Tag Archives: Fasting

Fasting together: The dust I can’t see

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Today’s post is from a conversation the Lord started with me a while back. I hope it is a blessing to you. You can read all of the previous Fasting Together posts here.

“You really have to hand it to short people; they usually can’t reach it anyway.”

So, it’s no secret I am vertically challenged. I stopped growing upward when I was about 11. Yay, me. As far as I am concerned, there should be a law your body follows that says you cannot spread out if you cannot grow up. And yet we all know that rule never has gone viral.

Some short people problems?

  • I automatically start swinging my feet like a little kid when sitting in a chair that’s too tall for me.
  • I am simply giddy when I meet someone who is shorter than me.
  • Would you believe I have never looked out into the hallway through a peephole in a hotel room?
  • Awkward hugs from people taller than me are just that: awkward.
  • People who think they are cute when they take your things and hold them over their head where you can’t reach; yeah, not cute.
  • You never know who is giving the sermon at church because you can’t see over or around the person in front of you.
  • Worse than above, sitting behind someone with a hat on.
  • And the award for most embarrassing goes to those that bend their knees when having their picture taken with you.

 You get the idea. It’s a curse.

But there are other things about being short that can come back to haunt you. One of those is not being able to see the dirt in your own home.

I literally have to remind myself every few months to dust the top of the refrigerator, the hutch and any tall cabinets. I can’t see them, out of sight, out of mind, but taller people can and what I think looks great, they see nothing but a layer of dust.

 

The Lord seemed to remind me of this yesterday when I was cleaning the house. It was as if He whispered, what about the dust you can’t see? What things are hidden from me but yet are in plain sight for others? Do I have faults and failures that are obvious to friends and family but I am completely blinded by them?

Thankfully, the Lord will reveal things to us in prayer if we will listen. He will show us those things that maybe we have swept under the rug, or to the back of our minds thinking they aren’t really hindering us in our walk or that we will deal with them later…when we have time.

But that dust piles up! It grows and becomes more and more of a problem. When we finally do decide to clean it up, it takes more than just a dust rag to get it all. It becomes a process that may involve a vacuum, then a rag, maybe furniture polish or a wet cloth to get the greasy residue that has collected, such as on a refrigerator.

We all get busy, our prayer lives are neglected, Bible reading is minimal or rushed through and checked off and fasting? Yikes, it’s something we intend to do, know we need to do and wish we did more but in reality, it is like a faraway friend; we might visit once a year.

Matthew West sings a powerful song I have heard many times but yesterday the words struck me (also a powerful story behind the song!)

I don’t wanna go through the motions

I don’t wanna go one more day

Without Your all consuming passion inside of me

I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking

What if I had given everything

Instead of going through the motions?

So, how can we remove this dust we can’t see?

We must become intentional.

Intentionally rise a few minutes early and find a good devotion and Bible study. Intentionally turn off distractions and take time to pray. And finally, intentionally set aside time on a regular basis to fast and pray.

Stop going through the motions and become intentional about our walk with God!

The good news is there will be instant rewards! We will begin to get our passion for the lost back and start to fall in love with God all over again. We will start to crave the Word and look forward to reading it when we realize the power that it holds.

Recently, a beautiful new convert at church was sharing her excitement over the power of prayer. She believed what she heard from her pastor, that if she had the Holy Spirit, she then had authority and power to pray and ask God to intervene in a situation and He would…and He did. She was blown away to realize that she didn’t have to stop and ask anyone else to pray the prayer for her, she went straight to a Holy God herself and by the power that He had given her, Christ IN her, He heard and answered that prayer, according to His will.

My friend has been clearing the dust away, (she’s a shorty too!) and allowing God to show her areas in her life that still need cleaning.

If you don’t want to spend your entire life asking; “What if I had given everything?” Then get out that dust rag, dust pan, vacuum, etc., whatever it takes, and ask the Lord to help you start that cleaning process.

He will be glad to help.

(You can read my other humorous post about being a shorty here and I would love to hear your own stories about being the small-fry.) 

Don’t forget to grab your copy of The Daniel Fast Devotional! Good for any fast, it is a great, simple read with devotions for every day of a three week fast. Get yours on Amazon here!

Fasting together: Pulling down strongholds

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Fasting together: Pulling down strongholds. Catch up on any posts you have missed this month here! 

