Fasting

January 17, 2015

Three things you might not know about the power of persistence.


Many of the miracles we read about in the Bible came about because of persistence. Think about the story of the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. Doctors could do nothing to help her. She was considered “unclean” by the people of her time and was often ignored. If she came near people, they would move away from her to avoid contamination. But she heard about Jesus! Even though she was an outcast, even if she had to crawl, she would not be denied the opportunity to at least touch the edge of His clothes. Who would know? And, maybe, if she touched Him, she would finally be healed.

So she pressed through the crowd. She persisted, and, with a shaking arm, she reached her fingers out to grasp the edge of his robe.

She quickly let go, no doubt overwhelmed by the warmth and power of God’s love that began to flow through her body and heal what was wrong with her. She felt the power of the Lord because of her persistence – and He felt her! Jesus felt power leave His body and stopped everything to find out who had touched Him.

Luke 8:47 (ESV) says, “And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed.”

One of the most powerful aspects of fasting and prayer is when we learn to fast and pray with persistence. The enemy hates it when we fast and pray persistently. Here are three things you might not realize about the importance of persistence:

  1. When you persistently pray and fast, it brings you to a place where God moves powerfully in your life. The woman received her healing when she persistently pursued Jesus.
  2. When you persistently pray and fast, it causes God to feel your need, just as He felt the touch of the woman who needed healing, even in the midst of the crowd.
  3. When you persistently pray and fast, it breaks the forces of resistance that have been operating in your life. The woman had been bleeding for years with no relief, but her persistence broke through the forces of resistance in her life.

No matter how long you’ve been in need of healing, it’s not too late to start persistently fasting and praying for a miracle. If your family is in shambles, be assured that it’s not too late to persistently fast and pray for God to intervene. If you need to experience a breakthrough increase in any area of your life, be persistent in bringing it before the Lord. Remember, persistence breaks resistance!

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