UNDERSTANDING THE POWER AND IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER AND FASTING “And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. BUT THE DAYS WILL COME,WHEN THE BRIDEGROOM SHALL BE TAKEN AWAY FROM THEM, AND THEY SHALL FAST IN THOSE DAYS. (Mark 2:18-20) WHAT IS FASTING? The word translated fast from the Hebrew means to put your hand over your mouth. In Greek, it means to abstain from something, normally food. Simply put, fasting is abstaining from food for a certain period of time for the purpose of engaging yourself in uninterrupted prayer, study and meditation with a clear objective. WHY IS FASTING NECESSARY? It is a declaration of seriousness and urgency in addressing the matter at hand. It helps you to be earnest in your prayers and it will certainly be heartfelt and continued. Thus, making tremendous miracle working power available needed to get the job done(James 5:17 AMP) The fasting exercise promotes focus and undivided attention to meditating on the word you want to make real and to prayer. Thus, sharpening your ability to receive and hear from God. It’s like fine tuning your spirit or raising your spiritual antenna to pick the signals of the Holy Spirit’s communication. The more a person fasts and spends quality time praying in tongues and acting on the word is the more he becomes sensitive to the spirit realm. Fasting is a form of self-denial, where you’re able to subdue your flesh, subdue your appetites, and then you can listen to the voice of the Spirit of God within you. It helps the individual tame the flesh and lift the spirit. You’ll become spirit-controlled and not flesh-controlled. Because when you fast you’ll deliberately resist the urge to eat thereby improving your mastery over the cravings of the body and its senses. It helps us improve our effectiveness in the things of the Spirit. Fasting is an instrument for dramatic and speedy change and miracles for the person praying and the object of his prayers. Important thing to remember: Fasting is not a means to get God to hear us, its a means to get us to hear God. Whether we fast or not God will hear us as long as we pray. Fasting doesnt change God, it changes us. BENEFITS OF FASTING From Isaiah 58 and Acts 13:1-3 Your light will break forth like the morning; no obstacle will be able to keep your light from shining; the obstacles will be removed. Prisoners will be released and yokes will be broken; the anointing will be so tangible that this will become automatic. You’ll stay healthy, and if you are sick your health shall spring forth speedily. The manifestation of God’s glory will be your reward; you’ll see the power of God in a whole new way. You’ll experience miracles, for they are the manifestation of the glory of God: “This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.” (John 2:11) The Lord will guide you continually; because your spirit will be attuned to God’s Spirit you’ll receive the leadings of God’s Spirit continually. He will satisfy your soul in drought; you will not experience dryness in any area of your life. Psalms 34:10 says “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.” He will increase you (make fat your bones); you’ll experience the riches and richness of God in everything you do. King Uzziah the 16 years old king “…sought God in the days of Zechariah… and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.” (2 Chronicles 26:5) The reason many ministries and churches don’t prosper is because they don’t seek God with their whole hearts in prayer. Evil is done when ministers of the Gospel do not prepare their hearts to seek the Lord: “And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.” (2Chronicles 12:14) You’ll be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. Everything you do will flourish and prosper! You’ll be an instrument of restoration and change. God will cause you to enjoy the wealth of Jacob and make you to ride on the high places of the earth. You’ll know the will of God and have supernatural visions and revelations: “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” (Jeremiah 33:3) While Cornelius was praying and fasting he had an open vision of an angel (Acts 10:30) When you study in the New Testament, after the death of Jesus Christ, you hardly find any dreaming there. Instead, Christians were given the ability to have visions – visions are more real than dreams. In fact, He told us “In the last day, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:” [Joel 2:28]. Its letting us know that the dreams will be fading away; the dreams are going with the old generation. Visions are coming in with the new generation. We are the new generation. And so, when you pray and fast you increase the flow of visions and revelations. Note: Fasting is not a hunger strike. It is not a means to get God to hear us; it gets us to hear God. Whether we fast or not God will hear us as long as we pray according to His will. HOW TO PRAY AND FAST What are your expectations? Have a clear goal (s) and write it down. Spend quality time to pray study and meditate on the word. Do not appear to men to fast appear to the Father, and He’ll reward you openly (Matthew 6:18) Stay focused. Minimize unnecessary activities. Your fasting should be sufficiently long to be effective, and you should be hungry at some point during the fast. Endure the hunger and continue. This is why you are fasting, you want to be hungry and say “no!” to food so that you can accomplish your spiritual goal (s) Who should pray and fast and when is the best time to pray and fast? Anybody and every believer should pray and fast once in a while. You don’t necessarily need to be in trouble before you can fast. You can fast to improve your spirit, to spend quality time to seek God, and make preparations for the days ahead. The Spirit of God can lead you to pray and fast, and He’d tell you how long you should fast. There are no specific rules of fasting because there are different kinds of fasting – it is the purpose of the fast that determines what you should or should not do during the fast. There are certain times the Holy Spirit can lead the whole Church to fast and the Pastor would announce the fast. These are special times and should not be missed because they bear an accuracy and grace that is unusual. What fasting can do for you may not be obtained any other way. I’ve received a lot of testimonies from people testifying of instant answers to prayers, visions, guidance; supernatural provision etc. when they fasted, time cannot allow me to get into the details of their testimonies. Use this study as a guide to pray and fast and send me your testimonies and experience from your prayer and fasting inbox me or send me an E-mail: Pastorsiamej@gmail I shower the Love and grace of the Master on you. Love you :)
Posted on: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 10:08:54 +0000
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