CHART YOUR YEAR RIGHT; GIVE GOD YOUR ATTENTION
Dear brethren,
I trust your year has began powerfully. Last week, we studied about how to chart the course of your year with the words you speak. That is foundational and paramount. Success is never accidental. You make it happen. How? It starts with the decisions you make. Decisions determine direction and direction determines destiny. When your decisions are led of the Lord, they steer you in the right direction and as a result God’s will becomes your destiny.
During a time of the beginning of the year like we find ourselves in right now, it’s always an opportune time to re-evaluate your decisions and make sure they are in line with the will of God. In order for you to hear God accurately, you need to make sure you have times of waiting on Him…quiet times to hear Him clearly. One of the main reasons people are unable to wait on God is distraction. They are distracted by the busyness and the demands of life.
It is important to learn how to put those distractions aside and be focused on the Lord, His Word and His Spirit. One of the best ways to do that is through prayer and fasting. Fasting does not change God. It gives Him the opportunity to speak to us, to work on us and to change our perspective to His. Fasting enables you to put your flesh under subjection to your inner man and thus curb the distractions of the flesh.
Some believers however have never learned that fasting is for them. As a result, they lack fervency in their spiritual walk.According to the words of Jesus in Luke 5,He made it clear that we ought to fast.
Look at Luke 5:34-35And He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days.”NKJV
Notice the words: “then they will fast.” Since Jesus ascended into heaven, like He said, we should fast. Jesus Himself fasted. He lived down here as a human being, anointed by the Holy Ghost. He had set aside His power and glory and come down on the earth as a man. We ought to follow His example of how to live godly in this world. He left us an example to follow. (1Peter 2:21.)
Another reason we fast is that God delights in giving rewards. Jesus taught that when giving, praying and fasting are practiced correctly in your life, He will “reward you openly.” In other words, when you fast, you’d be sowing into spiritual things and anytime you sow to the Spirit, you will reap great benefits.
Gal. 6:8For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.NKJV
When you sow your time and attention to Spiritual things, you experience new life energy in every area of your life. Fasting is not a way to bribe God to answer your prayers. He calls you to fast because He wanted to give you answers to begin with. He desires your attention so He can help you receive what He’s offering you; so you can focus on Him to hear His direction for the days ahead. Do you desire to know God’s will for your life such as who you should marry, what you’re called to do and/or what career choice to take, what changes to make in your business in the new year, or what successes He has ahead for you? Fasting brings you to a place of being able to clearly hear God’s will.
To fast Biblically, you must abstain from food, partially or completely – for a period of time for a spiritual purpose. During a spiritual fast, you deny yourself something that is loved and cherished by your body – food. When Jesus fasted, he hungered. Yes you will and should get hungry when you fast. It’s supposed to be hard on your flesh. When done right under the guidance of the Spirit, fasting has the power to break the gripping control of your flesh and to amplify the voice of your inner man.
As you develop a lifestyle of prayer and fasting, you will find that God will lead you.Isaiah 58:11The LORD will guide you continually,and satisfy your soul in drought,and strengthen your bones;You
shall be like a watered garden,And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. NKJV
Next bulletin, I’ll show you more benefits to your time of fasting.
