 |
| Fasting and the Spiritual Bar 5/17/07 George Poulo Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; And let them give us pulse to eat, and water to Drink. And at the end of ten days their countenances Appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the Children which did eat the portion of the king�s Meat. Dn1:12,15 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in Those days he did eat nothing: and when they Were ended, he afterward hungered. Lk4:2 In Isaiah, it states, "Is it such a fast I have chosen?" (Is58:5) and in Matthew's gospel we see that power to heal sometimes requires prayer and fasting (Mt17:21). If God has called you to fast, what should you expect to experience, and how is that a measure of our spiritual bar? By the spiritual bar I have in mind the level of our spiritual growth and holiness. For Daniel, instead of defiling himself by eating the king's meat and drinking the king's wine, he was led to go on a fast on pulse and water. Daniel was a man of wisdom and faithful to the commandments of God. When he fasted, instead of experiencing weakness, fatigue, and weight-loss, he gained weight. Because his spiritual bar was high, because he kept the commandments of God and had wisdom and understanding, God�s spirit not only sustained him, he actually gained weight. Fasting is not only a cleansing of the flesh and spirit, fasting is a means of being sustained by the Spirit of God. Not only did he not faint but God brought about favor and blessing to Daniel who did not succumb to the pressures of the world, the flesh, and the devil. When Jesus fasted, his spiritual bar was so high, the Holy Spirit so sustained him, that he did not hunger for forty days. Being empty but full of the Spirit kept him from yielding to temptation and only after the fast did he experience hunger. Recently I, too, have been led to fast for my pastor, my church, and for a greater power to deal with the works of the devil, to cast out demons, heal sickness, and minister in wisdom and knowledge. When I began to fast my spiritual bar was low. I experienced weakness and hunger. I experienced lightness and headaches. There was a good deal of work to do if I was to experience anything similar to what Daniel or Jesus experienced. But as I continued to fast and only once a week, I might add, I found that as my spiritual life improved my fasting became much easier. Not only that, the power of the word that went forth when I prayed with the sick or the oppressed increased remarkably. Instead of hunger and weakness, sickness and headaches, strength and power and clarity and insight were manifest. I have also found that if I yield to the wrong spirit, like a spirit of inferiority or a spirit of fear or doubt, when I fast, the Spirit of God is not there to sustain me. I find that I withdraw and struggle. I, also, find that if I begin in weakness and sickness, if I act in faith, the Spirit of God instantly removes the discomfort and the sustaining power of God is there. Fasting is a means of measuring your spiritual bar. It is a means of growing stronger on reliance of God and moving and operating in the Spirit and increasing faith. Daniel and Jesus had a high spiritual bar, so can we. We do not have to fast for forty days. We can just eat light and skip one meal or two a day, once a week. But as we fast, we can gain some idea of our spiritual state and the work that needs to be done to experience the grace of God in our life. It may require more time in scripture. It may require more time in prayer. It may require more time in positive confession of the word. It may require more time in acts of charity. It may require us to rebuke and bind spirits that we did not know had residence in our temple and to repent for yielding to them. If God has called you to a fast, then he has called to raise the bar of your spiritual life and to be of greater use in the kingdom of God. God has called me to fast, what about you? Amen |