Dear beloved: We are talking about the first leg of walking out a Spirit led life, that leg being daily prayer to our heavenly Father. There are also times when we want to cry out in our prayers for more clarity, more mercy and supplication, or when we are more desperate for answers. Jesus knew those times would come, so He instructed the disciples on fasting, immediately after the instruction on prayer in the sermon on the mount, Matthew 6:16-18. v16 "And whenever you fast..." implies that we will be fasting at times to magnify our prayer life.
Isaiah also speaks for the Lord regarding fasting in Isaiah 58:6 "Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke?" Isaiah is saying that when we fast, the chains and bonds of wickedness will drop off as you come face to face with the enemy of your soul and cry out to the Lord. Those agreements you have made with the enemy that result in oppression of your freedom and joy will be broken and you will be set free! In every situation the Lord is powerful and mighty to save. The prophecy concerning Jesus in Isaiah 61 tells it all: v1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, and freedom to the prisoners, v2 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn v3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, the He may be glorified.
Several years ago I was crying out to the Lord for my family, as I was seeing a drift away from the Lord in my children. And so I decided to do an Esther fast of three days no food or water, the same fast Queen Esther proclaimed for herself and her people to prevent the enemy from destroying her people. (Esther 4:16). After three days the Lord took me up in the Spirit, in a dream at night, and set me down beside the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb. (Rev.22:1) As I kneeled down beside the beautiful river, bubbling down from the mountain of God, the Lord put a water pitcher in my hand and had me dip out of the river over and over, and pour the water down my parched throat and body. The Lord was saying to me, " I have heard your pleas for yourself and your family, it is time now to drink, for whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst again; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." Isaiah sums it up in verse 9 of chapter 58, "Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry, and He will say, 'Here I am'. Beloved, seek the Lord today that He may say to you, 'Here I am'. God bless you, in Christ, Jim www.gathertheoutcasts.com
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