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Have you ever felt strongly that something was supposed to happen? You were so sure you had heard from God? You waited, you prayed, you waited some more, and nothing. Then the questions started: Did I miss God? Was that just me? Why isn’t anything happening? In Mark Chapter 9, a father brought his son to nine of Jesus’ disciples. The boy was demonized and epileptic, and even though the disciples had healed people before, they couldn’t heal him. When the disciples brought the boy to Jesus and he was healed, they asked Jesus this question, “Why couldn’t we do it?” Jesus answers in verse 29, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting.” The Benefits of Fasting There are things that God desires to happen in our lives and ministry that won’t happen unless we fast. Fasting breaks strongholds, liberates people, and moves us into a realm of realizing God’s power in our lives. The more time you’re spending with God, the more you’re going to see the hand of God on your life in an extraordinary way. Like the disciples, there are things that God wills for us to do that we will not have the power to bring about unless we have spent time with Him. What is Biblical Fasting? Fasting is abstaining from food (or other things) in order to give ourselves to prayer and fellowship with the Lord. The Bible mentions three kinds of fasts: Absolute Fast: No food or water. Normal Fast: Abstaining from food. Partial Fast: Daniel’s fast – abstaining from meat, sweets, bread or you can only eat bread.
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(MSG) Esau comes in and says, “I am willing to sacrifice spiritual (and physical) blessing on the altar of my immediate appetite.” There are some blessings from God you and I will never receive unless we dethrone what commentator Matthew Henry called, “King Stomach.” The Physical and Spiritual Battle As we fast, there will be physical challenges along the way. Some may experience a caffeine headache, some may not feel well. For most there is more than just a little detoxing happening in our bodies. But the battle is more than physiological; as we fast a spiritual battle is being waged. Things are happening in the spiritual realm that we neither perceive nor understand outside of God revealing those things to us. The Power of Prayer It’s important to remember that fasting is more than just missing a meal. Powerful seasons of fasting are experienced when we plan to spend additional time in God’s presence as we fast. As well, purpose now that every hunger pang, every feeling of fatigue, and every caffeine headache will be a reminder to call on God in that moment and to cry out for those things you are seeking Him to do in your life. David Mathis says, “[Fasting] is a desperate measure, for desperate times, among those who know themselves desperate for God.” But don’t just focus on the battle or the pain – Scriptures promises there is fullness of joy in God’s presence and there are pleasures at His right hand. Delight yourself in seeking Him and you’ll know the joy of seeing Him work in your life.
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It is frightening not knowing the future and it can be discouraging when things start to pile up on us. We can become so burdened down with the troubles of the world that we can grow into a deep depression and times of sadness can overwhelm us but Jesus tells us “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt 11:28). When we are feeling sad we are often not in the Word but when we are in the Word we are often not feeling as sad. Use God’s Word to lift you up and out from the waves of deep sadness or depression because God’s Word has real power to accomplish what even the best human counselors cannot.
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Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." There is no way that you can be feeling sad when you are giving thanks to God. When we are rejoicing for all that God has done, we can’t be feeling sad because these two are polar opposites of one another. Many people that I counsel with that have severe depression, times of sadness, or have a lack of the assurance of their salvation are spending little or no time in the Bible and that’s too bad because it can bring us out of the darkness into the light because “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ" (Rom 10:17).
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No one can have the peace of God until they are first at peace with God and those who are born again should have this peace (Rom 5:1) because they’re not under condemnation anymore (Rom 8:1). Whoever has their mind “stayed" on God, He promises to keep them “in perfect peace." Why you might ask? It’s because they trust in Him. Trust or faith is the other end of the spectrum of doubt and fear. It’s so easy to have times of sadness when we take our minds off of the great and precious promises of God and “he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires" (2 Pet 1:4) and every one of those promises are found as sure in God (2 Cor 1:20).
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Psalm 31: Turn Your Ear to Me Turn your ear to me, ?come quickly to my rescue; ?be my rock of refuge, ?a strong fortress to save me. –Psalm 31:2
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Let your lives be built on GOD. Colossians 2:7
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Blessed are those who believe without seeing ME...... GOD SAYS. John 20:29
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Believe in the LORD Jesus and you will be saved. Acts 16:31
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Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust HIM and HE will help you. Psalm 37:5
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