It is Lent, the 40 days of spiritual preparation leading up to Easter, when Christians mark the death and celebrate the resurrection of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Prayer and fasting have been a huge part of my spiritual walk, and I wanted to take the challenge to pray and fast for 40 days. So, I challenged my students at the Texas Woman’s University Baptist Student Ministry to join me.
Sharel Kaye BratcherA lot of them never had fasted before, so this was a whole new thing for them. Two students in particular who took the challenge to pray and fast felt led not just to participate, but also to read the Bible and learn more.
Breanna and Isabel were walking from class towards the BSM to get ready for free lunch on Wednesday. They talked about reading Isaiah 58 to learn more about what the Bible says about fasting. It wasn’t like they had never given up something for a period of time, but saw how it could it benefit them spiritually and how could they grow in their walk with the Lord during this time.
They arrived at the BSM, pulled out their Bibles and began to read and discuss what Scripture says in Isaiah. Soon, other students who were there joined in. Out of nowhere, a Bible study on prayer and fasting started because the desire to learn more stirred their hearts.
Breanna, one of our newest student leaders said, “We basically went over Isaiah 58 to try to just figure out what fasting is supposed to be and how to do it correctly—instead of putting emphasis on the object itself, truly putting it on God.” She said they didn’t want to just treat it “like a New Year’s resolution” but truly recognize what a biblical fast involves.
This was so encouraging, knowing the students aren’t just relying on us to challenge them and lead them, but taking the initiative to learn the truth for themselves. That shows real maturity. It means we aren’t just leading a student organization with challenges and expectations for them to do works based on Christianity and morals, but leading a group of students who are disciples making disciples. It was encouraging to know it wasn’t my doing as a BSM campus missionary intern or even the work of our director, but the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts.
Sharel Kaye Bratcher is serving as a campus missionary intern at Texas Woman’s University in Denton through Go Now Missions.
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