A letter from a friend…
A friend in the Lord wrote to us, so excited by what she had recently learned about prayer and fasting. Her enthusiasm is contagious, and her encouragement is scripturally sound. We hope her brief yet powerful letter will inspire many.
“I have so much on my heart. It’s all life and peace, abounding in joy. God loves us! He loves us! Some days I just can’t get past that fact…
It’s by the blood of my Savior that I have any value. It’s by His blood and the power of the Holy Spirit that His will can be made manifest in my life – and in others’ lives, through my life. Wow, this is the rest! None of me; all of Him.
I want to share something specific with you that God has tidied up for me about fasting with prayer. I spoke with a brother in the Lord a couple of days ago, and before I spoke with him, I thought I understood the principle of fasting and building a relationship with God. But, now I realize I was still hanging on to the “works” or laws concerning fasting (as per Isaiah 58). As the discussion progressed, God tied everything together for me, and now I have a deeper appreciation for fasting. Praise God!
Now I understand that we fast only to build our relationship with God. It’s through this relationship (which incorporates no unbelief, no fear, perfect love, all authority, all power, all grace, and all truth) that we now operate. We fast to build a stronger relationship with God so that whatever we pray about, whoever we pray for, whatever circumstance we come into, we can truly believe that God’s glory will be made manifest and that His will will be accomplished.
Belief can only happen through our having a strong relationship with God. We need only believe, but believing only results from a strong relationship with God. Jesus emphasized the connection between belief, prayer with fasting, and the manifestation of miracles (Matthew 17:14-21). It’s our growing relationship with our Heavenly Father that gets rid of our unbelief, and fasting is one of the many things we can do to build that relationship. Fasting puts aside our fleshly desires so that we can feed the Holy Spirit within us instead – as we hunger and thirst for righteousness (as we hunger and thirst for a strong relationship with God).
Isaiah 58:7-8 mentions fasting to “loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke…” so that “…thine health shall spring forth speedily…” But we need to remember that Jesus Christ, our dear Savior, already accomplished all that’s in Isaiah 58. So, our purpose for fasting has changed. We no longer have to try to accomplish what is mentioned in Isaiah 58 by our fasting efforts because it’s already done. Jesus declared it on the cross when He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Jesus fulfilled all the laws and the Old Testament with His life. He completed it on the cross!
Then, God gave us His awesome power to dwell in us, transforming and renewing our minds through the anointing of the Holy Spirit. We need to know that the Holy Spirit carries the completion of everything – it’s all in us! Every single word Isaiah spoke about fasting, Jesus fulfilled, and it now dwells inside of us through the Spirit of God! It’s simply now up to us to make this manifest through our belief.
So, what do we do now regarding fasting? Well, we pray for others, but we fast for us to build a strong relationship with God so that we will believe beyond doubt that God’s will will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. It’s a wonderful commission from God. What an awesome privilege we have!
We can pray for people with His faith and His authority and see their lives changed forever. That very faith and authority are in us through the power of the Holy Spirit, and fasting is one of the many ways we can help ourselves to access them. Every chain can be broken, every sickness can be healed, every captive can be freed, and every heart can be turned to God (who first loved them!). We can pray, believing that God’s glory will be made manifest on the Earth as it is in heaven. Ahh, it’s all so exciting!”
Note: For lots more encouragement and practical help regarding fasting, go to our J.E.W.E.L. Journey pages.