FS WORD OF POWER
Power for BREAKTHROUGH in 2020
January 29, 2020
Eva Windahl
When you combine prayer with fasting it becomes the most powerful force on earth and in Heaven. Let me encourage you today: if you are in need of a breakthrough; dedicate time in prayer and fasting. Fasting is a powerful spiritual tool that can potentially change your life. The rewards are great and definitely worth the temporary discomfort.
There are times for all of us when it seems difficult to hear from God and to operate in the spiritual realm. You might feel like you’ve hit a brick wall spiritually. So you press in and read the Word more, and you pray more, but still nothing or just perhaps a trickle of something. Friend, that might just be the time when a period of fasting is needed to get the job done.
Scripture tells us of the many times when fasting resulted in incredible breakthroughs such as when: Moses fasted while he was preparing to receive the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 9: 9-18; Esther fasted for the safety of the Jews in Esther 4: 15-17; Daniel fasted when he needed revelation and answers to his prayer in Daniel 10: 1-3 and Jesus Himself fasted for 40 days before embarking on His earthly ministry (Matthew 4: 1-2)
So when should you fast? Isaiah 58 God gives us some of the reasons for biblical fasting. Others can be found modeled throughout the Bible. Here are some of the main reasons to fast:
- When you haven’t received an answer to your prayer.
- When you are seeking direction from God.
- When you need deliverance from a certain situation.
- On behalf of a friend who is under a very heavy burden. (So you can receive insight into their situation or for their deliverance from oppression)
Please keep in mind that you should always be led by the Holy Spirit before embarking on a fast and that you should always have a purpose for doing so. What will your reward be for fasting? It will be related to whatever motivated you to start fasting in the first place. So whatever it is that you are seeking from God, establish it by faith and proclaim it even before you enter into the fast. You must expect to receive it from God. The three specific rewards for fasting
- Fasting Subdues the flesh
“The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” – Matthew 26:41(NIV) There are times when we really want to operate in faith and stand on God’s Word, but the problems or circumstances are screaming at us. And then we falter. God’s Word then is put aside, because you can’t focus on anything else but your problems or circumstances. I’ve been there. If you allow it, your flesh will take over your thoughts and your spiritual life. It is in those times when fasting is really necessary. Fasting will subdue the flesh and help to open your spiritual ears so that you can hear from God and receive the necessary direction that is required to take action in your particular situation or circumstances.
Fasting and praying are about putting everything aside and focusing on God so that God can have an opportunity to speak to you. It’s not that He has not been speaking to you all along, but rather His voice got lost somehow in the noise of the circumstances. Fasting produces heightened spiritual insight and often produces the breakthrough you have might have been seeking.
- Fasting brings revelation.
When you fast your revelation will often break through. God will give you new insight, understanding of a situation or circumstance and revelation when you fast. This will strengthen your faith and enable you to receive from Him. When you fast expect to hear from God and expect a Godly revelation.
- Fasting brings deliverance.
“Is this not the fast I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness…” Isaiah 58:6(KJV) As believers, we have already been delivered from the power of darkness through Jesus’ work on the cross. The price has been paid in full. If there is still any form of an oppressive yoke in a believer’s life they can and should be set free from it. A biblical fast can help set you free. When the disciples were unable to cast out a demon (Mark 9:28), Jesus told them that that kind of demon can only come out through “prayer and fasting.” So here we can see that fasting can and will indeed bring deliverance from evil.
PRAY + FAST= BREAKTHROUGH 2020