- [Narrator] Fasting. Our response to God's purposes.
I have made a brief study of the people
who have truly moved God and man
in the history of the church,
laying the foundations for many generations
because their ministry extended beyond their own era.
Consider the great modern evangelists such as John Knox,
John Calvin, John Wesley, Charles Finney.
Each of these persons practice fasting
according to their own testimony.
If we want to lay the foundations
for many generations, that is part of it.
When we come to the last promise, Isaiah 58:12,
"And they that shall be of thee
shall build the old waste places.
Thou shalt rise up the foundations of many generations
and thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of paths to dwell in."
There are many, many violations in the heritage
of the people of God that must be eliminated.
We recall that God said in Ezekiel 22:30,
"And I sought for a man among them
that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap
before me for the land, that I shall not destroy it,
but I found none."
Intercession fasting is the building of a wall
or a hedge, KJV.
And standing in the gap,
it makes us repairers of the breach.
There is a great pattern of restoration
recorded in Old Testament history.
It is the return of God's people from captivity
in Babylon to their own land and the rebuilding
of God's temple in Jerusalem.
We have viewed this in connection with the life of Daniel.
Let's look at the lives of two men and one woman
who were also associated with this great process.
Chronologically, these were Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.
Each practice fasting.
Ezra.
When we turn to the Book of Ezra,
we go backwards in our Bibles but forward time-wise.
Ezra was leading a squad of returning exiles from Babylon
to the city of Jerusalem.
They came to the site
where they were about to take a journey of several months
through a territory that was ravaged
by bandits and hostile tribes.
They had their wives, children, and grandchildren with them.
And what was even more important for Orthodox Jews,
all the Holy vessels of the temple
which had been taken and brought to Babylon.
One consequence of witnessing to men
is that one must do justice to one's testimony.
There is a good reason for witnessing.
Ezra had made this bold testimony to the king of Persia.
Our God looks after His servants.
God is equal to any situation, any danger, any emergency.
Now that they were going on this dangerous journey,
he thought, "I cannot go back to the king
and say that we are fearful and ask soldiers
and horsemen to go with us.
That would spoil my testimony.
So what are we going to do?"
Ezra was faced with the choice between two ways
of doing things, the carnal and the spiritual.
The carnal way would be to become dependent
on the soldiers and the horsemen,
but he had closed himself off from this possibility.
He had only one alternative. Spiritual.
What form did the spiritual take?
Prayer and fasting.
"Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava
that we might afflict ourselves before our God
to seek of Him a right way for us, and for our little ones,
and for all our substance.
For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers
and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way,
because we had spoken onto the king saying,
'The hand of our God is upon all of them for good
that seek Him, but His power and His wrath
is against all of them that forsake Him.
So we fasted and besought our God for this,
and He was intreated with us.'"
Ezra 8:21-23.
God heard their prayer.
The power of prayer and fasting bound every robber,
every hostile tribesmen, every variety of outbreak
and disease that awaited them on the way.
They passed through in peace and security
without losing a single member of their crew
and without having received the beautiful temple vessels.
This is one of the great lessons of the Bible.
When you win in the spiritual realm, you win, full stop.
That's why the Word of God is such a relevant book.
Everyone is looking for answers to governmental,
social, and economic problems.
When a nation wins victory in the spiritual realm
through prayer and fasting, all human realms
are brought into harmony.
Win the battle in the spiritual realm
over Washington, D.C., for instance,
and stand back and watch the economic, the political,
and the social problems fall into line.
Nehemiah.
The next man in this restoration process is Nehemiah,
after whom the next book of the Bible is named.
Nehemiah heard from some of his brothers.
"They said to me, 'Those who survive the exile
and are back in the province
are in great trouble and disgrace.
The wall of Jerusalem is broken down
and its gates have been burned with fire.'"
Nehemiah 1:3.
Nehemiah's response is found in the next verse.
"When I heard these things, I sat down and wept.
For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed
before the God of heaven."
Nehemiah 1:4.
Nehemiah had learned the secret.
The way was blocked. The situation hopeless.
He fasted and prayed and God opened the way.
God not only opened the way for Nehemiah,
He also obtained from the king full authority and provision
for the reconstruction of the city of Jerusalem.
All this was done through prayer and fasting.
Esther.
Let us now turn to the fourth chapter of Esther.
This is the greatest single crisis that the Jewish people
have faced in their entire history to date.
Greater even than the crisis under Adolf Hitler.
Hitler had only a third of the Jews dependent on his grace.
The Persian emperor had the entire Jewish nation.
