June 29, 2019
Offer yourself as a holy sacrifice acceptable to the Lord
You have to be ready and prepared for answers to prayers when you have fasted or even while you’re still fasting. Our God is a faithful God, Father and king. What He says; He does. God has promised that when you fast the right way, He will hear and answer you and that’s what He does every time you behave in obedience (accordance) to His Word. Every time you practice to pray as you fast, or fast as you pray, your spiritual capacity to hear and receive will be increased. Emptied of your own comfort and interests, you will be ready for Him to fill you.
Try answering these questions for yourself: Do your prayers tend to focus on yourself or on others or mixed? Is there a stubborn and persistent situation in your life, or a person for whom you’re praying, that is resistant to your prayers? Do you hear from God and experience the power of His Spirit to meet your needs and others? Is fasting a regular practice in your life? Your answers will help you understand how to put prayer and fasting to action and make it work for you.
Compare Isaiah 58: 6-9 with 1 John 3:14-19 and Matthew 25:31-40. How do the New Testament passages reinforce what God said is important to Him during a fast, which He describes in Isaiah 58? Considering the kind of fast that pleases God, how can you help meet someone’s spiritual or physical needs this week, next week or this year? I urge you to try this. Set aside a time to consecrate yourself in prayer and fasting on behalf of someone who needs help of any kind or a breakthrough and experience the power and authority of Jesus Christ upon your life. Note: Every time you [will] cry for help, the Lord will say: “Here I am.”
Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, You have taught me that when I pray, I am to bring other people’s needs before you. I want to be empowered by Your Spirit through fasting so I can minister to others and counter the works of the enemy. I consecrate myself to You in prayer and fasting, setting myself apart to seek Your will rather than my own interests. Use me to fulfill your purposes for your glory, and for Your name’s sake. I pray this in the name of Jesus, who fasted and prayed not only for His disciples, but also for us who have believed in Him through their testimonies. Amen.
Today’s reading: Job 14-16; Acts 9:22-43
Offer Yourself as a Holy Sacrifice Acceptable to the Lord.
About the writer
Bassey Ekong, Dip Ed, BSc. Ed, B. Ed, M. Ed is an educator/teacher of science on the high school panel of the local board of education in the Ottawa-Carleton region. He’s a psychology of learning specialist. A scholar; always learning, a writer, teacher and trainer, adviser board of directors and pastor of the Light of the Nations Ministry International, a non-denominational ministry with its headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He can be reached at: [email protected].