Fasting

January 14, 2014

Immeasurable Impact


“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God says, “If my people…” Do you know what it takes to be God’s people? You have to first be God’s person. Be the person who will begin something that will bring generations of change. But it begins with humbling yourself.

David prayed, “But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting” (Psalm 35:13 emphasis added).  Ezra needed to cross a dangerous territory with a large group of people and little children. So he said, “I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God …” (Ezra 8:21 emphasis added).

Fasting embraces emptiness and starves haughtiness. It is a form of withdrawing from normal life in the regular world that we live in, emptying ourselves of not just food, but anything else that we “seek, crave and require of necessity” other than His face. We should fast not just food, but entertainment, media and worldly junk—delicacies from the world’s table—things that contaminate and limit the power of a fast.

Fasting is our ‘body language’ to God. When we fast, we are expressing our heart hunger for Jesus, and how serious we are about hearing His voice and following His ways. From a place of humbleness when we pray and seek His face, we position ourselves to be ‘lifted up’ to see how He sees, to hear what He wants us to hear and to learn the sound of His whisper guiding our steps.

When we seriously commit to humble ourselves, pray and seek His face and turn from wickedness, He promises to hear us! He promises to forgive our sin and heal our land. One person alone cannot stop the sin of abortion in our land, but God can when we humble ourselves and seek Him. One person alone cannot stop the tide of immorality sweeping America, but God can forgive our sin and heal our land.

This promise is for all of us, every day: If we will—He will. When you fast and pray in this way, it will affect generations! When you lay a solid foundation of humbling yourself in fasting and in prayer and in turning from wickedness, the impact will be immeasurable.

The Fasting Edge

Share