It happens to every believer. You start off on cloud nine—an adopted son or daughter of the living king! Your heart experiences joy like never before.
And you start to grow! Oh, the growth! Wow, you can’t believe the difference between the person you used to be and the one you’ve become!
But then you learn…the rules.
- The traditions someone tells you need to be observed,
- The attendance level at church that legitimatizes your family standing
- The “lingo” that Christians supposedly must use
- The places acceptable (and unacceptable) to go
- What you can and can’t drink
- Like to dance? Forget that.
- A nice glass of merlot with dinner? What, are you crazy?! That’s the devil’s brew!
And on and on it goes. The above are just a few imaginary scenarios—there are a million others. But they all tend to do have the same affect. They drain the passion right out of the Christ follower until they’re left with little more than ‘going through the motions of Christianity.’
What do you do when it feels as though you’ve lost some of the wind in your sails since the last revival or big Christian conference?
- Seek out the next conference?
- Google ‘revivals’ and hope you can catch the next one sort of like a storm chaser going after a tornado?
What if I told you there’s a much better way?
And it’s not a roll of the dice or even a gamble at all. That’s not to say it’s easy—far from it. It will be a challenge, but if you and I will hang in there and stick with what I am about to tell you.
We WILL hear from God!
The answer is, “fasting.”
Disappointed?
Don’t be, unlike the other suggestions we are all used to hearing and giving others—this actually works. And there are tons of examples of it in scripture.
Fasting:
- It brought strength and courage to Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Daniel Chapter 1).
- It brought answers to Daniel (See Daniel 10)
- It brought Moses face to face with God and made him the recipient of the 10 commandments!
- It kicked off Jesus’ ministry!
- It can get rid of particularly powerful and pesky demons.
- It brought the gospel to the Gentiles (Cornelius). Cornelius fasted four days after which time an angel appeared to him. Consequently, he and his family received the gospel and were baptized. Acts 10:30-31
- Courage and Wisdom. Esther and the Jews of Shushan fasted when faced with their destruction planned by Haman (The book of Esther).
- Ezra fasted as he prayed for wisdom and protection when he prepared the people to return to Jerusalem from Babylon. Ezra 8:21, 23
- The King of Nineveh ordered the whole city to fast and repent. Consequently, they were forgiven of their sin. Jonah 3:5
- Spiritual Recuperation. Elijah fasted 40 days after killing prophets of Baal. 1 Kings 19:1-9
10. Esther and the Jews of Shushan fasted when faced with their destruction planned by Haman. Esther 4:3,16; 9:31
What do you think? Worth it?
Bottom-line, if it was something the very Son of God thought He needed to do to prepare for His mission—It should be a no-brainer for us!
I’m about two weeks into my Daniel fast at this point and the promised clarity and direction is already coming from the Lord! So, I couldn’t help but wonder how much greater the impact would be if a whole lot of Impactors joined me in this!
If you feel like God is leading you to be a part of the Daniel fast then you can learn all you need to know about it by checking out THIS LINK.
And remember, if you have health concerns with going this long then consider a 10 day fast or even a one day, water only fast. God looks at the heart, not the performance.
Oh, one more thing. Would you let me know what God is teaching you through your time of fasting? Just email me at pastorrob@impactchurchonline.org
Happy fasting!