Friends, it is no secret that there is a war taking place right in front of us. This isn’t a political war, this is SPIRITUAL WARFARE. What do we do? We have most likely heard it preached our entire lives but maybe we never could wrap our heads around the fact that it would actually happen in our lifetime.

It’s here.

But read on, fasting and prayer pulls down strongholds! You say, “We have been praying, we are fasting, but nothing has changed, it’s getting worse!”  Remember the early Church? The Book of Acts church? Yes, they suffered, they were persecuted, many gave their very lives. Yet because of the persecution, the fact that they had to scatter and basically run for their lives, the Gospel was spread around the world!

This is our focus now: Souls!

If we can keep from being distracted and get on our knees, fast and get in the Word, God can lead us to people we never thought possible. Even if we lose our social platforms, we have neighbors, co-workers, friends and family that do not know Jesus. Surely many are scared and apprehensive, if not they will soon be looking for answers and direction.

You have the answer! Keep fasting, keep praying, continue to ask God to send you to hungry souls and He will do it. Let’s look at another example in the Word:

We have discussed in earlier posts that Jesus told His disciples that some things do not get taken care of except by prayer and fasting. Matthew 17:14-21.

If you are fasting for others, a loved one, a prodigal, someone dear to you for whatever reason…these battles of spiritual warfare will take dominion over the power of the enemy!

Ephesians 6:12 KJV. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Our fight is not with flesh and blood, or with people, but it is against the powers that influence people.

This is a spiritual battle, seen or unseen. We must have a disciplined prayer life and couple that with regular fasting!

Fasting breaks strongholds! It can literally set people free from the chains that bind them. But in order to do that, that strong man must be taken care of first. 

“For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.” (Jesus speaking) Matthew 12:29 NLT

Did you catch that verse? The strong man is Satan and he has slaves that do his bidding and are yoked, or bound, to wickedness.

But prayer WITH fasting can literally break that yoke and set people free from bondage.

Then they will be able to come to God without hindrance. 

The story is told of how praying intercessors in the country of Panama overcame the strongman that had a hold on their nation. Some may remember the people of Panama suffered much under the reign of the dictator, Manuel Noriega. Maybe you have heard the stories about helicopters flying overhead and dropping large garbage bags with the dead bodies of those he considered a threat to his agenda. Noriega allegedly was involved in the occult and even practiced voodoo.

There were, fortunately, some spiritually in tune, godly people in the country that decided they could overtake this strongman…without carnal weapons. Their weapons were mighty through God to the pulling down of those strongholds! This prayer army prayed all night…on buses! Once a month, one leader would pray over the radio broadcast then those on the buses would begin to agree in prayer and intercede along with those who were also praying at home.

Noriega likely never knew that he was up against the most powerful force in the universe. Prayer and fasting will change us and will change the world.
Reading in Daniel 10 when he was fasting for 21 days, angels were loosed to fight on his behalf. They literally had to fight devils in order to get a word from God to Daniel. His prayer and fasting were shaking things up.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 98B76598-ADE7-43B0-8F3B-C0B1958B295F-1024x575.pngPrayers were answered; chains were broken.

Get that Bible out and start reading scripture out loud when you pray. Take authority in the Spirit and watch what happens while you are on this fast. You may face opposition…but keep pressing in and pressing on. The battle is the Lord’s; you are just clay in the Potter’s hands. He will take care of His own!

There is power in prayer and fasting, God is going to do great things in these last days and YOU are a part of it! He didn’t leave the apostles here for the Last Days, he left YOU! Be strong in the Lord and encouraged, if you have the Spirit of God in you, there is more power than you even realize and God is just waiting for you to let it be activated.

Be encouraged! I’m sharing an easy Daniel Fast recipe for a great peanut butter smoothie. Enjoy and meet me here again tomorrow for another Biblical devotion.

Daniel Fast Recipe:

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

Here is a great morning pick-me-up/on-the-go recipe. We have mentioned that on the Daniel Fast you drink only water, and most usually smoothies are used as meal replacements on the Daniel Fast, not as a treat, dessert or a reward.

This one calls for peanut butter, but it is NOT regular peanut butter. This is natural peanut butter without added sugar, which is easy to find in the same location as the others, just read the label. There are good organic peanut butters and there are store brand peanut butters with no added sugar.

