"Your kingdom come, Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10).
This week, focus each morning on Matthew 6:10. Bring each situation to the Lord and pray, "Let Your will be done in every detail. Let Your kingdom rule take effect in every detail." Bring every detail of your situations before Him, asking Him to take full charge.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Okay, what is the Purpose for Fasting, if not to persuade God?
Hi,
Okay, what is the Purpose for Fasting, if not to persuade God?
Fasting sometimes helps us to establish priorities.
Section 9: Fasting and Prayer
Lesson Forty-Four: Fasting and Prayer
Okay, what is the Purpose for Fasting, if not to persuade God?
To establish priorities
Sometimes, even in full-time Christian ministry, we lose sight of true spiritual priorities. Fasting helps us reestablish our spiritual values and get a fresh glimpse of things from God’s point of view (Isa. 58:6–8). When we fast, we can better see the Lord and His plans. Rough Rider Teddy Roosevelt believed, "Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."
Throughout our Christian journey of failures and successes we gradually learn to establish godly priorities—and fasting helps us achieve this.
To empower praying
Jesus’ disciples were perplexed with their lack of spiritual power against darkness. When they asked Jesus why, He explained that this was a situation where prayer with fastingwas required. In other words, fasting would empower their prayer and increase their anointing against the forces of evil (Matt. 17:21).
"Fasting makes my heart and mind clearer and more open to God."
Our friend Cindy Jacobs, in her book Possessing the Gates of the Enemy, writes, "Fasting multiplies the effect of prayer at least several times. This is why we often ask for fasting chains along with prayer requests for serious issues. Fasting will touch things that prayer alone will not affect."
We don’t seek spiritual power as an end to itself. We seek the Lord Himself. We are His instruments of righteousness and warriors in His army. Perhaps the clearest example of the power of fasting is found in the forty-day fast of Jesus, after which came the "wilderness temptation."
In Luke 4:1 we read of Jesus’ going into the desert to begin His fast: Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan [following His baptism] and was led by the Spirit into the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.—EMPHASIS ADDEDThen, in verse 14 we read, "Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside" (emphasis added). When Jesus enteredHis personal battle with Satan, He was full of the Holy Spirit. But when He emerged from the battle, victory in hand, He did so in the power of the Holy Spirit. This was the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, which was accompanied from this time forth with mighty signs and wonders! Perhaps a successful forty-day fast should be required for graduation from our Bible schools and seminaries!
As we’ve said, fasting isn’t simply a Christian discipline. Religions around the world utilize fasting for some of the same reasons Christians do. In fact, C. Peter Wagner received the following letter from a Baptist leader:
During the flight from Detroit, I had a man sitting next to me who seemed to have little interest in food or conversation. As we crossed the halfway point in the trip, he bowed his head as though he were praying. After his lips stopped moving and he raised his head, I inquired, "Are you a Christian?" I had given him no indication that I was a Baptist pastor and a university professor.
He looked shocked at my question and commented, "Oh, no. You have me all wrong, I’m not a Christian... I’m actually a Satanist."
I asked him what he was praying for as a Satanist. He answered, "Do you really want to know?"
Assuring him that I did, he said, "My primary attention is directed toward the fall of Christian pastors and their families living in New England." He was serious about his mission and didn’t care to discuss it further.
We’ll see you next week!
Eddie and Alice
Tell your friends about our 52 Week School of Prayer and the bonus! (Click Here)
Okay, what is the Purpose for Fasting, if not to persuade God?
Fasting sometimes helps us to establish priorities.
Section 9: Fasting and Prayer
Lesson Forty-Four: Fasting and Prayer
Okay, what is the Purpose for Fasting, if not to persuade God?
To establish priorities
Sometimes, even in full-time Christian ministry, we lose sight of true spiritual priorities. Fasting helps us reestablish our spiritual values and get a fresh glimpse of things from God’s point of view (Isa. 58:6–8). When we fast, we can better see the Lord and His plans. Rough Rider Teddy Roosevelt believed, "Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."
Throughout our Christian journey of failures and successes we gradually learn to establish godly priorities—and fasting helps us achieve this.
To empower praying
Jesus’ disciples were perplexed with their lack of spiritual power against darkness. When they asked Jesus why, He explained that this was a situation where prayer with fastingwas required. In other words, fasting would empower their prayer and increase their anointing against the forces of evil (Matt. 17:21).
"Fasting makes my heart and mind clearer and more open to God."
Our friend Cindy Jacobs, in her book Possessing the Gates of the Enemy, writes, "Fasting multiplies the effect of prayer at least several times. This is why we often ask for fasting chains along with prayer requests for serious issues. Fasting will touch things that prayer alone will not affect."
We don’t seek spiritual power as an end to itself. We seek the Lord Himself. We are His instruments of righteousness and warriors in His army. Perhaps the clearest example of the power of fasting is found in the forty-day fast of Jesus, after which came the "wilderness temptation."
In Luke 4:1 we read of Jesus’ going into the desert to begin His fast: Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan [following His baptism] and was led by the Spirit into the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.—EMPHASIS ADDEDThen, in verse 14 we read, "Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside" (emphasis added). When Jesus enteredHis personal battle with Satan, He was full of the Holy Spirit. But when He emerged from the battle, victory in hand, He did so in the power of the Holy Spirit. This was the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, which was accompanied from this time forth with mighty signs and wonders! Perhaps a successful forty-day fast should be required for graduation from our Bible schools and seminaries!
As we’ve said, fasting isn’t simply a Christian discipline. Religions around the world utilize fasting for some of the same reasons Christians do. In fact, C. Peter Wagner received the following letter from a Baptist leader:
During the flight from Detroit, I had a man sitting next to me who seemed to have little interest in food or conversation. As we crossed the halfway point in the trip, he bowed his head as though he were praying. After his lips stopped moving and he raised his head, I inquired, "Are you a Christian?" I had given him no indication that I was a Baptist pastor and a university professor.
He looked shocked at my question and commented, "Oh, no. You have me all wrong, I’m not a Christian... I’m actually a Satanist."
I asked him what he was praying for as a Satanist. He answered, "Do you really want to know?"
Assuring him that I did, he said, "My primary attention is directed toward the fall of Christian pastors and their families living in New England." He was serious about his mission and didn’t care to discuss it further.
We’ll see you next week!
Eddie and Alice
Tell your friends about our 52 Week School of Prayer and the bonus! (Click Here)
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