I find the story of Anna fascinating -- three short verses that resonate with joy and intrigue (Luke 2:36-38). Luke tells us little about this woman he calls a prophetess, except that she'd been widowed at a young age and had given herself to temple prayer and fasting ever since. One has to wonder if these decades later, she just happened to be in the right place at the right time the day Mary and Joseph showed up to have Jesus circumcised. Or is it more likely that she was part of a divine scheme set in motion long before she was born?

Two obscure details in the story seem to indicate that this event was more than mere coincidence. First, Anna was of the tribe of Asher, one of the few who hundreds of years before had returned to Jerusalem to participate in the restoration of Passover at King Hezekiah's request (2 Chronicles 30). That event heralded a time of great revival for people like Anna's ancestors as they braved the scorn of idolatrous Israelites to worship God. Because of her forefathers' zeal for the Lord, Anna's home was Jerusalem where the Messiah came to call these many generations later.

Second, Anna's father' s name was Phanuel, derived from the altar Jacob built after wrestling all night with an angel. It meant I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved (Genesis 32:30). Perhaps Anna learned as a young girl at her father's feet of the greatness of their God and the joy of following Him. One can imagine Phanuel explaining his name, telling her stories of a Messiah yet to come, and urging her to seek the face of God with all that was within her.

So what are we to glean from this tiny tidbit of a story that Luke so meticulously records in his history of Christ? I remember reading it for the first time several years ago and being plagued with guilt. I couldn't seem to manage a 30 minute quiet time and yet this woman did nothing but pray and fast for some 65 years. What motivated her? What kept her on her knees when the signs of a Messiah were nowhere in sight? Baffled by her fervor, I longed to learn the secrets of prayer that she possessed.

Then one Sunday morning something happened that gave me a glimpse into Anna's heart. Toward the end of my quiet time as I asked God to do a work that day in our services, a deep cry erupted within me and I began to weep for no apparent reason. Though I did not speak, I knew prayer was pouring forth from my soul. When the tears subsided, I was surprised at the intensity of the experience, and overwhelmed with the deep sense of God's presence it brought. For the first time I felt I understood Paul's words that the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words (Romans 8:26).

The significance of this experience was soon made clear to me while reading a book on fasting. It spoke of the hunger we have for God that can take the form of a deep mourning before Him for His presence in our lives. The key passage was a discussion Jesus had with some of John the Baptist's disciples who were bothered because they fasted, but His disciples didn't. Jesus responded cryptically: The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast (Mark 9:15).

Jesus seemed to be saying that within the heart of His bride, the church, a deep yearning for His presence will reside. Like a young woman whose fiance' has gone away, her heart will ache as she mourns his absence until the day he returns. This is something beyond human experience, for Paul's words imply that the Spirit Himself is groaning within us. Why is this? Because the heart-cry of the God-head is for the presence of Christ to be manifested, captivating souls and raising up worshippers throughout the earth until He is given first place in everything. Indeed, until that final day when He comes in power to establish His awesome reign, the Spirit mourns the Bridegroom's presence on earth through the prayers of His people.

I believe that though we may not all weep, the Spirit within each of us desires to stir up inimitable longing for more of Jesus. If we open our hearts to this journey in prayer, soon we will find ourselves praying, crying out, pleading for Him to manifest His presence in our hearts, our homes, our cities, our nation, indeed among all the peoples of the earth, so that He might be worthily worshipped. To pray this way is to enter into the very heart of God. These are holy moments.

And like Anna, one day we too may look back upon a life spent in blessed vigils of prayer and fasting. As her heart yearned for the Messiah to come, so too will ours, quickened by the same cry the Holy Spirit continually put within her. Fleeting glimpses of His glorious presence must have driven Anna to her knees over and over again. The fellowship of the Spirit she knew in prayer must have produced a joy she could not resist, even amidst tears. This is the treasure at our fingertips as well, as we cry out for His coming, in Spirit today and in glorious return at the end of time.

Hallelujah, for He came...and He comes...and He will come again. This is the prospect that provokes prayer, the cause and consolation for our tears, and the expectation that must energize all who are betrothed to Christ, our beautiful Bridegroom. With joyful hope we cry out: Yes, Lord, the Spirit and the bride say, Come.

At salvation we were betrothed to Christ, His Spirit placed in us as a pledge, like a young woman wears an engagement ring. We are promised to Him and our entire life here is to be one of joyful wedding preparation. In what specific ways does your daily life demonstrate that you are preparing for this with joy and expectation?

The most tender and pressing reason we fast and pray and intercede is out of lovesick longing to see Jesus. Our cry as the Bride of Christ joins with the cry of the Holy Spirit, "Come Lord Jesus." We want to see our Beloved come -- to manifest His reign in our homes, our city, our nation, our world. How might the spiritual disciplines of fasting and/or prayer change as a result of understanding this?

Ponder your longing for Jesus. Is it growing? Do you delight in Him, crave more of Him, yearn for the day you will see Him face to face? Are you learning to persevere by experiencing His presence through the Spirit within you? Reflect on the incomparable wonder of this and write a prayer of response.