CALLING THE CHURCH TO
PRAYER AND FASTING
Through fasting, our spiritual senses are heightened. We are read- from food. God promised (in Joel) that when His judgment
ied to recognize the Bridegroom’s presence and prepared to pro- brings destruction, restoration can be found through repentance,
claim Him to a waiting world. prayer, and fasting. When armies of invisible locusts eat away at
our fruitfulness and the place of harvest becomes barren, we
Revelation
must realize that in many instances, great hoards of difficulty
At Damascus, Saul of Tarsus found revelation in a time of have been sent to turn us back to God. If we are to witness
fasting. Saul’s life direction radically changed on the Damascus restoration, our response should agree with Joel’s command:
road. For three days following his encounter with Christ, Saul “Blow the ram’s horn in Jerusalem! Announce a time of fasting;
fasted and waited for further direction on a street called Straight. call the people together for a solemn meeting” (2:15, NLT).
While his stomach growled, Saul was prepared for God’s revela-
tion to him through Ananias. Millions of us are, in essence,
Reward
where Saul of Tarsus was those three days following his conver- God also promises that He will reward those who diligently,
sion. Yesterday’s light has faded, and the gleam of tomorrow’s earnestly, zealously, and consistently seek Him. “But without faith
promise is not yet in sight. We are disoriented by our darkness it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must
and desperate for direction. believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligent-
The need for revelation in today’s church is greater than ever. ly seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6, NKJV).
When we walk in our own light, our own understanding, and our What is the reward of spiritual diligence? Answered prayer is
own will, we experience a Christianity void of the Spirit’s immedi- certainly part of the reward. Supernatural peace, divine love,
ate witness. We live religiously but not revelationally. We miss our heavenly crowns, streets of gold, and numerous other spiritual
destiny while fulfilling our own desire. Have we willingly traded blessings all qualify as reward material. I have personally discov-
the fruitfulness of God’s perfect will for the barrenness of bureau- ered, however, that the greatest reward of fasting is intimacy
cratic expediency, simply because no one made the effort to fully with the Lord himself. He becomes our portion. “My flesh and
seek God? Finding God’s heart takes time and usually requires my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my por-
prayer and fasting. Perhaps the greatest, world-changing, tion forever” (Psalm 73:26, NKJV).
Kingdom-propelling marching orders of all time are about to be Through fasting we are weaned away from earthly attractions
handed to those “hungry for heaven” people who will admit and are able to completely focus on our personal relationship
their need. I want to be one of them, don’t you? with God. Our physical hunger becomes a reflection of our heart
hunger for greater intimacy. My wife, Lisa, and I have been mar-
Release
ried for 30 years, after dating for over three years as teenagers.
Another critical purpose of fasting is to bring spiritual release During our courtship we “broke up” a few times as we endured
to those who are bound. Isaiah 58 states emphatically that the the tenuous ups and downs of young love. During our times of
fast God has chosen includes loosing the bands of wickedness, estrangement, I was literally sick to my stomach because of our
undoing heavy burdens, letting the oppressed go free, and break- broken relationship. Lisa experienced the same feelings. People
ing every yoke. Our innermost cry must be that the Lord will have called this phenomenon “being lovesick.” Though “love-
bring about complete spiritual freedom through our abstinence sickness” is sometimes an object of humor and disdain, its effect
from physical nourishment. is real.
How many people could be set free and have the bands of Jesus predicted that His church would be lovesick for Him
their wickedness loosed if the church would pursue the Lord after His departure. When questioned by the followers of John the
with fasting? I am personally convinced that many times we are Baptist and the Pharisees regarding why His disciples did not fast,
positioned for promise but fail to see fulfillment because of our Jesus explained that they did not need to fast while He was with
lack of spiritual intensity. The church facing the young demoni- them. They were fulfilled and in close communion with God
ac and his desperate father had an awesome opportunity. God through Christ; but when He left, He said, then they would also
was ready to defeat Satan’s power. The public was watching, but fast (Luke 5:34-35). When we participate in a godly fast, we are
the church was not ready. The church missed its moment of expressing our lovesickness for the Bridegroom. The gravity of our
ministry. Jesus would later tell His disciples, “This kind can horizontal world is broken and we practically demonstrate that
come out by nothing but prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29, NKJV). we are hungry for heaven.
How many ministry moments have we missed because our bel-
lies remained full and our knees remained unbent?
Billy Wilson serves as executive director of the Center
Restoration
for Spiritual Renewal in Cleveland, Tennessee.
Restoration is also a purpose of fasting. Our inner longing for
God to bring a supernatural reversal is expressed by abstinence
EVANGEL • MAR 2008 13
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40