we sanctify our hearts. We want to say, «My heart belongs to God, my affections belong to God, my desires belong to God.» So, sanctify your heart, and that is what makes a fast a real fast. It’s not just hunger that makes it a fast; it’s the sanctification, that’s setting apart.
Secondly, set time apart for the Lord. Now, in this day and age, each one of us is engaged in work. We go to work, we start very early, and sometimes we close very late. But it’s important during the fast to sanctify a time. Set apart a time-it could be 5 minutes, it could be 2 minutes, it could be 30 minutes, an hour, whatever time you can set apart-but you have to set that time apart and say, «This is God’s time.» In that time, even if I’m going into the office, I’m going to take a little time off to pray and seek the face of the Lord. So, make time for God. Don’t just go through the motions, but make time for the Lord. Sanctify that time.
Thirdly, we have to set our appetites apart-the things we desire, the things we want to partake in and enjoy. We want to sanctify and set our hearts, our time, and our appetites apart. There are going to be moments during the fast when you feel very tempted, and sometimes the temptation is not real because you can be suddenly hungry early in the morning at 8:00, when normally 8:00 would not even be the time when you eat. But during a fast, you realize that your appetite runs rampant, so you have to set your appetite apart. This is God’s time; this is God’s moment. Let your appetite know this is God’s moment.
If you look at what Joel told the people to do from the Lord, the fast is for everybody, and it’s for even the children. It doesn’t mean children will have to stop eating; it simply means the children should be made aware that something spiritual is going on. This is a spiritual moment, and it says even for the bride and the bridegroom, everybody should say, «Although there is legitimate need and there are things I’m doing legitimately, in this moment, I’m going to remember the Lord. I’m going to place God first; I’m going to sanctify Him in my heart, with my time, and with my appetite.» Let’s do that and set our hearts right, and God will meet us at the point of our need.
Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, you are my heart’s desire. I set myself apart to do Your will as I seek Your face. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.»