Monday, January 7, 2008

Fasting for Blessings



Not many churches include fasting in their program anymore but it's a sacred form of worship which is intended for seeking God's face. There are many references in the bible to fasting. The most popular being when Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness.

Fasting can bring you closer to God's word while tuning your Holy Spirit to His voice. It is a very powerful form of worship that can help bring about many things including restoring and positive change.

In Mark 9, Jesus was able to cast out a demon from a boy when others who tried where not able to. When they asked Him why He was able to cast out the demon and they were not He said in vs. 29 "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting" (NKJV).

The NIV version omits the fasting from that verse but in the bible you find many times where fasting was need to bring about change. Aaron the priest fasted a few times to stops God's wrath from destroying the ungrateful Israelites that were in the wildness.

Fasting shows your seriousness and commitment. With all that being said, abstaining from food is no easy feat. It requires discipline but even more than that it requires a commitment to God. Pray and seek His guidance to help you fast and worship Him.

My first time fasting was just over a year ago. I went 3 days (78hrs to be exact) with only water. I haven't been able to go that long for a while. I now mainly do dawn to dusk fasts where I don't eat until 6 as is the practice with my church’s end of the month 3 days fasts.

The benefit of completing a fast is that it gives you confirmation that God hears your pleas (as He always does). You may not get exactly what you want from fasting. David fasted for seven days for God not to kill his child that he conceived in sin but the baby still died. Nevertheless while refusing your body food you are gaining control over your fleshly desires and yielding to God's desires.

If you have never fasted before, look into it. Research scriptures and books to find out the best ways to go about doing it.

Here's a site that help me on my first fast:
http://www.billbright.com/howtofast/

Remember that fasting is not only for seeking God's face but also for worship. You can do it even if you don't want Him to do something for you but just want to praise Him.

God is great in 2008!

-m

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