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Beyond All Limits
From Start to Finish
A challenging part of prayer and fasting is taking your focus off the
world and toward God. Many things distract us from time alone
with God: work, leisure, worries, social and civic commitments,
even church activities. In Hebrews, these items are labeled as
“every weight that slows us down.”
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses
to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down,
especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run
with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by
keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start
to finish. —Hebrews 12:1-2
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The author uses the analogy of a race to depict the believer’s life
of faithful living. In the grandstands are all the faithful disciples
who have run before us, encouraging us to run strong. Before us
is the track, one prepared beforehand by God. At the end is the
finish line, where Jesus is standing, waiting to congratulate all
who cross it. What prevents us from reaching the finish line? The
author tells us that it is weight and sin. Sin is obvious to us all. A
life of faith must be lived in obedience to God’s Word. But what
about the “weight that slows us down”? Because this weight is not
as obvious, it is what interferes most with reaching the finish line.
The author coaches us to lay off “every weight that slows us
down.” The image is of a runner taking off his warm-up clothes so
he is left with only his running attire. By doing so, he has nothing
to encumber him during the race. The weight in your life is not
sin. Rather, it is anything that keeps you from running the race
set before you, anything that keeps you from achieving all that
God wants to do in and through your life, and ultimately in and
through our church. This weight normally comes in the form of
good things but becomes a distraction to our spiritual growth.
These are the things that we must lay down so that we may run
unencumbered in our race of faith.
Part of prayer and fasting is creating an environment in which
we can encounter God. You also may be called during this time of
prayer and fasting to set aside some good things to allow yourself
more time with God.
What distracts you from time with God? Look over the list below
and commit to set aside some normal activities to give yourself
more time for prayer, Bible study, silence and solitude:
| Television | Movies |
| Computer/video games | Leisure reading |
| Watching sports | Working out |
| Reading the newspaper | Yard work |
| Shopping | Hobbies |
| Surfing the Internet | Decorating |
| Golf | Talking on the phone |
| Cooking/entertaining | Going to the mall |
| Information, e-mail, pager | Music |
| Cell phone | |
Ask God to reveal some areas that you can periodically set aside in
order to spend more time in prayer. As we throw off what slows us
down and the sin that hinders our progress, we will find ourselves
able to spend more time at the foot of the throne of God, seeking
His face, listening to His Word and being equipped to persevere
and to run our race.
Only as we focus our lives on Him can we hear His plan for our
lives individually and corporately as the body of Christ.
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