Fasting and Prayer bring spiritual power (must be in God’s will)
Stand in gap for your people.
Ezekiel 22:30
30 I searched for a man among them who would build up a wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.
31 So I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; I have brought their way upon their heads,” declares the Lord God.
Be an intercessor to God. Stand in gap for the people.
Fasting
Missing one or two meals in a day will do. You don’t have to miss water too. Jesus missed only food in his 40 days fast. The scripture says, ‘ He was hungered.’ not ‘thirsty.’
Isaiah 58:
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness (or your righteous one) will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
Fast before any new mission or project
1 Samuel 31
13 And they took their bones (of Saul and his sons) and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted for seven days.
Fasting For Restoration
If we are not changing history, we are the salt that has lost its savour. We are here to have a unique influence in the earth. We should be exercising our influence in our community, city, our nation and in the world.
The Babylonian captivity as divine instrument of restoration.
Men that set restoration in motion:
Daniel 9:
2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.
A revelation of God’s purpose is a time for you to do something, a time to pray.
Daniel knew he was part of God’s purpose on earth to fulfil that in heaven.
3 So I gave my attention to the Lord God, to seek Him by prayer and pleading, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed,
The answer came:
23 At the beginning of your pleas the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, because you are highly esteemed; so pay attention to the message and gain understanding of the vision.
Through the fasting and prayer of Daniel, God used as spiritual instrument to set the restoration of Israel in motion. We identify with God’s purpose and fast and pray to make it happen.
Ezra 8
Ezra got the victory in the spiritual realm before they began. He had by the words of his testimony shut himself up the spiritual. He had to take that route. When you have the victory in the spiritual you have the victory. The spiritual is the decisive in all things. Those who know how to intervene in the spiritual are the decisive factor in human affairs. The church alone have the means for this. That is why God has put us here. Do not make a major move without fasting and prayer. The God of Ezra has not changed. He is our God.
Protection of God Invoked
21 Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, to humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him a [k]safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions. 22 For I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to [l]protect us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “The hand of our God is [m]favorably disposed to all who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who abandon Him.” 23 So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He [n]listened to our pleading.
The result:
31 Then we journeyed from the river Ahava on the twelfth of the first month to go to Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was upon us, and He rescued us from the hand of the enemy and the ambushes by the road. 32 So we came to Jerusalem and remained there for three days.
Nehemiah
Nehemiah’s Grief for the Exiles
1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.
Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the [a]capitol, 2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, [b]and some men from Judah came; and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped [c]and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and disgrace, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire.”
4 Now when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 I said, “Please, Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps the covenant and faithfulness for those who love Him and keep His commandments: 6 let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open, to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have committed against You; I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. 8 Remember, please, the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples; 9 but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I have chosen to have My name dwell.’ 10 They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. 11 Please, Lord, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to [d]revere Your name, and please make Your servant successful today and grant him mercy before this man.”
Now I was the cupbearer to the king.
Esther 4:1+
13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, liberation and rescue will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”
Esther Plans to Intercede
15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, 16 “Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants also will fast in the same way. And then I will go in to the king, which is not in accordance with the law; and if I perish, I perish.” 17 So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.
God is looking for people who, ‘They loved not their life unto death.’ Some bitterness with some sweet.
Esther and the people fasted for 3 days. She had the victory before she went to the king.
5 Now it came about on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner courtyard of the king’s palace in front of the king’s [a]rooms, and the king was sitting on his royal throne in the [b]throne room, opposite the entrance to the palace. 2 When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the courtyard, she obtained favor in his sight; and the king extended to Esther the golden scepter which was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the top of the scepter. 3 Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you, Queen Esther? And what is your request? Up to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you.” 4 Esther said, “If it pleases the king, may the king and Haman come this day to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”
5 Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly so that we may do [c]as Esther desires.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet which Esther had prepared. 6 [d]As they drank their wine at the banquet, the king said to Esther, “What is your request, for it shall be granted to you. And what is your wish? Up to half of the kingdom it shall be done.” 7 So Esther replied, “My request and my wish is: 8 if I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request and do [e]what I wish, may the king and Haman come to the banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do [f]as the king says.”
With the position of royalty comes some responsibility. We are the only ones that can intervene and change the destiny of a nation.
Prophet Joel
Joel required God’s people cooperation three times he called for fasting and prayers:
Joel 1:14
New International Version
14 Declare a holy fast;
call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
and all who live in the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
Joel 2:12
Rend Your Heart
12 “Even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion,
declare a holy fast,
call a sacred assembly.
