Fasting & Prayer Has a Purpose
(This Weekly Prayer Summary was written by Esmi Lukman, from the CBC English Core Team Prayer Ministry, and edited by Brigitta Tedja)
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Pastor Paul continues the sermon series about Fasting and Prayer. He shared a memory from when he was younger and how his martial arts teacher told him that the most difficult enemy to defeat is ourselves. Fasting is not part of Pastor Paul’s culture, yet when he fasted and prayed, he now reaps the harvest of his friends’ and family’s salvation. His sharing about fasting today is beyond the material blessing and that we will be encouraged and motivated to fast.
Fasting and Prayer Has a Purpose
Christianity today is not about the cross, but about the couch. Today’s Christianity is not about denial, but about comfort. Make a decision to fast and pray, not an impulsive decision, but one with your intelligence, understanding, and proper knowledge so that you can experience Jesus’ presence in a fresh way when you fast and pray.
Three Dynamics (Disciplines We Need to Remember and Be Part of Our Lifestyle)
1. When you give (Matthew 6:2)
2. When you pray (Mathew 6:5)
3. When you fast (Matthew 6:17)
The word “When” is not “If”, that means we will give, we will pray, and we will fast for a purpose. Giving has a purpose. Praying has a purpose. Fasting has a purpose and it should be a lifestyle. These are three basic disciplines. When you are blessed, you are blessed for a purpose. Prayer should be automatic and a lifestyle. Fasting also has a mission and a purpose.
Assignment #1 is to read the book of Isaiah chapter 58.
The fasting that God wants is the chosen fast:
Isaiah 58:6, NKJV
“Is ths not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?”
Fasting must be coupled with prayer and spending time with the Word.
The enemy wants to bring us back to the past, but God wants to bring us to the future
We need to make a decision to seek the Lord and pray and fast.
Isaiah 58:12, NKJV
“Those from among you
Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,
The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.”
2 Chronicles 20:3 “And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.”
Jehoshaphat was afraid because many nations were attacking them. He made a decision to seek the Lord and fast. Once Jehoshaphat received the word, he still fasted. When we receive a word, we need to continue to fast to make sure that the words we received from the Lord works. We need to make sure that the promise we have received works.
When we seek wisdom, receive plans, strategies, and creative ideas, we need to obey. Jehoshaphat received a “weird” strategy of placing Judah, the worshipers, in the frontlines. When he obeyed, their victory was secured. When we pray, God works. Because of that moment of our fasting and prayer, the course of our family and our nation will be changed for the better.
Assignment #2 is to read the book of Ezra chapter 8.
Ezra 8:21 “And there by the Ahava Canal, I gave orders for all of us to fast and humble ourselves before our God. We prayed that he would give us a safe journey and protect us, our children, and our goods as we traveled.”
Fasting is:
Not about bragging
About seeking God
Not about showing off
Not about competing
All about humbling ourselves
We don’t seek for breakthrough; we seek the God of the breakthrough.
We don’t seek for blessings, we seek the God of the blessing, we seek the Source.
We don’t go after the deliverance; we seek the Deliverer.
Assignment #3 is to read the book of Matthew chapter 17.
Matthew 17:21 “But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
In the book of Matthew 17, the context of the story is not about the kind of demon, but it is the kind of “unbelief”.
There are levels of belief:
Unbelief
You believe, but don’t believe. “I believe, help my unbelief.”
As we enter the next phase of our lives, we need to grow in our faith! We cannot use the faith we had last year or 5 years ago.
1 Samuel 31:11-13“But when the people of Jabesh-Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, all their mighty warriors traveled through the night to Beth-shan and took the bodies of Saul and his sons down from the wall. They brought them to Jabesh, where they burned the bodies. Then they took their bones and buried them beneath the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days.”
Why did they risk their lives and traveled through the night to recover the four dead bodies? After they recovered the bodies, they fasted. Why did they fast for seven days? It is because they decided to break the curse of disobedience made by their leader, King Saul. Rebellion is the sin of witchcraft. They fasted to break every demonic power that held back the nation of Israel from being successful.
Fasting should motivate us to break the sins of the previous generations. What has been holding you back? Even from the previous generation? Seek the Lord! Do not just grieve and mourn and dwell in the past. After that, David was anointed as King of Israel and the nation prospered because the people of Jabesh-Gilead made a decision to pray and fast and turned the course of their nation.
Make the decision to set your heart to fast and you can change the course of our family and the nation.
Types of Fasting (Private/Individual, Corporate, Whole Nation-King Hezekiah):
Daniel Fast — it is nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.
Absolute Fast (Radical/Supernatural) — absolutely no eating or drinking.
Not recommended unless directed by God
Liquid Fast — just liquids: water, fruit juice, clear broth, etc.
Sunup to Sundown Fast — fasting from sunup to sundown.
We need to prepare ourselves and adjust our stomachs. Please use wisdom when fasting because it is not meant to torment your body but to deny your flesh. Do not forget to break your fast wisely. Having God’s word is one thing, but having it work is another thing. The word that God gave us should work.
Fasting coupled with prayer is powerful!
Prayer Points:
Pray to grow and mature spiritually, no more being baby Christians
Pray for hearing ears, seeing eyes, and obedient attitudes
Pray that the fasting will not just be a religious activity, but done to seek a relationship with God
Pray to make giving, prayer, and fasting a lifestyle
Pray for obedient hearts
Pray to set our hearts to seek God through prayer and fasting
Pray that as we do the chosen fast, God uses us:
To loose the bonds of wickedness
To undo the heavy burdens
To let the oppressed go free
To break every yoke:
Zechariah 4:6 “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit”, says the Lord Almighty.”To build the old waste places
To raise up the foundations of many generations
To be the Repairer of the Breach
Pray for transformation in our lives and for God to use us to set the course in our family and nation
Pray for welcoming the Word of God to read us, change us, and sanctify us
Pray to not have preconceived ideas, but to welcome the work of the Holy Spirit
Pray and prepare the soil of our hearts to be healthy so that the Word of God can grow and is not trampled by the cares of the world or stolen by the enemy.
Pray for the building of the Ministry Center
We are building a building but God is using us to build us