Firstly, Jesus declared in His teaching in Matthew 6 that
God rewards those who give alms (verses 1-4), those who pray (verses 5-6) and
those who fast (verses 16-18).
Our church, as a corporate body, have declared a 21days of
Prayer and Fasting. A time of seeking God, consecration and to have spiritual
discipline. To put God first (Matt. 6:33).
Fasting and prayer are power twins. They work together. They
enable self-control as they help us to crucify the flesh and to walk in the
Spirit (Gal.5:16, 24-26). To walk in the Spirit means to follow the Holy
Spirit, to walk according to God Word's (His word is spirit and life - John
6:63) and to walk in love (God is a Spirit - John 4:24, God is love - 1 John
4:8). We walk in line and in tune with the Spirit and the Word.
The 21days of prayer and fasting is a Daniel fast. A Daniel
fast is to eat vegetables (we will eat no pleasant
food), drink water and pray three times a day (Dan. 10:1-3, Dan. 6:10). This
is to crucify the flesh and to exercise self-control so that we are not led by
the flesh but we submit ourselves to God in our spirit. It is spiritual discipline.
This produces spiritual intimacy with God and enables spiritual strength.
Daniel received revelation of God's word, knowledge and wisdom as the Lord
revealed to Him secrets (Dan. 2:47). He had spiritual discernment and knew the
timing of God.
"There are two essentials in life:It is imperative to hear the voice of God and to know the timing of God."
When we fast and pray, it is a way of humbling ourselves
before God. He promised in His Word when we humble ourselves, He will lift us
up ( James 4:10, 1 Pet. 5:6). Just like Daniel was elevated, so will we when we
seek the Lord in prayer and fasting. Daniel was also protected from Lions (Dan. 6:16 -23). You have to remember that
when we fast and pray, we will be elevated by the Lord and people will be
jealous! They will see the difference in our lives. They will see us blessed!
The devil will do his utmost to discourage, distract and to destroy us. The
devil goes around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet.5:8)
but when we have spiritual intimacy and disciplines, he cannot touch us! The
Lord will shut his mouth (Dan. 6: 22) and he will not be able to harm us! We
have divine protection!
Daniel was also wiser and more powerful than the magicians, astrologers,
sorcerers (witchcraft) and Chaldeans (Dan. 2). The occult has limited power but
the power of God is unlimited. That power is available to all believers (Luke
10: 19, Mark 16: 17-20). We are strengthen in our inner man through prayer and
fasting (Eph. 3: 14-21).
The 21days of Prayer and Fasting will be in 3 phases of 7
days. The first seven days will be a time to seek the Lord in worship. To
consecrate ourselves. To set ourselves apart and to seek His face. I encourage
everyone to put worship music and to pray in tongues. Then the following seven
days will be a time of warfare, the prayer of binding and loosing, to exercise
our spiritual authority over the enemy. Lastly, we will close the last seven
days with praise and thanksgiving.
21 days of prayer and fasting 11th to 31st January 2017.
More about Prayer and Fasting... Log on to http://www.jamesarekion.com/days-of-fasting-prayer
