LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil​
 
Friday 26th June 2026
 
Scripture Reading: Joel 2:15-18

SET YOURSELF APART

Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room. Joel 2:16
 
In a consecrated public fast, God calls all the community to participate. In a private fast, what we do is only related to us as individuals.
 
Fasting is both a personal and collective activity. There are moments when individuals chose to set aside time to fast and seek God’s face either as an act of repentance or to deepen one’s relationship with God by setting time to wait on Him or a varied other reason. However, in the scriptures we also see that fasting is a corporate spiritual discipline that is undertaken by a group of people for a specific purpose.
 
The Lord instructed the leaders of Israel to sanctify the congregation: The word sanctify means to “set apart.”
 
• The first thing we must set apart is our hearts.

That means we turn our hearts to the Lord and make Him our priority.
 
• Secondly, we must set time apart for the Lord.

That means we must monitor how we use our time. We must make a concerted effort to block a period of time in the day for the Lord. At that time, we must give Him our full attention.
 
• Thirdly, we must set our appetites apart.

 That means we set our focus and affection on the Lord and this is done by avoiding everything that will serve as a distraction to us. It could be social media, sports, and other interests.
 
Fasting is for all. The Lord charged His people to “Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room.” The call was so intense and compelling. The Lord required everyone to commit to what He wanted them to do.
 
Let us maximize every moment during these forty days of prayer and fasting. Let us use this moment to reorder our priorities, sharpen our passion for God, renew our devotion to the Lord and develop new spiritual habits that will draw us closer to the Lord.
 
Prayer:

 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.