16 Gather the people,
consecrate the assembly;
bring together the elders,
gather the children,
those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room
and the bride her chamber.
17 Let the priests, who minister before the Lord,
weep between the portico and the altar.
Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord.
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
Ezekiel 36
36 “Son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. 30 I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine.
Ezekiel 37 : The Valley of Dry Bones
We have got to pray for change. God counts on us. Don’t let him down.
Matthew 6 Jesus says
when you give to the needy
And when you pray
When you fast,
Mark 2:18
Disciples of Jesus fast.
All religions that fast have power. During the month of Ramadan, the whole country has a blanket of clouds over it. A spiritual power generated by the fasting.
Acts 13
2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
The apostles fasted to get the revelation and victory before sending them out. We should get the victory before setting out. We should pray though, fast through and get the victory before acting or moving on it. Set a specific day to fast.
Acts 14:
23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.
It is possible to change history.
God expects us to change history.
History needs to be changed.
The course of events needs to be changed.
We can do it.
Follow the prescription in Joel.
Seek God.
Where 2 or 3 are gathered in my name Jesus says I am in their midst.
If 2 of you shall agree touching on anything you shall ask it shall be done.
Whatever you shall bind on earth it shall be bound in heaven.
This is real power and authority.
This place of authority and power is ringed around the right relationships.
Let’s move in and do business with God.
We can change rulers, change government, change situations through God.
Amen.
Additional information on fasting
Ahab humbles himself
1 King 21
“because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. 21 He says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you. I will wipe out your descendants and cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel—slave or free.
25 (There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. 26 He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the Lord drove out before Israel.)
27 When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly.
28 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: 29 “Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son.”
Humble yourself with fasting to turn God
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 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 I will forgive their sin and will heal their land [the land in which they live].
2 Corinthians 1:20
20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so, through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
[All God’s promises are for all Christians. We just need to say amen (agreed) to them to accept them.] The church is responsible for the land in which it lives.
Humble yourself no self-righteousness. I humble myself with fasting. I subdue the ego in me. I deny it. Fasting denies self. Do not dictate to goings on in the kingdom of God. Put your mouth in the dust.
Stand in gap for your people.
Ezekiel 22:30
30 I searched for a man among them who would build up a wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.
31 So I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; I have brought their way upon their heads,” declares the Lord God.
Be an intercessor to God. Stand in gap for the people.
Fasting
Missing one or two meals in a day will do. You don’t have to miss water too. Jesus missed only food in his 40 days fast. The scripture says, ‘ He was hungered.’ not ‘thirsty.’
Isaiah 58:
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness (or your righteous one) will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
Fast before any new mission or project
1 Samuel 31
13 And they took their bones (of Saul and his sons) and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted for seven days.
Fasting For Restoration
If we are not changing history, we are the salt that has lost its savour. We are here to have a unique influence in the earth. We should be exercising our influence in our community, city, our nation and in the world.
The Babylonian captivity as divine instrument of restoration.
Men that set restoration in motion:
Daniel 9:
2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.
A revelation of God’s purpose is a time for you to do something, a time to pray.
Daniel knew he was part of God’s purpose on earth to fulfil that in heaven.
3 So I gave my attention to the Lord God, to seek Him by prayer and pleading, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed,
The answer came:
23 At the beginning of your pleas the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, because you are highly esteemed; so pay attention to the message and gain understanding of the vision.
Through the fasting and prayer of Daniel, God used as spiritual instrument to set the restoration of Israel in motion. We identify with God’s purpose and fast and pray to make it happen.
Ezra 8
Ezra got the victory in the spiritual realm before they began. He had by the words of his testimony shut himself up the spiritual. He had to take that route. When you have the victory in the spiritual you have the victory. The spiritual is the decisive in all things. Those who know how to intervene in the spiritual are the decisive factor in human affairs. The church alone have the means for this. That is why God has put us here. Do not make a major move without fasting and prayer. The God of Ezra has not changed. He is our God.
Protection of God Invoked
21 Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, to humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him a [k]safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions. 22 For I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to [l]protect us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “The hand of our God is [m]favorably disposed to all who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who abandon Him.” 23 So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He [n]listened to our pleading.
The result:
31 Then we journeyed from the river Ahava on the twelfth of the first month to go to Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was upon us, and He rescued us from the hand of the enemy and the ambushes by the road. 32 So we came to Jerusalem and remained there for three days.
