PRAYER & FASTING - Part 3

The Power of Fasting

Richard LaFountain gives a good summary on the power of fasting. Detailed people like me would have written another book just to say the following:

What Is Fasting?
Fasting is going without food to pursue and/or focus on something more important.
1. Fasting helps subject our bodies to our spirits. (I Cor 9:27)
2. Fasting is disciplining the body, mind, and spirit. (Prov. 25:28)
3. Fasting is subordinating our flesh-desires to our spirit-desires. (Gal 5:17)
4. Fasting helps set the priorities in our lives. (Mt 6:33)
5. Fasting is longing after God. (Ps 63:1-2)

Why Should We Fast?
1. Honor God - Mt 6:16-18, Luke 2:37, Acts 13:2, Mt 5:6
2. Humble Yourself - 2 Chron 7:14-15
3. Discerning Healing - I Cor 11:30, James 5:13-18, Isaiah 59:1-2
4. Deliverance from Bondage - Mt 17:21, Is 58:6-9 (loose bands of wickedness)
5. Revelation - God’s vision and will - Dan 9:3, 20-21, Dan 10:2-10, 12-13
6. Revival - personal and corporate - Acts 1:4, 14 / 2:16-21, Joel 2:12-18
7. Repentance - personal failures - Psalm 51: Jer. 29:11-14, James 4:8-10

LaFountain’s summary above shows that fasting is so critical in our Christian lives. Unfortunately few Christians take fasting seriously. If we all did there would be great revivals world over, breaking of bondages (yokes) in our lives and other people’s physical lives, spiritual areas, and loosing the bonds of Satan’s wickedness in people’s lives in their physical health, spiritual blindness and deafness to the gospel, marital, family, financial, mental and career bondages.

We would also be able to hear from God over most of our repetitive prayers. “Is not this the fast that I Choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the things of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share you bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house...Then shall you call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, here I am,” (Isaiah 58:6-7, 9)

Few believers ever dream or attempt to fast for 40 days. Breakthroughs that would come after the 40 days can take an entire lifetime to realize, if at all. But let’s focus on at least three days of fasting. It’s good to start on an incremental level to reduce the cries of the body after starting a fast. The first time can last a day. Next can be two days. Then three days. Anyone who reaches three days can easily prolong the fast to even 40 days since the body stops crying and kicking after two to three days.

This is our one major discipline that moves mountains. Unfortunately it’s a rarely practiced discipline in the body of Christ. Some have even assumed that breakthroughs come when we go after demon spirits in thin air and command them let go of our blessings as if they have any. They bombard these spirits, calling it spiritual warfare prayer or deliverance prayer only to come under more attacks.

God said when we humble ourselves through prayer and fasting he, himself takes care of these spirits that have gained legal access into our lives. Our consecration to him closes their legal entry and enables him to rebuke all the devourers and weeds around our lives. He rebukes them, not us. Our only role is to focus on him over what he requires of us, and not to focus on whatever demon spirits are up to.

Prayer and fasting constitute our true spiritual warfare prayers and deliverance prayers. We bring matters before God in humble submission and seek him to deal with them in his power and might. The outcome is twofold: first is victory and deliverance over matters being submitted to him. Second, we draw closer to God, experiencing his grace, love and power. Going after demonic spirits in thin air and calling it spiritual warfare prayer or deliverance prayer is our invention that the bible does not support. No wonder it leads to more bondage instead of deliverance.

To Be Continue.....

P.s: It's Friday! Happy Fasting! Don't forget to attend the Way of the Cross today at church ok... God bless us all!

With Love,
Little Rose