All you need is a banana, (I freeze mine! Peel and wrap them in plastic wrap. When you need one just let it sit out about ten minutes. This replaces the ice.)  2-3 Tablespoons of natural peanut butter, a splash or two of unsweetened almond milk. Blend together and you have breakfast!

Don’t forget to grab your copy of The Daniel Fast Devotional. Good for any fast, it is a great, simple read with devotions for every day of a three week fast. Get yours on Amazon here!

Noriega Reference: Cindy Jacobs, Generals International, 8-17-15

The Daniel Fast: What if my prayer isn’t answered?

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The Daniel Fast: What if my prayer isn’t answered? How are you doing on your fast? If you have already started your fasting, whether it is a complete fast, a partial fast, juice fast, Daniel Fast, no matter what you have chosen, you have probably already encountered a bump or two in the road. Do not despair! Just keep going, start over, whatever you have to do. God isn’t sitting in Heaven with a ruler in His hand ready to smack you every time you make a mistake. Just determine to stick with it and remember to pray; that is where your strength comes from.

Today, we are talking about what to do when you fast, you pray, you petition God but He doesn’t answer your prayer the way you had envisioned. (Catch up on missed posts here!)

In the 11th and 12th chapters of 2 Samuel, we read the shocking and heartbreaking story of David and Bathsheba. If you aren’t familiar with the story, you can read about it here. The shortened, condensed version is that David had an affair with another man’s wife, Bathsheba, and had her husband killed. He then took Bathsheba as his own wife and that is where we enter the story with Nathan, the prophet, confronting David about his sin:

“Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’’” 2 Samuel 12:7-10 ESV.

King David acknowledged his guilt and Nathan goes on to tell him his sin has been “put away” but the child born out of the sin will die.

What does David do next?

“And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he became sick.  David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them.” 2 Samuel 12:16-17 ESV.

David was a man of war, a mighty man of valor but he was also repentant and always readily admitted his sin. He was humble and petitioned for the life of his son even though this child would be a continual reminder of his sin! He knew HE was the reason for the Lord’s displeasure and so he humbled himself with prayer and fasting in the hope that the Lord might change His mind. And, surely, he even felt it was his DUTY to petition on behalf of his son.

David fasted until the seventh day but the baby died.

“Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate. Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

The members of David’s household were confused and told him so. David replied that he was hoping the Lord would be gracious, that He would spare the child’s life, yet it was not to be. There was no need to fast once he was gone. Matthew Henry’s commentary says it so well here:

matthew-henry

“Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped…” David worshiped the Lord because He knew that God had spoken, He had answered and He was sovereign. If God does not answer your prayer the way you think it should be answered, and you even accompany that prayer with fasting, it doesn’t mean your fasting was in vain! Remember, we talked about the fact that fasting changes that inner man, it changes YOU (and me!). David knew life was to go on; he had repented, he had prayed, he had fasted and God had answered. Yes, he had sinned but he had found forgiveness and restoration through his repentance and humility.

He fasted and prayed because there was still life and when that life was gone he knew to worship God.

“The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” Job 1:21 NIV.

Obviously, in this post, we are looking at David’s mistake, his sin that cost him, big time. But your prayer may not have anything to do with your actions. But yet, God’s answer is not what you wanted to hear.

Fasting prepares your heart for God’s answer, no matter what it might be. We may not get the answer we want but we can rest assured God is working all things for our good. If He says, “No”, we can trust Him that He knows what is best, He can see down the road! Remember, we don’t fast to change God, we fast to change US; to make us more like Jesus and cleanse us from things that would hold us back or cause us to stumble.

Fasting brings hidden things to light! And while fasting and praying, God can reveal things to us that may be a hindrance in our walk. Because we are fasting, our mind becomes more clear and nothing is in the way of our hearing His voice.

So be encouraged today, if your prayer isn’t answered the way you preferred, it doesn’t mean God doesn’t love you, in fact it means HE DOES LOVE YOU, He is protecting you, covering you, leading you and He knows that His answer is the best answer. And you will too, one day soon.

Be blessed as you continue to make fasting a regular part of your spiritual walk.

Don’t forget to grab your copy of The Daniel Fast Devotional! Good for any fast, it is a great, easy read with devotions for every day of a three week fast. Get yours on Amazon here!