PRAYER
Genesis 17
1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply the exceedingly.
3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him...
Here we see God making a covenant with Abram and Abram making a covenant with God. And if you read that chapter you will see that Abraham becomes a great intercessor. Intercession is always the result of a covenant with God. If you want a life of prayer and intercession, first make sure their is a covenant with Him. Because a covenant with the Lord produces a life of prayer. And many wonderful people don't realize that prayer comes after we make a covenant. Now the word of the Lord goes on to tell us in Genesis 18:17...
Genesis 18
17 And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
The Lord now says, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do... Abraham is a man entered into a covenant relationship with God. The truth revealed here is that only people in covenant with God shall know His mind. The covenant he made with God was so solid that it began to affect his home and family. And God looked and said shall I hide from this man what I'm about to do? A man that is keeping the covenant made between us, so much so that he will command his children to keep the covenant made with me? The result is revelation. Covenant gives birth to prayer, and prayer will give birth to revelation from heaven.
Ephesians 5
15 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
Awake thou that sleepest... Friends, when a person is sleeping they are prayerless, but upon awakening they become prayerful. Sleeping is prayerlessness and awakening is prayer.
We live in an age where the gospel message has been severely weakened. We live in a society that teaches fast food service...a fast life. "Get it done now God I'm tired of waiting!" People need to understand that the ways of the Lord have not changed. He is till the same God of old. He does not fit into our schedules, we must fit into His. He does not fit into their agendas, they must fit into His. He will not change with society, He is changeless forever more. Many times we forget the same glorious message that has been here with us for thousands of years. The only way to stay in the presence of the Almighty, the only way to know His voice, and His holiness is staying on your knees. So many can never find the time to pray, yet they are willing to make time for everything else. The scriptures are clear on this subject. Isaiah 52 elaborates further on the state of a prayerless man or woman.
Isaiah 52
1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
2 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
3 For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money.
4 For thus saith the Lord God, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion... The Lord declares that when you awake and become prayerful there will be strength in your life not weakness. Strength against the devil, strength against sin, strength against demonic oppression, strength against the enemy. You can walk through the very deepest, darkest pit and the enemy will not stir you. When you awake and put on strength weakness is put off...no temptation will overcome you. That means no devil can touch you. That means nothing can take hold of you...
...put on thy beautiful garments... Beautiful garments. Not filthy, ugly looking ones. Prayer produces beauty in your walk with God...Drives away the ugliness of sin and brings in the beauty of His righteousness.
...there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. The bible declares the second you awake you'll no longer have fellowship with the heathen. You cannot have fellowship with the heathen if you are a man or woman of prayer. Prayerful saints don't fellowship with the world. Prayerlessness produces fellowship with the world.
Shake thyself from the dust... Shake thyself. We're always saying, "O God get me out of my problem!" And God says, "Get yourself out of your problem." Shake yourself out of the dust you're in, the mess you're in, the problem you're in. Prayer shakes you out. You see, sleeping saints are compared to dead sinners. God called those who refused to watch, dogs. Isaiah 56 says that prayerless people are dogs that can't even bark...and it is prayerlessness that brings about bondage. Demon oppression will set in. Now I will say this, a true Christian cannot be demon possessed, it's impossible. But oppression will set in as a result of prayerlessness. If you are prayerless, you will be oppressed by the devil.
Isaiah 56
9 All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest.
10 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
11 Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, everyone for his own gain, from his quarter.
His watchmen are those that are supposed to be watching. Watch means pray. Watchmen are those that are supposed to be praying. But they're not praying...they've become blind as a result.
His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant... Prayerlessness produces ignorance of the things of the Spirit.
...they are dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. These love to take little naps spiritually. They would rather sleep and not pray.
...Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand... Amazing, that God says they are shepherds. I mean...they're the ones that are supposed to know what to do! And they're not doing it!
Back at Isaiah 52, the Word of God says to shake thyself... When you begin to seek God, you begin to shake yourself out of your own misery. And then it says to arise... and when arise, you'll shine. (Isaiah 60)
Ye have sold yourselves for nought. You sell yourself for nought...you literally surrender. Prayer enables you to surreder to God. But prayerlessness, (without my choice) causes me to surrender to the enemy. Prayer brings you closer to God, but prayerlessness takes you the other way.
...and ye shall be redeemed without money... This deals with the promise that God had made to redeem.
For thus saith the Lord God, My people went down afortime into Egypt to sojourn there... So when you are prayerless, you go back to the lifestyle you came out of when you got saved. Prayerless people travel back to Egypt. You start living like the world lives when you don't pray.
...and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. The Assyrian, meaning the devil, begins to oppress you. Why? because you go back to the place you came out of. Demon oppression begins when you go back to Egypt. Egypt is symbolic of the world. And when you start going back that way...that's where the demons are. They are not a part of kingdom living or the kingdom of God. They're a part of the kingdom of hell. When we go back to the old life, that's where we find them. So they don't walk into our world, we walk into theirs. So stay out of their world...God says to come out from among them. Be separate and I will receive you and be your God. The reason many are demon oppressed is because they continue to shake hands with the old world...they look back like Lot's wife. So keep your eyes on the finish line...run the race with patience. The scriptures declare clearly that there is a race. How fast are you running? Are you dilly dallying? Are you letting the Spiritual things of God simply pass you by?
