For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 NKJV
Today was my first day of the Daniel Fast. During my prayer time I heard God whisper to me Jeremiah 29:11. This is a pretty popular verse so as I heard Him say Jeremiah 29:11 I began to recite it in my mind. “For I know the plans I have for you”, but when I read it in my NJKV bible it read differently than I recited, “For I know the thoughts I think towards you”. The thoughts you think towards me, not the plans? This spoke to me powerfully because I have been struggling the last few months on the direction God is taking my life. I keep asking God what is the plan in all of this struggle? My life seems to be crumbling in front of me. As my life has been crumbling I started asking myself is this the hand of God in my life or the work of the devil? I know the devil comes to kill, steal and destroy , but I also know God will remove things from our lives that are not of Him. So in the midst of my struggle I have been wrestling with these two questions and trying to discern between the two. Instead of clarity confusion has set in and my thoughts on how God views me has become blurred. I began questioning God about my struggle; did I do something wrong, am I being punished, have I been disobedient, on and on questions and negative thoughts have been running through my mind. When I read this verse today the word thoughts jumped off the page. The thoughts God has for me are of peace and not evil, to give me a future and hope. As I read this clarity started to set in, whatever is going on in my life the thoughts God has for me has not changed! Peace started to settle into my spirit as I read this verse over and over, I was going to stop at Jeremiah 29:11 but I continued reading and I am glad I did. The next two verses 12 and 13 say when we call on God and pray he will listen to you and when you seek him you will find Him. These verses are the point of me doing the Daniel Fast. I have been wanting more of God in my life, I want to know He hears me and I want to discover who He is in my life during this season. As I begin my journey to draw near to God, my hope and prayer through the Daniel Fast is I will experience these truths I read in these verses. Day one and I am already thankful God gave me this scripture to start my fast with and show me He is already meeting me.