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Category: A Deeper Word

Published: Monday, 14 September 2009 03:57

Written by Mark Neddeau

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Isaiah 58: 1 - 11        Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.  Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.  Wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowldege?  Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, ask and exact all your labors.  Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.  Is it such a fast that I have chosen?  a day for a man to afflict his soul?  is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?  wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?  Is not this the fast that I have chosen?  to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed  go free, and that ye break every yoke?  Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house?  when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?  THEN shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness  shall go before thee:  the glory of the LORD shall be thy rearward.  THEN shall thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.  IF thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; and IF thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday.

To fast actually means "to shut the mouth".  What is being discussed in the above scriptures is God's anger at his people for their visual fasting.  That is, the way they always needed to be seen, and often argued about who's fasting was more effective, more humble, more spiritual!  They abused themselves for bragging rights, hoping that by their physical submission God would hear them in the spiritual realm, which they would then brag about too.  God had enough of that.  And laid out for us the true meaning of fasting. 

When we fast so many times I have heard my fellow pentecostals tell me that they feel so close to God.  That is good, but only expected.  However, I also hear them tell me that they are fasting for this or that; to have God move on this particular situation or release a particular answer to them.  Fasting ONLY to affect their personal situation.  What a sad statement!  Fasting should be a part of our regular service of God.  We do not fast to get power with God, we fast so that God can have power with US!  We need to learn that we move in HIS time, according to HIS desires, and to achieve that we need to bind this mindset (the flesh) that interferes with his desires.  We fast to teach our bodies submission to our will and learn how to make it easier to step out in faith, learning that our bodies only carry the real us.  How many times have we heard brothers and sisters disappointed after a fast because their prayers went seemingly unanswered? 

I've often thought about the phrase "In the power of the Lord".  The only way we can accomplish what God wants us to perform is thru his Spirit.  He has chosen to use us as vessels so it follows that we must be in sync with Him.  To be in sync with the Spirit requires us to be in control of the one part of us that interferes with God's work the most - our flesh.  Specifically, the willful and carnal nature that is our cross to bear.  It is funny to think that when we speak of the flesh we need to go to the mind.  As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.  A fast is more to pull your thoughts into line.  It is to focus you on the fact that you are denying yourself for a reason.  The key to that reason is not so that you can manipulate God, but rather that God can more easily manipulate you.  You must be able to operate in HIS power, and be ready to move when he speaks to your spirit.  Without pulling the "flesh" out of the equation, teaching your body to respond to your mind and spirit, you will never learn to be effective.

In a sense you can loose bands of wickedness within yourself and your sphere of influence by showing mercy and doing good, but you cannot overcome the locks of wickedness that keep people bound in their hearts outside of you and your control.  Only God can do that.  The bible tells us that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers.  So, you ask, what is the good of fasting?  Doesn't that mean wrestling with the flesh?  Yes, but with YOUR flesh, through your mind.  You wrestle with your desires by controlling your thoughts and turning them onto God.  This way, you train yourself that when your mind speaks, your body listens.  Usually it is the other way around.  When you are hungry, your mind tells you to eat, you eat.  You are tired, your mind tells you to go rest.  When you fast, you are breaking your body's hold on you and forcing your thoughts to understand when God moves; Getting you out of the way, so that God can have more sway over your mind, and thus moving your bodies when and where he needs!  See?   We must win the internal mental battle, so that outwardly the body will move into position when God requires.  Remember that the battle is the LORD's.  That means he owns it.  He knows the way it can be best fought and how it must be won.  He knows your enemy and he knows his weapons.

THAT IS WHY YOU FAST.  To hone, sharpen, improve, and submit the weapon onto the master's hands!  He has made us an integral part of the plan.  All he wants is for us to believe he will do it; to move out of the way and let Him do it.  You will break every yoke with your prayers.  But without controlling your flesh (your carnal mind) you will never know how to pray, and your body will resist the times you want to kneel in prayer and fast.  You will never know how to truly move IN the Spirit of the Lord!  Learn how to fast, how to control your motives and fast for the proper reasons - to affect the lives of those around you...and you will bring a spiritual and thus physical victory into your life!  At the point that your motives for fasting become to move you into receptive posture before God, and not just to get God to move for you, things happen.  You are rewarded and will get answers, you will be heard, you will be stronger in the LORD, but only because he is truly stronger in YOU!  Remember I said that he has chosen you as a vessel and so you must be in sync?  When you are in sync the power flows both ways because God will be in front of you, in you, and behind you.  His will is being satisfied and since it is his will that you succeed and be blessed, your needs will also be satisfied.  See?  Try to fast and be faithful, but only do it to train yourself.  Pray for those lost and undone.  Make your fast about them and not just your needs and you will see both satisfied.

In Love,

Elder Mark Neddeau

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