FASTING: ====== The Bible set aside one day a year when Israelites were expected to fast on the Day of Atonement. Jesus instructed his followers based on the assumption that they were already regularly fasting: when you fast, not if you fast. And of course Jesus himself fasted for 40 days (Matthew 4:2). The late Dr. Bill Bright said, “Fasting is the most powerful spiritual discipline of all the Christian disciplines. Through fasting and prayer, the Holy Spirit can transform your life.” In the Bible, we do not find any one method of fasting required of us, but the Lord Jesus did say however, “when you fast…” (Matthew 6:16), seeming to assume that His followers would imitate His own example. We fast as an outward symbol of our devotion to God, being willing to deny ourselves food for His sake. Fasting adds intensity to our prayer, and often leads to breakthroughs. We do not fast to convince or persuade Him, but rather to identify with His broken heart and with His desire for all mankind to know Him. “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free and that you break every yoke. Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out” (Isaiah 58:6-7).
Posted on: Fri, 09 Aug 2013 04:48:43 +0000
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