Fasting
in the Spirit
4 Then the word of
the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 5 “Say to all the
people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you fasted and mourned in
the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you
really fast for Me—for Me? 6 When you eat and when you drink, do
you not eat and drink for yourselves? 7 Should
you not have obeyed the words which
the Lord proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem
and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous, and the South
and the Lowland were inhabited?’”
Many
of us desire to fast for multiple reasons and for whatever that reason maybe
let it be with a sincere heart and allow God to do what He desires in our time
of need. Some matters are urgent, we may be fasting on behalf of others, or
facing a crisis. We often ask first for what we want and need before we fast. However, no matter how we look at fasting the
end goal is to receive what it is that we ask for and desire.
Our
victories are in the hands of the Lord, and He knows all about our issues,
troubles, fears, and problems. We only see the worst of what could happen if
God doesn’t step in to move on our behalf or may feel disappointed if we fail
to receive the favor we need. God is the only one who can fix the hearts of men
to move for us to give us the favor we prayed for and release the power to move
these mountains in our lives.
We
are His people, and He wants us to know Him, love Him and seek a relationship
with Him before we need something. Fasting is one of the most intimate ways in
growing our relationship with Jesus because it’s an opportunity for God to
speak to us and a time when we are open to listen and receive a revelation
concerning our lives. The Lord is listening to us, but we must also try to
understand what pleases Him as we get to know Him through fasting.
Let’s ponder on some of the people whose lives were changed that had received God’s favor and victories. King Jehoshaphat was granted the assurance that God would be with him always. 2 Chronicles 20:15 15 And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Noah and his family were found righteous and were saved from the flood. Genesis 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. But Noah pleased the Lord. Joseph knew the God of Israel as a young boy. Genesis 39:2 The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. The Lord helped Joseph to become a successful man. He lived in the house of his master, Potiphar the Egyptian.
He smiled upon their lives and did these amazing miracles for them. They were not perfect men nonetheless, they were pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. The Bible only gives us some details about their lives. They feared the Lord, worshiped, prayed, and fasted because they believed in Him. That alone shows that they had developed an intimacy with God that caused Him to respond to them in many ways to let them know how much He loved them.
As we prepare to approach God by prayer and fasting, we should be mindful of our hearts posture, humility, our attitudes and walk with the Lord. When we fast our minds are focusing on the things that we want and need from this transaction. However, we need to understand it’s a two-way street in a sense. We are on the receiving end and expecting something for our time and sacrifice. Yet not having food and water only starves the body for the time being, but our hearts and minds need to be repentive for our anger, unforgiveness, hate, rebelliousness, or perhaps our motives maybe wrong for why we’re fasting.
We must be willing to present ourselves in a humble posture to show the Lord our sincerity by acknowledging these sins that maybe our stumbling blocks in our lives. We must decrease and allow Him to be Omnipotent. When we come to God this way it lets Him know that we need Him to hear us and have mercy on us. He is the only One who can deliver us, fight our battles, move these mountains, silence our enemies, turn things around in our favor, bless our homes, marriages, families, reveal our purpose, fulfill our dreams, turn our sadness into joy, heal us from all sickness and disease. He created us and everything and knows the purpose for it. His resume is undefeatable.
During our fast we must be willing to allow the Lord to lead and humbly accept His will in how He chooses to answer our prayers and fast. Our devotion needs to be spontaneous and free while we’re fasting, so that the Holy Spirit can have the freedom to speak and reveal things to us. We should be intentional with reading the Word of God, sitting still in a quiet safe place, turning off the t.v., muting our electronic devices or anything that could influence our thoughts or distract us from hearing the Lord.
He is Omnipresent so we must not take it lightly or put God in a box. We must give Him our time and mind because He wants to draw us closer to Him so that we may know that the Father is as close to us as our breath when we breathe. Moments like these are precious because God wants our love to be pure for Him not because of what we receive but because He’s the God of the Holy Bible that died for our sins and He lives. Our fasting opens the portals of heaven when we come in a humble posture before the Lord seeking to know Him beyond our earthly whims and needs that we may have.
He wants to teach us about the things that the Bible says about the plans that God has for us. We must pull away from the world that we live and spend more time to develop an intimacy with the Father in heaven. The things that we’re chasing after in the world will crumble and anything else that we worship will not fulfill us i.e., degrees, accomplishments, and prestige. God the Father is hallow and there is no other god or thing that has the power to love us, save us, forgive us of our sins, and restore us from brokenness. This scripture comes to my mind. Jeremiah 29:11 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
When the Lord answers our prayers from fasting, we must delight in Him and continue to draw closer to Him. We must not let the noise from the world to drown out our worship and praise as we give thanks to the Lord who is forever loving and gracious to us. He is worthy of all our time and praise!
Lastly, fasting in secret is spiritual because it creates an intimacy between God and the person. When we pray and fast, we are placing our hearts on the altar for God to examine us and bless our petitions that only He is able to perform. His approval is manifested to us in many ways, i.e., when we can see it and hold it in our hands, receive that special phone call, meet the right person, a peace that comes over us about a matter, or sends us a witness confirming that it’s yours. Therefore, continue to trust in the Lord.
Fasting
through Seasons
God
sees your heart and trouble
Don’t
break the fast
During the night when it’s dark
Let
the tears fall freely
He’s
working in the spirit
Hold
on and believe in prayer
You
must develop the faith
Decree
your desires to the Lord
Stop
fighting your emotions and surrender
In
the hour of glory a manifestation will come
The
answer, an open door or deliverance
As
you get closer to your breakthrough
Prepare
to shout and give God your praise
No comments:
Post a Comment
I ask you to be respectful and mindful of all comments and interactions. Comments that use swearing or bullying will be deleted. God bless you.