Psalm 63:8 My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.
In Psalm 63:8, David describes that his entire natural soulical being, his mind, will, and emotions, followed hard after God. In the Hebrew, hard is dabaq meaning to cleave, to adhere firmly as if with glue. David was pressing into God so hard that he was literally adhered to his pursuit.
Yet for many of us as we embark upon this fast, we find that we are experiencing a different kind of hardness. For some your spirits have become hard, impenetrable, even unavailable. For others, you may be experiencing a hard time or season, or you are in a hard place or strait. And for others, you are hard pressed to even find a pursuit, yours has grown weak, anesthetized, and apathetic.
'Following hard' is a demonstration of the Holy Spirit through the will. The Holy Spirit supplies you with the energy required to press toward purpose. When our press towards God is driven by the Holy Spirit, and not the fickleness of our flesh, that pursuit becomes 'hard,' (def: solid, firm, resistant to pressure or giving up, it is a focused and concentrated effort that is not easily broken, bent or pierced.)
Following hard after God is not a casual entreaty.
It is not an occasional or optional pursuit.
It is not limited to circumstances.
It is not derailed or delayed by distraction.
It is not situational or only when we feel like it, or need it.
It is not governed by emotions, exhaustion, or physical variables.
It is not something that any one of us is exempt from its necessity.
Following hard after God is a consistent, strenuous, arduous effort and it doesn't show any signs of weakness, waning, ebbing, or abating. Its expression may shift, and its intensity may vary, but as a Spirit-filled believer, its embers are ever enduring.
In the fast, many will experience a reigniting of this press. We need to experience the Holy Spirit dominating our physical body and mental faculties. When we give the Holy Spirit permission, and feed our press with the Spirit's strength, and we become empowered candidates to perform and receive His supernatural feats.
Following hard after God makes us absolutely irresistible to Him. This earnest, sincere, and passionate pursuit will make it impossible for Him not to initiate the divine orchestrations necessary to answer our prayers and receive our supplications. The heart that follows hard after God is never denied or resisted; it becomes the fertile ground for profound spiritual work.
Following hard after God releases into our daily awareness a larger scope. When we press into God, we become hungry to see Him move outside of ourselves, in people, situations, and regions beyond. That press and seek moves us into global significance, and we become catalysts and agents of His divine purpose, and agitators against the enemy's long-term plans.
As we move into the extended tenure of this fast, take your temperature. Do you find yourself engaged in a lukewarm and tepid pursuit? Are you described in Revelation 3:16 as neither hot nor cold? Following hard is a matter of the heart. A love that is born from a refreshed spirit and a renewed mind. The spirit and anointing of fasting and prayer will create the conditions ripe for spiritual pursuit, and you will begin again to follow hard after Him.
Let's do as Paul in Colossians 1:29, Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily!