Have you seen this verse before and skipped over it, thinking "This one doesn't apply to me - don't know who it does apply to, but doesn't matter!" Well, that's what I've always thought in the past, but this time, the verse jumped off the page at me....
1 Corinthians 7:5
King James Version (KJV)
5 Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
I included this verse in the KJV on purpose as none of the other versions included the word "fasting". They only said "prayer", but I believe not coming together for a season is a fast. It is giving something up, isn't it? I want to share our story with respect to this verse and how I believe God used this type of fast in our lives to begin the breaking of the financial bond of debt in our lives. I know this is a little more personal, but I'm sharing it anyway and I did get Renaissance Man's permission.
After we built the house a couple years back, we now had to sell it! This was no easy thing to do. We had built in an area that was brand new, but in a small town where there are few new subdivisions. Most of the homes in the area were smallish, old, and quaint. The new subdivision where we built had large homes, executive-style. We had built one of the larger ones on the street. Very few, if any, had sold as people were still finishing building on the street, not ready to sell, yet. We had a number in our head that we needed to make in order to make the whole process worthwhile. Let me tell you, this was an unprecedented number for the street, let alone for the town, let alone for the whole surrounding area!
Renaissance Man told me a very specific number in March 2012 ago and I wrote it in my journal as a way to seriously start praying that God would sell it for that number....exactly.
We finished building in August 2012 and listed it right away. We knew this was an impossible situation, but we constantly had to remind ourselves God had been in the process all along the way. He would be faithful to the end. Yet doubt and fear were at our doorstep always trying to make us doubt His faithfulness.
One day, soon after we listed, I approached Renaissance Man with the idea that we "stay apart" for the remainder of August with the idea that we would pray and fast for the selling of our home. Our anniversary was in September and we usually went away overnight each year, so why not make that weekend the end of the fast, if you know what I mean.
Interestingly enough, he had already been thinking this very idea himself. We had never done anything like this in our whole married life - was it ever fascinating and, believe it or not, fun!
What do you think happens when you are told you cannot have dessert? All you think about is dessert. This was what started to happen. We would see one another outside on the driveway and instead of just walking by one another to go pick up a toy or something like that, suddenly, it became this hilarious torture to just be near one another. He would hug me, whisper something in my ear, but then, we would stop, look at one another and remember the whole purpose behind it all....prayer for the sale of our home....for freedom from bondage...it was such a greater purpose then just getting the house off our back. The whole reason we built the house was to get out from the bondage of the bank.
So we would pray. Right then and there, on the driveway. Then we would remind ourselves of September and quickly leave one another! This went on for a few weeks. We found ourselves constantly praying!
We got some interest in the house during this time. One really low offer which we turned down. That was hard as it made us wonder if we were out of our minds on the price. The other real estate agent showed us how unprecedented our number was.
Then, one day in November (the fast was now over, but we kept praying...in fact I had the kids specifically praying for the number RM had told me), we got another offer. The agent told us it was not what we were asking, so to not be disappointed. We had listed it for well above what we needed just to give us some flex in the negotiating.
Once again, I'll never forget this moment. Our agent put it on the counter in front of both of us upside down. I was prepared to see a really low number. When the agent flipped it over, drumroll please, I was not prepared to see the EXACT NUMBER WE'D BEEN PRAYING FOR. I couldn't believe it. My eyes nearly popped out of my head. The EXACT NUMBER!!!!!!! Can you imagine???? As it turned out, we got more than the offer which was great as we could have certainly used more! I was in awe. I truly believe it was a direct answer to our prayer and fasting. God could have sold it at any number - why the exact number we asked for? Because He wanted to get the glory and that we would know beyond a shadow of a doubt it was NOTHING we had done, it was all Him. Only God could sell that house in a market that was not selling. Only God could sell in off-season, real-estate-wise. It made no sense to sell in November. Everyone sells and lists in the spring, don't they? Only God could sell a house in that short a period of time. Sure enough, our neighbours went wild with glee thinking they, too, could sell their homes at that kind of crazy price and they started listing their homes, too. They couldn't sell them. They stayed on the market for months and months and once they did sell they sold for thousands less. Mind-boggling.
