Joel
1:14 Declare a holy fast;
call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the
house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.
Fasting
has been defined as “abstaining away” from something. It was often used in the
Bible to seek God’s face in difficult situations where answers and direction were
needed. You can see an example of where
fasting was done when Queen Esther, in an attempt to save her people, requested
that they fast away from food and drinks for 3 days prior to her going to the
king. Esther
4:15-17 Then Esther sent this reply to
Mordecai: “Go,, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me.
Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast
as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against
the law. And if I perish, I perish.” (NIV)
You may ask, “Why was
it necessary for them to fast?” There are times in life when you may face a
situation, that if it isn’t handled by God, you would definitely meet your
demise, or it could cripple you in such a manner that it would be hard to
return from. This was the type of situation that Esther and her people faced.
An evil man was plotting the downfall of one man, but in order for him to get
the one, he had to plot against a whole nation. Therefore, due to the
seriousness of the matter, Esther called for her people to fast.
Jesus, prior to Him going into
ministry, fasted 40 days and nights. He knew the difficult times that he would
be facing and therefore, he prepared himself by spending those days with God
and abstaining from things of the flesh. Jesus spoke of having faith, but in
some areas of faith, it required prayer and fasting. Matthew
17:20-21 So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you
have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to
there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this
kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
Are we not able to just
go to God in prayer? Yes, we are able to go to God in prayer, but fasting takes
us out of the carnal and places us into the Spirit realm. It opens us up to
receiving answers from God and allowing Him into our minds and bodies in ways
that we aren’t completely able to do when we’re distracted by other things, or
filled with food. We are saying, “Lord, it’s all about You and therefore, I am
willing to be a sacrifice for the things that You would have of me.”
There are some things
that I definitely am in need of God to do in my life. If that means turning
down my plate, cutting of the TV, staying off the phones, etc., then I am
willing to do so. What a small sacrifice in order to receive the answers that I
am looking for from God. I don’t know about you, but I plan to have a great
2014 with God being front and center. I am in need of direction and I know that
He is the best GPS that I could ever have.
If you are in need of
answers from God about some situations, or if you just want to have a closer
relationship with God, why not devote a time of prayer and fasting to Him? God
loves our sacrifice and it opens a pathway between you and the Creator of the
Universe. The best relationship we can have is one with the Lover of our souls.
Why not give prayer and fasting try? Many churches, such as mine, The dReam
Center Church of Atlanta are doing corporate fasts. It is an excellent way to
bring in the new year. Join a fast with your church, or if you have a friend who would join you, that would be great. However, even if you don’t, that is okay.
Just let it be between you and God. I promise you, it will be the greatest
investment you can make. Take care and God bless!
MY
NEW BOOK, “LOVE; BEGINS AT THE HEART OF GOD” IS NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM.
Order your copy Today!!! Thank you and God bless!
