“WHY HAVE WE FASTED, AND THOU SEEST IT NOT”
“WHY HAVE WE FASTED, AND THOU SEEST IT NOT”
Bible Reference: Psalm 35: 13-14. ” Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting. When my prayers returned to me unanswered, 14 I went about mourning as though for my friend or brother. I bowed my head in grief as though weeping for my mother”
Isaiah 58:3. ” Why have we fasted, and thou seest it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and thou takes no knowledge of it? Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers”
Good morning everyone,
We thank God for another wonderful day. We give Him all the glory and praise now and forever.
Today we will be looking at one of the weapons of every believer which is almost lost in modern day christianity which is FASTING and PRAYERS.These two weapons in my opinion move together and the bible teaches us a lot about them.
They are our spiritual weapon, and just as a warrior cannot go to the battle without his weapon, so is it not possible for us as christians to overcome the enemy without fasting and prayers.( 1Corinthians 7:5)
Reading through both the old testament and new testament, fasting was a fundamental practiced and was the channel of power for children of God.
It is a requirement of believer to fast and pray, Prophet, kings, saints, sinners, men, children, women fasted especially in the old testament period. Ezra fasted ( Ezra 8:21-23), also as we saw from the book of Esther, ( Esther 4:1-3).
What does the new testament say about fasting and prayers. From Mathew 6:16 ” And when you fast” which tells us that Jesus Christ knew that it is very important and told His disciples to fast and pray. It should be noted that, it is a commandment for us as believers.
What are some of the benefits of fasting and prayers to us as individuals and as a church.
1. Helps in selecting leaders through the confirmation obtained from the Holy Spirit.( Acts 13:2). We often rely on human strategies and calculations in selecting our leaders and I think that is one of the major reasons why the church is losing the battle.Its time for us to seek the direction of God in selecting leaders to lead Gods people.
2.Through fasting and prayers we can make pleading with the Lord. ( Daniel 9:3)
3. Its also a means for confession to the Lord. ( Daniel 9:4)
4. It helps the soul to be chastened and humbled before God.( Psalm 35:13). ” When I humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach”( Psalm 69:10)
5.Its a means of denying the flesh which helps us to solely concentrate on God.(2 Samuel 12:16-23, 1 Corinthian 7:5)
6. Fasting helps or makes our prayers very effective and also powerful ( Mathew 17:21).
7.As we saw from the roots of sin, fasting helps in temptation and provides us with power to overcome demon( Matthew 4:1-11)
8. Our breakthroughs are achieved through fasting and prayers. ( Isaiah 58:6, Matthew 17:19-21).
Having made known the need for fasting and prayers, let us look at our topic, why have we fasted and thou seest it not?.Not all fasting attracts the blessing and favour of God as it could be seen in our second bible reference.
What then are some of the things that acts as barriers to our fasting?
From our second bible verse, we come across some of these barriers which include
1.Seeking for human praise
2. Pride
3. Oppressing others
4.Pleasure seeking
To conclude on todays discussion, I will say in as much as fasting is important for every believer, it should be done in a Godly way so we can receive the blessings that comes with it.
God bless you.