This was a unique fast and one that only married couples can do. I believe this is a type of fast where you are fasting about something that impacts both of you. In this case, it was the sale of our home and freedom from financial bondage. It didn't clear up all of our debt, but it made a huge impact on our lives and it allowed us to buy the farm where we are now. We just have a little ways to go. Those types of fasts need an end time. We used our anniversary because it was so symbolic of our relationship, being one in mind and flesh...so great. It was only for a few weeks and the side benefit was how it put some spice in the romantic side of life - taking something away like that can be very fun as it makes you appreciate one another all the more!
I have another story to share tomorrow along these same lines...
After we built the house a couple years back, we now had to sell it! This was no easy thing to do. We had built in an area that was brand new, but in a small town where there are few new subdivisions. Most of the homes in the area were smallish, old, and quaint. The new subdivision where we built had large homes, executive-style. We had built one of the larger ones on the street. Very few, if any, had sold as people were still finishing building on the street, not ready to sell, yet. We had a number in our head that we needed to make in order to make the whole process worthwhile. Let me tell you, this was an unprecedented number for the street, let alone for the town, let alone for the whole surrounding area!
Renaissance Man told me a very specific number in March 2012 ago and I wrote it in my journal as a way to seriously start praying that God would sell it for that number....exactly.
We finished building in August 2012 and listed it right away. We knew this was an impossible situation, but we constantly had to remind ourselves God had been in the process all along the way. He would be faithful to the end. Yet doubt and fear were at our doorstep always trying to make us doubt His faithfulness.
One day, soon after we listed, I approached Renaissance Man with the idea that we "stay apart" for the remainder of August with the idea that we would pray and fast for the selling of our home. Our anniversary was in September and we usually went away overnight each year, so why not make that weekend the end of the fast, if you know what I mean.
Interestingly enough, he had already been thinking this very idea himself. We had never done anything like this in our whole married life - was it ever fascinating and, believe it or not, fun!
What do you think happens when you are told you cannot have dessert? All you think about is dessert. This was what started to happen. We would see one another outside on the driveway and instead of just walking by one another to go pick up a toy or something like that, suddenly, it became this hilarious torture to just be near one another. He would hug me, whisper something in my ear, but then, we would stop, look at one another and remember the whole purpose behind it all....prayer for the sale of our home....for freedom from bondage...it was such a greater purpose then just getting the house off our back. The whole reason we built the house was to get out from the bondage of the bank.
So we would pray. Right then and there, on the driveway. Then we would remind ourselves of September and quickly leave one another! This went on for a few weeks. We found ourselves constantly praying!
We got some interest in the house during this time. One really low offer which we turned down. That was hard as it made us wonder if we were out of our minds on the price. The other real estate agent showed us how unprecedented our number was.
Then, one day in November (the fast was now over, but we kept praying...in fact I had the kids specifically praying for the number RM had told me), we got another offer. The agent told us it was not what we were asking, so to not be disappointed. We had listed it for well above what we needed just to give us some flex in the negotiating.
Once again, I'll never forget this moment. Our agent put it on the counter in front of both of us upside down. I was prepared to see a really low number. When the agent flipped it over, drumroll please, I was not prepared to see the EXACT NUMBER WE'D BEEN PRAYING FOR. I couldn't believe it. My eyes nearly popped out of my head. The EXACT NUMBER!!!!!!! Can you imagine???? As it turned out, we got more than the offer which was great as we could have certainly used more! I was in awe. I truly believe it was a direct answer to our prayer and fasting. God could have sold it at any number - why the exact number we asked for? Because He wanted to get the glory and that we would know beyond a shadow of a doubt it was NOTHING we had done, it was all Him. Only God could sell that house in a market that was not selling. Only God could sell in off-season, real-estate-wise. It made no sense to sell in November. Everyone sells and lists in the spring, don't they? Only God could sell a house in that short a period of time. Sure enough, our neighbours went wild with glee thinking they, too, could sell their homes at that kind of crazy price and they started listing their homes, too. They couldn't sell them. They stayed on the market for months and months and once they did sell they sold for thousands less. Mind-boggling.
This was a unique fast and one that only married couples can do. I believe this is a type of fast where you are fasting about something that impacts both of you. In this case, it was the sale of our home and freedom from financial bondage. It didn't clear up all of our debt, but it made a huge impact on our lives and it allowed us to buy the farm where we are now. We just have a little ways to go. Those types of fasts need an end time. We used our anniversary because it was so symbolic of our relationship, being one in mind and flesh...so great. It was only for a few weeks and the side benefit was how it put some spice in the romantic side of life - taking something away like that can be very fun as it makes you appreciate one another all the more!
I have another story to share tomorrow along these same lines...
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