Nehemiah
Nehemiah’s Grief for the Exiles
1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.
Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the [a]capitol, 2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, [b]and some men from Judah came; and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped [c]and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and disgrace, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire.”
4 Now when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 I said, “Please, Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps the covenant and faithfulness for those who love Him and keep His commandments: 6 let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open, to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have committed against You; I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. 8 Remember, please, the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples; 9 but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I have chosen to have My name dwell.’ 10 They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. 11 Please, Lord, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to [d]revere Your name, and please make Your servant successful today and grant him mercy before this man.”
Now I was the cupbearer to the king.
Esther 4:1+
13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, liberation and rescue will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”
Esther Plans to Intercede
15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, 16 “Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants also will fast in the same way. And then I will go in to the king, which is not in accordance with the law; and if I perish, I perish.” 17 So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.
God is looking for people who, ‘They loved not their life unto death.’ Some bitterness with some sweet.
Esther and the people fasted for 3 days. She had the victory before she went to the king.
5 Now it came about on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner courtyard of the king’s palace in front of the king’s [a]rooms, and the king was sitting on his royal throne in the [b]throne room, opposite the entrance to the palace. 2 When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the courtyard, she obtained favor in his sight; and the king extended to Esther the golden scepter which was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the top of the scepter. 3 Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you, Queen Esther? And what is your request? Up to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you.” 4 Esther said, “If it pleases the king, may the king and Haman come this day to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”
5 Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly so that we may do [c]as Esther desires.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet which Esther had prepared. 6 [d]As they drank their wine at the banquet, the king said to Esther, “What is your request, for it shall be granted to you. And what is your wish? Up to half of the kingdom it shall be done.” 7 So Esther replied, “My request and my wish is: 8 if I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request and do [e]what I wish, may the king and Haman come to the banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do [f]as the king says.”
With the position of royalty comes some responsibility. We are the only ones that can intervene and change the destiny of a nation.
Prophet Joel
Joel required God’s people cooperation three times he called for fasting and prayers:
Joel 1:14
New International Version
14 Declare a holy fast;
call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
and all who live in the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
Joel 2:12
Rend Your Heart
12 “Even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion,
declare a holy fast,
call a sacred assembly.
16 Gather the people,
consecrate the assembly;
bring together the elders,
gather the children,
those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room
and the bride her chamber.
17 Let the priests, who minister before the Lord,
weep between the portico and the altar.
Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord.
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
Ezekiel 36
36 “Son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. 30 I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine.
Ezekiel 37 : The Valley of Dry Bones
We have got to pray for change. God counts on us. Don’t let him down.
Matthew 6 Jesus says
when you give to the needy
And when you pray
When you fast,
Mark 2:18
Disciples of Jesus fast.
All religions that fast have power. During the month of Ramadan, the whole country has a blanket of clouds over it. A spiritual power generated by the fasting.
Acts 13
2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
The apostles fasted to get the revelation and victory before sending them out. We should get the victory before setting out. We should pray though, fast through and get the victory before acting or moving on it. Set a specific day to fast.
Acts 14:
23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.
It is possible to change history.
God expects us to change history.
History needs to be changed.
The course of events needs to be changed.
We can do it.
Follow the prescription in Joel.
Seek God.
Where 2 or 3 are gathered in my name Jesus says I am in their midst.
If 2 of you shall agree touching on anything you shall ask it shall be done.
Whatever you shall bind on earth it shall be bound in heaven.
This is real power and authority.
This place of authority and power is ringed around the right relationships.
Let’s move in and do business with God.
We can change rulers, change government, change situations through God.
Amen.
Additional information on fasting
Ahab humbles himself
1 King 21
“because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. 21 He says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you. I will wipe out your descendants and cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel—slave or free.
25 (There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. 26 He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the Lord drove out before Israel.)
27 When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly.
28 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: 29 “Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son.”
Humble yourself with fasting to turn God
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 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 I will forgive their sin and will heal their land [the land in which they live].
2 Corinthians 1:20
20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so, through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
[All God’s promises are for all Christians. We just need to say amen (agreed) to them to accept them.] The church is responsible for the land in which it lives.
Humble yourself no self-righteousness. I humble myself with fasting. I subdue the ego in me. I deny it. Fasting denies self. Do not dictate to goings on in the kingdom of God. Put your mouth in the dust.