The
full day of fasting is here. What to do? I would suggest that you follow the
A.C.T.S. method of prayer today. Instead of eating breakfast, spend time
praising and ADORING the Lord. At lunch, spend some time CONFESSING your sins
and then THANKING God for all things. Then at supper bring Him your specific
requests, (SUPPLICATIONS)
In today’s devotional on fasting I want to talk about this
spiritual discipline as a God-given weapon against fear!
Fear can give birth to very unhealthy obsessions, which can
lead to addictions which we often use as a place to run to in order to escape
our fears.
When does fear grip you? Is it in the area of your finances?
A relationship? A lack of a relationship? Some fear regarding loved ones? Is it the nagging health problem that you
don’t want to go see the doctor about? Is it that new job you’re starting? It
could be something as simple as standing in front of a class to give a speech,
or going to the dentist. Fear is fear. It is whatever it is that
distracts you and paralyzes you. Whatever it is that consumes you and adds
stress to your life. Right now, in our land, many are gripped by fear of the
coronavirus.
When you find yourself paralyzed, when you find yourself
obsessed because of fear, it’s time to reach into the armory of weapons that
God has put at your disposal and pull out the spiritual hand grenade of
fasting, and let God scatter that enemy that has brought such fear into your
life.
Fear often comes with deadlines and ultimatums doesn’t it? A
payment is due, a court date, is looming, that dentist appointment is tomorrow!
What do you do? You do all you can do and then you fast.
In the Book of Esther, the Jews were gripped with fear
because an order had been given and a date set for their extermination. (13th
Day of the 12th month) The clock was ticking. Esther was gripped
with fear because she was being called upon to stand up to the king.
What did they do? They fasted!. Esther even called on others
to fast on her behalf! Esther called for
a fast because she knew she didn’t have the courage to do this alone. The heart
cry of fasting is always, “God I can’t do this on my own, I need your help!
This circumstance is too big for me to overcome. Fasting then turns our fear to
faith.
Dr. Tony Evans tells the story of the time that his church
was meeting in a school. A couple of members of the school board got a bee in
their bonnet about separation of church and state and decided to kick the
church out of the school. The church,
like Esther, asked for a special meeting with the school board to see if they
would change their mind. But guess what the church did before the meeting? They fasted and prayed.
On the day of the meeting two of the members of the school
board were late. The board waited for
them for over 45 minutes and finally went ahead with the meeting at which time the board overturned it's
decision and allowed the church to continue meeting.
Guess what? It seems
the two missing members were the two with the bees in their bonnets. It seems
that they were hung up in a huge traffic snarl and couldn’t make any noise but
the honking of their horns.
Do you need God to allay any of your fears? Let the devil
honk his horns, but let us fast and
pray! Let God step in and take care of His business as you admit your need for
Him in your situation through prayer and fasting.
Father, help us with our fears today.
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