Fasting

Dear friends,

I apologize for not getting this out to you last night.  Hopefully it will provide some food for thought when you read it.  Last week I wrote about prayer, so I thought it would be important to think about fasting as well.  I am still learning more about why God calls us to fast and how important it can be in our faith walks.  I have found the following information helpful to my understanding and hope that it will help you as well.

From The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson:

“When you fast and pray in tandem, it’s almost like a moving sidewalk that gets you to your desired destination in half the time.  Fasting has a way of fast-tracking our prayers.  Because fasting is harder than praying, fasting is a form of praying hard...

There is more than one way to draw a prayer circle.  In fact, sometimes it involves more than prayer.  I believe that fasting is a form of circling.  In fact, an empty stomach may be the most powerful prayer posture in Scripture.

Even Jesus said that some miracles are not possible via prayer (Matthew 17:21).  Some miracles are only accessible via prayer and fasting.  It takes the combination of prayer and fasting to unlock some double dead bolts.”  

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I recently listened to a pastor preach on fasting and he stated that “it causes our prayers to intensify and we make headway where we didn’t make headway before...  There has not been any significant breakthrough that I have needed from the Lord that I have not fasted for.  I have not fasted without seeing God work in amazing ways.”  

He went on to provide a list of seven things that fasting does.  In summary, fasting:

• helps us secure favor in situations 
• helps us discern God’s will 
• humbles our souls
• provides protection
• gives us power in spiritual battles
• brings healing

When I extended the invitation to join David and me in praying and fasting for Barrett, I encouraged all of you to pray about the level of commitment you felt God laying on your hearts.  I encourage you again to ask, “God, do you want me to do this?  Where are the areas in my life that you want to give me a breakthrough?”

Although we are fasting on Wednesdays on behalf of Barrett, God may be calling you to fast for a different or an additional breakthrough -- discernment, our families, our church, against the enemy.  The Lord wants to meet us in the place where we need him to show himself powerful.  I am personally praying that He would show himself powerful in a dimension that we have never seen before by healing Barrett.  I open up to you in saying that our journey of prayer and fasting has been extremely difficult at times, but this is something that I believe is from God; in the words of our friend John, “you hang on and you keep on fasting and praying until you receive that from the Lord and you don’t stop!”  If we want God to do what he’s never done before, we have to move in close to him.

I’ll leave you with this passage, Isaiah 58:8-9,

“Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, 'Here I am'.”