Evil men under Haman, who was Satan's intercessor
against the Jews and the king's high officials
had gained access to the king and obtained a decree
that all Jews in the province of the kingdom of Persia
should be exterminated on a given day.
The book of Esther gave birth to the Jewish festival
of Purim, the Hebrew word for lots.
The feast bears this name because Haman drew lots
for a whole year to find the right day
on which the Jews were to be exterminated.
The fact that he cast the lot indicates
that he treated this as a spiritual matter.
He sought supernatural direction.
He also had wise men or magicians who gave him advice.
Godless people often go down this path when they realize
that they need more than natural wisdom.
They turn to the satanic supernatural for advice.
This was a spiritual conflict between the powers of light
and the powers of darkness,
the powers of the Holy Spirit and the power of Satan.
Both had their agents and representatives right there.
The power of Satan invoked by Haman
and the supernatural power of God invoked by Esther.
When Esther heard the news, she said to her uncle Mordecai,
"Go gather all the Jews who are in the Shushan
and fast for me.
Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day.
I in my attendance will fast as you do.
When this is done, I will go to the king,
even though it is against the law.
And if I perish, I perish."
Esther 4:16.
"And on the fourth day, Esther put on her royal robes
and went into the palace of the king
and found favor in his sight
and held out the golden scepter saying,
'What do you wish queen Esther?'"
The planned destruction of God's people
turned into its greatest and most glorious success
in the annals of the Persian empire.
Israel was saved and Haman hanged on the gallows.
What changed the whole situation militarily, politically?
The prayer and fasting of Esther.
Dear heavenly Father, Jesus proclaimed,
"Go into all the world and preach
the good news to all creation."
Help me to declare with power the good news of Jesus Christ.
Send me to where you can use my gifts
and talents to make a difference.
O Holy Spirit, you gave yourself to the Virgin Mary.
And she said yes to becoming the mother of the Messiah.
Assist me to say yes to whatever it is
you are asking me to do.
I want to serve the Father and make Jesus's love
more apparent in the world throughout me.
O Holy Spirit, I have my expectations
about what I should and should not do.
I now yield to you my thoughts, my weaknesses,
my choices, and my goals.
Fill me, Holy Spirit with all your supernatural gifts.
Enable me to accept and increase in the supernatural life
as much as the first disciples also increased.
I wanna be beneficial to you.
I seek to go where you lead me.
Holy Spirit, send me forth gifted and strengthened
to make a difference, proclaiming the good news of God.
Holy Spirit, come, fill the hearts of your faithful
and light in them the fire of your love.
Send out your spirit and they shall be created,
and you will restore the face of the Earth.
Lord, through the Holy Spirit's light,
you have showed us the hearts of your faithful.
In the very same spirit, help me to relish what is right
and always rejoice in your consolation.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Spirit of God, spark our hope, faith, and love
into new action every day.
Fill our lives with miracle and awe in your presence,
which envelops all creation, amen.
Holy Spirit, I love you and glorify you with all my heart.
Teach me to know and to seek God
by whom and for whom I was created.
Fill my heart with a holy fear and a vast love for him.
Give me compunction and endurance.
And do not let me slip into sin.
Build faith, hope, and charity in me,
and bring forward in me all the virtues
fit to my state of life.
Assist me in growing in the 4 cardinal characteristics,
your 7 gifts, and your 12 fruits.
Make of me a committed follower of Jesus,
an attentive child of the church,
and a relief to my neighbor.
Grant me the grace to obey the commandments
and to experience the sacraments worthily.
Establish me to holiness in the state of life
to which you have called me,
and guide me through to everlasting life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Give us also, O Holy Spirit, giver of all good gifts,
the unique favor for which I need at this moment in my life
if it be for your credit and glory and for my wellbeing.
Holy Spirit, hear my prayer.
Bounteous giver of most valuable gifts,
grant me a powerful and living faith
which makes me receive all revealed truths.
God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Strengthen me in all my difficulties.
Give me your seen gifts
and allow your 12 fruits ripen in me.
O Holy Spirit, you seek the salvation of all human beings.
And for that purpose, you want all of them
to get the knowledge of your truth.
Present to all of them your mighty light and your love
of goodwill, that they may give glory to God
in unity of faith, hope, and love.
Send workers into the harvest who are truly inspired by you,
who are the soul of the missionary church, amen.
O King of Glory, send us the promise of the Father,
the spirit of truth.
May the counselor who proceeds from you enlighten us
and infuse all truth in us as you have promised, amen.
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