The power of prayer and fasting before God 🙏
Many believers say they cannot hear God's voice.
The issue is often not that God has stopped speaking, but that we have stopped listening.
Psalm 46:10 says,
"Be still and know that I am God."
We fill our minds with so much noise that there is little space left for God to speak to our hearts.
This is why fasting and prayer are so important.
All throughout the Bible, we see God's people using this sacred combination to draw closer to him and hear his direction clearly.
Moses fasted 40 days and nights before receiving the Ten Commandments.
In Deuteronomy 9:9, he says, "I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone. I ate no bread and drank no water."
His fasting was an act of surrender that prepared him to receive God's word.
Daniel also prayed and fasted for three weeks before his breakthrough came.
And in Daniel 10*¹, the angel told him that his prayers were heard from the first day he humbled himself.
King Jehoshaphat when threatened by a vast army called all of Judah to fast and pray.
And through their humility, God gave them victory without a sword being lifted.
So what does fasting and prayer truly accomplish?
• First, it quiets the noise. It shuts out the distractions that drown out God's voice and places your spirit in a posture to hear him more clearly.
Jesus himself said in Matthew 6:17 when you fast, not if you fast.
Fasting was never meant to be optional.
It is part of a believer's spiritual rhythm.
It reminds you that life is not sustained by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
• Second, fasting and prayer reignite your love for Jesus Christ.
They stir your heart back to first love.
When you choose to let go of comfort for the sake of his presence, your spiritual hunger begins to grow.
• Third, fasting humbles the flesh.
It reminds you who is in control. God is.
When you deny your body, you are saying to God, "Your will matters more than my comfort."
It is a declaration of dependence.
It realigns your priorities and breaks the pride that so easily creeps into the human heart.
• Fourth, fasting and prayer open the door for the Holy Spirit to move freely in your life.
The more you empty yourself, the more he can fill you.
In Acts 13, we read that while the believers were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit spoke and gave them divine direction.
That same pattern remains today.
When you quiet the world and seek him with your whole heart, he begins to speak, to guide, to reveal his purpose in ways you could not have imagined.
• And fifth, fasting and prayer often lead to breakthrough.
When the disciples could not cast out a demon, Jesus told them in Mark 9:29, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."
Some battles in life require more than words.
They require consecration.
Some breakthroughs will not come until you take time to separate yourself.
Pray earnestly and fast before the Lord.
That is not because God withholds his power, but because fasting prepares you to carry it.
If you are in a place where you feel stuck, consider this an invitation.
Perhaps the clarity you need, the direction you have been seeking, or the peace you are longing for is waiting on the other side of prayer and fasting.
Jesus said in Matthew 17:20, that faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains.
But sometimes that faith is strengthened through seasons of seeking God with sacrifice.
It is important to remember, however that fasting is not a way to manipulate God.
We cannot change his will by skipping meals or following a ritual.
True fasting changes our hearts.
It purifies our motives.
It brings our desires into alignment with his.
As Romans 12:1 says, we are to present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.
That is our act of worship.
When you fast, your spirit rises to the surface.
You become more aware of God's presence, more sensitive to his voice, and more willing to obey his leading.
Your prayers become more focused,
your thoughts become clearer, and
your heart becomes softer.
The purpose is not to prove your devotion, but to deepen your relationship with Lord Jesus Christ.
In Matthew 4, Jesus fasted forty days before beginning his ministry.
If the Son of God found it necessary to fast before facing temptation and fulfilling his calling, how much more do we need to do the same?
Fasting is a weapon.
It breaks strongholds, strengthens faith, and sharpens spiritual discernment.
It reminds us that the battle is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces of darkness.
So if you have been asking why can't I hear God?
Maybe it is time to turn off the distractions.
Step away from the things that fill your mind but starve your soul.
Fast and pray.
Let his word wash over you.
Let his spirit renew you.
Let his peace guard your heart.
Now let's take a moment to pray together.
🙏
Heavenly Father, today I ask you to help me in the area of fasting and prayer.
Stir my heart to seek you earnestly.
Revive me from within.
Set my soul on fire with a deep hunger to know you more.
Ignite in me a passion to walk closely with you, to hear your voice clearly and to follow you faithfully.
Lord, drown out all the noise that competes for my attention.
You said in John 10: verses 27 and 28.
My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Help me to be that sheep who listens to your voice.
Teach me to quiet my heart so that I can discern your guidance.
Speak to me through your word, through the Holy Spirit, and through the stillness where your presence dwells.
Lord, I need your voice now more than ever.
I need your direction.
When fear and doubt try to cloud my mind, let your truth bring peace.
When discouragement surrounds me, let your promises lift me up.
In Matthew 4:4, you remind us that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God
I know that I cannot live without you, Lord.
I cannot survive without hearing from you.
Your word sustains me.
Your word feeds my spirit.
Your word strengthens my faith.
And our word gives me hope.
Teach me Lord to hunger for your word more than for the things of this world.
Father l ask that you help me to be a person of prayer.
Let me be someone who seeks you first and foremost.
Fill me with your spirit so that the desires of my flesh will not control me.
Let my spirit rise above the cravings and distractions of the body.
*¹ Daniel’s Vision of a Man
Daniel 10:¹ In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war. The understanding of the message came to him in a vision.
² At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. ³ I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.
⁴ On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, ⁵ I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. ⁶ His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.
⁷ I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; those who were with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. ⁸ So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. ⁹ Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground.
¹⁰ A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. ¹¹ He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.
¹² Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. ¹³ But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. ¹⁴ Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”
¹⁵ While he was saying this to me, I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless. ¹⁶ Then one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing before me, “I am overcome with anguish because of the vision, my lord, and I feel very weak. ¹⁷ How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord? My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe.”
¹⁸ Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength. ¹⁹ “Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed,” he said. “Peace! Be strong now; be strong.”
When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength.”
²⁰ So he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; ²¹ but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince.)
No comments:
Post a Comment