Samson lost his anointing while he slept. Judges 16 declares that the Lord departed from him while he slept, and he didn't even realize it. Let's not loose what we have in Christ, by falling asleep, and letting the fires go out.
Luke 21
36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Prayer will make you worthy to miss the tribulation. Some are going to miss the rapture. Jesus said that some will miss it. We are to pray that we would be counted worthy to escape the snare that shall come upon the earth, and to stand before the Son of God. We have to pray.
Matthew 6
16 Moreover when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
Jesus did not say "if" you fast, he said "when" you fast. It is part of the Christian lifestyle. It is part of the Christian walk. (I repeat I am terrible at this...)
I was taught that there are at least five things one should ask themselves or examine themselves of before going into a fast.
1. Is this fast God led? Is this of God? Or are you fasting to lose weight or something?
2. What are your motives behind the fast? What's your purpose?
3. What specific needs are you fasting for? (In scripture, when someone fasted there was always a need there...)
4. What results are you looking for? Every fast has some kind of result.
5. Are you determined to minister to the Lord (or serve Him) while fasting? (Acts 13:1-3)
In Acts 13 it said that they fasted and ministered to the Lord...fasting is a time of ministering to God.
Zechariah 7
5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?
So it seems God is saying are you fasting to me, for things to do with my kingdom? Or are you just fasting to fast? These things need to be addressed. Are we fasting for specific needs as led by the Spirit, to bring glory to the Father, to His kingdom, to honor Him....or are we just fasting to fast?
1 Corinthians 10
7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND ROSE UP TO PLAY.
The scripture says that they ate, drank, and rose up to play and were called idolaters because their bodies were their gods. So what's the purpose of fasting? Fasting brings the flesh down off the throne.
1 Corinthians 9
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Fasting brings the flesh under subjection. Fasting will not allow the flesh to rule in your life. The one thing the devil will try to arouse in you is the lust of the flesh. When you begin to fast you will see changes in your Christian walk.
Seven fasts mentioned in scripture....
1. A three day fast for Crisis or deliverance from death.
*Esther 4:16
*Acts 9:9
2. A three week fast for Revelation
*Daniel 10:2,3
*Daniel 9:3-23
This is a twenty-one day partial fast for revelation. Daniel ate no bread, no meat, no desserts, nor did he drink any wine. I think I should point out that these are not magic formulas, but scripture. These fasts are also something that should be prayed about and Spirit led. Don't let fasting become a bondage as the Pharisees did. Luke 18:11 speaks of how they would fast twice a week, and would begin to boast about it. It clearly became flesh led and not Spirit led, therefore God would not honor it....And it became a bondage in their lives...
3. A one day fast for Consecration and Re-examination spiritually
*Psalm 35:13
*Leviticus 23:27
*Jeremiah 36:6
God was asking His people to humble themselves and fast one day a year to re-examine their spiritual state with Him.
4. A one day fast for deliverance
*Ezra 8:23
*Judges 20:18-35
*Matthew 17:21
Judges, 20:18-35 tells the story of how the nation of Israel had to fight against one of its own tribes for a particular sin they had committed. Even though God gave Israel specific orders to go up to battle, they suffered terrible defeats. It wasn't until they fasted that God delivered their enemy into their hands. The first time they went up after consulting the Lord in prayer and with offerings, and were met with disaster. The second time they went up at the order of the Lord, after much weeping, prayer, and offerings....and they were met with disaster once more. The third time, they prayed, wept, offered bunt offerings, and fasted. And upon consulting the Lord, He told them not only to go up, but that He would deliver their enemy into their hands. God did not tell them to fast because they should have known to fast. He spoke of this by his prophets, and even Moses told them to fast but they would not listen. God does not repeat Himself over and over and over again. The Word was already given once, written in stone, established in Heaven, and later to be written upon the heart. Now, this fast can be done as often as needed. Sometimes you can pray and pray and pray and nothing happens....try mixing your prayers with one day of fasting and see what happens. This fast for deliverance was the one that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 17:21 when he said this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
5. A Fast to lift judgment
*1 Kings 21:27-28
Even the most wicked people can fast humbling themselves before God and literally see judgment lifted. Our Father is full of mercies... If you know someone possibly under judgment maybe you could fast and pray for them.... Here we don't see how long this fast went on though.
6. A three day fast for healing
*1 Samuel 30:11-15
This man had fasted three days and it helped him recover physically. Fasting can actually help the body rid itself of different toxins and things...but not all sickness can be healed by fasting. But if God leads you to fast for your own sickness do it. Be sure that God has led you though.
7. A forty day fast for Dominion
*Luke 4:1, 2,14, 18
This was a supernatural fast. Three men fasted this way in scripture, Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. The Holy Ghost did not rest upon Jesus in power until he fasted.
Advice about fasting beyond a day....
*Never begin a fast beyond a day without checking with a doctor.
*Be sure that God has led you into it.
*Coming out of a fast:
1st day drink juice and water
2nd day eat fruit
3rd day soups are okay
4th day salads
5th day breads
6th day fish or chicken
* Rest as much as possible, watch your quantities, and at the first sign of discomfort, see your doctor.
God bless.
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